Working dogs have a wide range of tasks and responsibilities. Therapy dogs, for instance, provide emotional support, while service dogs help their human partners with daily tasks.
But a Golden Labrador named Shetland is different. He brightens up people’s day by offering his head for a quick pat and giving hugs, but the two-year-old pooch does so much more than that.
Shetland works at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) in Bethesda, Maryland. He’s officially known as a “military facility dog,” and relieving the stress of the medical and graduate students on campus is just one of his tasks.
The golden Lab is also a Navy lieutenant commander, although his human counterparts are not required to salute him. Still, it’s not just a title; Shetland and other facility canines like him wear their rank insignia and can be promoted and demoted, too.
Moreover, Shetland is a clinical instructor at the university’s Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology. According to Dean Arthur Kellermann of USUHS, the golden Lab is there to teach students how beneficial animal-assisted therapy can be.
This type of therapy has proven valuable in the military. Retired colonel Lisa Moores, an assistant dean at USUHS, shares that therapy dogs are now a common sight in military treatment facilities.
The canines cheer up patients and their families in hospitals, clinics, and even ICUs. Additionally, pooches help soldiers deal with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Still, animal-assisted therapy is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Thus, the USUHS students need to learn which patients will benefit most from therapy dogs or other kinds of animals, and who will be better off with other forms of treatment. Shetland will help them with this task.
The students themselves are excited about interacting with the new faculty member. They’re no strangers to working dogs as other facility dogs occasionally drop by the campus, but it’s great to have Shetland around constantly.
They were doubly delighted to learn that not only are they allowed to pet the golden Lab, but that he can also give cuddles on command. The students are finding Shetland an excellent addition to the university’s wellness program, which aims to alleviate symptoms of stress.
Source: shetland.thewellnesspup on Instagram
