Adams '20 Presents Research about Service and Therapy Dogs

On Tuesday, May 21^st, MBS junior Kim Adams ’20 presented her Independent Study research about the impact of service and therapy dogs with some help from Christine Hasenbein, a trainer at The Seeing Eye in Morristown, and her golden retriever, “Hoops.”

Adams began by discussing the difference between service dogs, which are used to assist with a variety of tasks, and therapy dogs, which are trained to be calm and affectionate.  In her research, she analyzed articles and studies that examined how service and therapy dogs impact veterans with PTSD, children with visual disabilities, and individuals with physical and hearing disabilities.  She also interviewed Seeing Eye trainers and owners.  

As part of Adams’ presentation, Seeing Eye trainer Christine Hasenbein spoke about how The Seeing Eye breeds and raises puppies to become Seeing Eye dogs. Established in 1929, The Seeing Eye is the oldest existing guide dog school in the world and serves more than 250 blind or visually impaired people each year.

After conducting her research, Adams concluded that service and therapy dogs are making major impacts in people’s independence as well as improving their mental health. “Veterans with PTSD have shown major changes in their overall quality of life and general happiness,” said Adams. “Children with visual disabilities have also shown improvement in mental health with service dogs. These dogs help the children feel more comfortable in social settings and have even encouraged the children to be more social  themselves.”

Adams' Independent Study was conducted under the guidance of MBS Upper School Science Teacher Dr. Marina Milinkovic.