![]() Every participant described the relationship with his/her PAD as positive, suggesting that a successful working partnership does not require the dog to have been bred or raised specifically for the role. Results of this study show that PAD owners have differing mental health diagnoses, and their dogs perform different tasks to support them in daily life. Decrease in service use was mainly due to reduced suicide attempts, and less requirement for hospitalization and medication increased use was mainly due to enhanced ability to attend appointments. PAD usage decreased (46%), increased (30%) or did not change (24%) participants' use of psychiatric or other health care services. Tasks the dogs performed for their owners included: reduction of anxiety through tactile stimulation (94%) nudging/pawing to bring back to the present (71%) interrupting undesirable behavior (51%) constant body contact (50%) deep pressure stimulation (45%) and blocking contact from other people (42%). ![]() Depression (84%), anxiety (social 61% generalized 60%), PTSD (62%), and panic attacks (57%) were the most reported mental health diagnoses. The median age of the participants at the time of data collection was 47 years, ranging from 10 to 75 years. All the dogs were trained by the owner or a combination of the owner and a qualified trainer none were trained exclusively by assistance/service dog provider organizations. Just under half (48%) of the dogs had been acquired by the owner specifically to be trained as a PAD, and the rest were existing pets. The most common reasons for people to choose a dog to be a PAD were temperament (60%) and size/weight (48%). The dogs in the sample were of varying age, gender and breed. Participants learned about PADs through the internet (37%), health care practitioners (32%), or family/friends (30%). ![]() One third ( n = 199) of PAD owners in Australia registered with the charity “mindDog” participated in an online survey designed to better understand the person and dog team. Literature searches reveal that little is known about the population of people who own PADs, the types of dogs used or the functions they provide.
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