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Animal Assisted Therapy
Emma Cresswell believes that people with special needs can benefit a great deal from AAT or Animal Assisted Therapy. Suchitra Bajpai Chaudhary meets the lady and her pets in her facility in Mirdiff.
- By Suchitra Bajpai Chaudhary, Senior Feature Writer
- Published: 23:27 November 27, 2008
- Emma Cresswell loves her chihuahuas, (from left) Frankie, Princess and Bruiser.
- Image Credit: Grace Paras/ANM
Emma Cresswell believes that people with special needs can benefit a great deal from AAT or Animal Assisted Therapy. Suchitra Bajpai Chaudhary meets the lady and her pets in her facility in Mirdiff.
Emma Cresswell's home in Mirdiff is fairly full. There's Rambo who is cuddling next to Princess, Bruiser is playing with Frankie while Lucky and Tiger are curled up and fast asleep.
Wondering who or what these characters are? Well, Rambo, Princess, Bruiser and Frankie are chihuahuas while Lucky and Tiger are cats. And all of them are rescued animals.
Cresswell's home, also called Camp Bow Wow and Meow, is a facility where pet owners can leave their beloved cats or dogs whenever they go away on a long vacation.
"Frankie is the latest addition to the pack. He came in just over a year ago,'' says Cresswell. "He was severely illtreated by his previous owners and was scared of everyone and everything. With patience and affection, he has overcome his fears and now assists me with Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT), helping people with special needs.''
AAT? A dog that helps her assist people with special needs?
If you think Camp Bow Wow and Meow is just another kennel or cattery you are mistaken.
"My camp is different from most traditional kennels or catteries where pets are usually left in a cage most of the day and where they do not get more than a 15-minute outdoor run.
I have drawn up a proper schedule of care and activity for the animals in my care,'' she says.
But Cresswell's style of taking care of pets is not the only thing that sets her facility apart from others.
She firmly believes in – and practises – AAT which involves active interaction between human beings and animals. AAT, says Cresswell, can help improve motor coordination, emotional, social and physical skills in many individuals with special needs.
Many special needs individuals have benefited from AAT, she says. In fact so popular is this mode of therapy that even the Al Noor Training Centre for Special Needs has contacted her regarding the programme.
What is Animal Assisted Therapy?
When an individual is robbed of sight, cannot walk or suffers from a debilitating condition like cerebral palsy, experiencing the pure, unconditional love of a real pet – stroking it, playing with it, taking it for walks and runs –
can help a great deal in easing the individual's plight. It can help reassure the person and improve his/her self-esteem, certain studies say.
Encouraging a person with special needs to hold, stroke or even take care of a pet can help improve the lifestyle of the person. He or she will learn to take on additional responsibilities like caring for the pet and adhering to a daily schedule. It can also create a strong bond between the pet and the person. It can help give them an outlet to express their love and caring nature.
AAT also involves an animal with specific characteristics becoming a fundamental part of a person's treatment. It improves the physical, social, cognitive and/or emotional functioning of the patients, while also providing educational and motivational effectiveness for participants, she says.
Salem Saeed Bawazir, a government employee and special needs person who suffers from cerebral palsy and is confined to his wheelchair is one person who, says Cresswell, has benefitted from AAT.
Bawazir's motor coordination improved greatly after he started petting Cresswell's pet chihuahua. Says Cresswell: "Specifically, by stroking the pet, Bawazir is encouraged and motivated to carry out his stretching exercises, improving his range of movements especially in his hands.''
He has benefited emotionally from the unconditional love given by the canine and looks forward to assisting Cresswell when she takes the pets for a run in the sands of Khawaneej.
Cresswell is beaming with pride when she points out that AAT has helped Bawazir improve his social skills. His memory and recall abilities too have improved so too his self-esteem and self-worth.
Bawazir's problem-solving abilities, concentration and attention, ability to trust and express feelings have all improved, she says.
Having the opportunity to be with and pet a pet has reduced his anxiety levels and has brightened his mood, she says.
"A 2007 meta-analysis study has shown that AAT improved outcomes in autism spectrum symptoms, medical difficulties, behavioural problems and emotional well-being,'' says Cresswell.
The beginnings
Eight years ago, when Cresswell, a UK-based human anatomy and physiology teacher, came to the UAE she realised that love for animals was part of a greater destiny. She took pleasure in picking up and taking care of animals that were abandoned. She took them in and gave them love and affection to the extent that many of the pets that were deemed as unfit to be homed, actually ended up in good homes and are doing well.
Creswell decided to start Camp Bow Wow and Meow after she realised that her own pets, which she once left in a boarding facility, returned distressed. She wanted to run a facility where she could personally groom and care for the animals, take them out for walks and runs, feed them and play with them.
"I have always had a strong bond with animals,'' says Cresswell who has made the UAE her home.
"My first interaction with animals began at a very early age when my father taught me the names of the colours in the rainbow by relating them to the animals on a farm close
to where I grew up. There was Blackie, a black Labrador, Rainbow the cow (she was named so because one day we found that she had rubbed her nose in something very colourful), Patch, a horse whose coat was black and white... Even when I was a young girl, I enoyed being with animals and very often I would find the neighbouring farmer's dog following me on my way back home.''
