Socializing Effects of Service Dogs for People with Disabilities
- 1 March 1987
- journal article
- Published by Informa UK Limited in Anthrozoös
- Vol. 1 (1), 41-44
- https://doi.org/10.2752/089279388787058696
Abstract
This retrospective study of people in wheelchairs who have service dogs reports their experiences with strangers in public before and after obtaining their dogs. The specific hypothesis tested was that the acquisition of a service dog would increase the number of friendly approaches by strangers. Subjects reported a significantly higher number of social greetings from adults and children on typical shopping trips with the dog as compared with those received on trips before they had the dog or with recent trips when the dog was not present. Subjects with service dogs reported more approaches than a control group without dogs. After obtaining dogs, subjects also increased their evening outings.Keywords
This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:
- Gaze toward and avoidance of the handicapped: A field experimentJournal of Nonverbal Behavior, 1982
- Personal Space as a Function of the Stigma EffectEnvironment and Behavior, 1974