Guinea Pig Volunteering as Therapy Animals

We previously talked about flying with guinea pigs, and in the course of that discussion, briefly touched on the different special classifications of pets (service animals, emotional support animals, and therapy animals), and what implications they had for flying. We'd like to talk more about the therapy animal classification in general, not just in the context of flying.

As we said in our previous post, therapy animals "provide affection and comfort to various members of the public, typically in facility settings such as hospitals, retirement homes, and schools." Although this does not entitle you to special access on airlines, it does make a difference in people's lives. The organization Pet Partners has a page on the benefits of the human-animal bond. Here are just a few of the benefits they cite:

• "A therapy dog has a positive effect on patients’ pain level and satisfaction with their hospital stay following total joint arthroplasty (Harper, 2014) [1]."
• "The presence of an animal can significantly increase positive social behaviors among children with autism spectrum disorder (O’Haire, 2013) [4]."
• "Pet owners have higher one-year survival rates following heart attacks (Friedmann, 1980, 1995) [8,9]."

Some of these health benefit citations are dog-specific, but did you know that guinea pigs are able to become volunteer therapy animals through Pet Partners? Pet Partners "is the nation’s largest and most prestigious nonprofit registering handlers of multiple species as volunteer teams providing animal-assisted interventions." They accept volunteer applications from 9 species: dogs, cats, equines, rabbits, guinea pigs, llamas and alpacas, birds, pigs and rats. Guinea pig volunteers must be at least 6 months old, have lived in the owner's home for at least 6 months, and be well-behaved. They even have worksheets they use to evaluate prospective volunteers:

Not struggle to leave? That sounds like a tough exam. Strangers can be scary!

Guinea Pig Today featured an article on some piggies who participated in the Pet Partners program, which showed how not every piggy is cut out for this line of work:

"Why didn’t all of Erin’s guinea pigs join her? Being a therapy pet requires very special traits. Erin’s three other female cavies are fun at home but don’t have personalities suited for therapy work. Rosie, an albino with striking red eyes, was considered for therapy registration, but there was concern that her red eyes might make people feel uneasy. Val, adopted from a friend who could no longer care for her, is the most active guinea pig and never sits still. Sally, their newest addition, is still a bit skittish and shy. Erin tells Guinea Pig Today, “Her personality reminds me of that of a cat – she can be affectionate or stand-offish, depending on her mood.” 

Daphne and Sienna have a special talent for sitting long periods at a time and Erin decided only these two sows would be registered. After supporting hospice for 25 years, Erin had a hunch guinea pigs would work well with patients who benefit from animal visitation but have difficulty working with the therapy dogs. Daphne and Sienna weigh less than two pounds and can gently lay on patients while being stroked."

There were a lot of hoops to jump through, but they eventually were approved and became therapy animals:

Photo caption: "The therapy animal teams at Hospice are wonderful. Here we are with two of our friends, Kelly and her handler (left), and Gus and his handler (right)."

 And how did the hospice patients react to Daphne and Sienna? Quite well, according to this Casper Journal article:

The guinea pigs’ hospice visits are also different from the dogs’. Whereas most of the canines sit beside the patient’s bed, the guinea pigs have more direct contact.
“They’re light so they can be on people’s laps and chests,” Erin said. “Some people sing to them.”
She recalled her first visit, to a woman who had been unresponsive for a while.
“I put the guinea pigs on her lap, and she sang to them, in her own language,” Maggard said. “Those experiences are just delightful!”

There were only 21 registered therapy guinea pigs with Pet Partners in 2013. Do you think you have what it takes to join the elite ranks of therapy guinea pigs? If so, feel free to reach out to Pet Partners about volunteer opportunities!