The schedule
"In my camp, dogs are taken for a walk three times a day for about 30 minutes or more.
"Their first walk is at around 5 am in summer and 6 am in winter when we usually visit the beach or Khawaneej where dogs are appropriately trained and let off the leash to enjoy all the new smells, sounds and sights. Sometimes, they are also taken for a swim in the sea. Those who have to be leashed enjoy a good run and supervised swimming sessions.
"The second walk is at around 5 pm in winter and 7 pm in summer and again at around 9 pm for a short toilet break before bed time.''
In addition, during summer, dogs sporting cool jackets are let out for regular play times and toilet breaks. They also get to use the shallow pool within the camp. Cats also enjoy interactive play throughout the day at regular intervals. Many other facilities and Cresswell's hands-on approach have endeared her camp with many pet owners and lovers.
Enrolling the pet
The admission process to Camp Bow Wow and Meow is well regulated.
The first step involves the pet owners visiting the camp along with their pets to see if the animal would be able to adjust in the camp – "a kind of an introductory meeting or doggie sleepover'', she says.
On the actual day when the animal requires boarding, an animal taxi service is provided for those who cannot drop off their pets at the camp.
Cresswell's facility also boasts an indoor play area that mimics most pets' home environment. Here dogs and cats can enjoy interactive sessions of play. Three staff members are provided for every ten pets and they closely supervise all activities.
Dogs and cats are fed only the best animal food. Freshly minced chicken or beef is cooked for those pets that are used to home food.
Cresswell charges Dh50 for a dog's day boarding. Overnight stay is Dh65. For a cat, the fee is Dh35 for the day and Dh45 for an overnight stay.
"The pet boarding business I started has grown exceptionally since its inception just over a year ago. From its growth, I have seen the potential the business has to branch into other spheres, most importantly charity based work for interactive community service.''
Cresswell intends to help the community by setting up a larger charity where AAT can help the special needs members of society.
Her dream is to start a large AAT centre "somewhere in Khawaneej.
The area is safe, it has few main roads and is an ideal location to assist walking therapy dogs. The clean air and clean and safe environment make this place an ultimate choice.
"Besides this, at the Khawaneej farms there are many other animals such as camels, goats, sheep about which children and adults can be educated,'' she says.
She intends to run the AAT from profits she makes from the pet boarding service.
"I have received good response from Al Noor Training School, who would like me to set up an AAT programme for them. A number of qualified and willing volunteers have also offered to assist in the project,'' she says.
"A local businessman has stepped forward and is willing to assist in the funding of the project construction.
I am hoping to secure a donation of a property (approx 145,000sq ft) on which to expand and build the charity organisation.''
Benefits of AAT
Physical
- Improves fine motor skills
- Improves wheelchair skills.
- Improves standing equilibrioception (balance).
- May lower blood pressure, risk for stroke or heart attack and decrease depression.
Mental
- Increases verbal interactions between group members.
- Increases attention skills.
- Develops leisure skills.
- Boosts self-esteem.
- Reduces anxiety.
- Reduces loneliness.
Educational
- Increases vocabulary.
- Aids in long- or short-term memory.
- Improves knowledge of concepts like size and colour.
Motivational
- Improves willingness to be involved in a group activity
- Improves interaction with others and staff.
Pack psychology
Emma Cresswell orginally taught Human Anatomy and Physiology in the UK where she also voluntarily taught special needs children and young adults. She has worked in a high-paced, operations manager role/customer service-oriented profession for more than 12 years. She has recently completed a distance learning veterinarian technician course to further her knowledge of animals.
Cresswell studied books on animal therapy, dog and cat psychology and their well-being in her spare time. She follows the Cesar Milan school of thought according to which a dogs's survival depends on a strong, stable, organised pack where every member knows its place and follows the rules established by the pack leader. The pack's instinct is perhaps the strongest motivator for the dog. Cresswell follows Cesar's teaching: to properly fulfill the goals of both the dogs and ourselves we need to become our canine's calm, assertive pack leaders. A dog that doesn't trust it's master to be a good pack leader often exhibits unwanted or anti-social behaviours.
US-based Delta Foundation Society is the certification body for therapy dogs who are used in the Animal Assisted Therapy. The Delta Foundation was established in 1977 in Portland Oregon, under the leadership of Michael McCulloch. Delta's founders wanted to understand the quality of the relationship between pet owners, pets and caregivers, both human and veterinary (hence the Delta name based on this triangle).
Delta focussed on the importance of animals to the health and well-being of the general population and carried out research on that. Once the importance of animals was established from research, Delta began to look at how animals could change the lives of people who were ill and physically challenged.
At first the organisation began creating educational materials to apply the scientific information in everyday life and later built on its educational and scientific base to provide direct services at local level. Emma plans to eventually get therapy dogs certified from the Delta Foundation.
Emma Cresswell can be contacted at: info@campbowwow.ae
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