Therapy Dogs Story

Therapy Dogs Video


At a Boulder Valley School District elementary school, a young boy stood in the corner of the principal’s office screaming, yelling, and banging his hands on the wall. A therapy dog team at the elementary school went to the office to calm the boy down. The dog sat right next to the boy. The boy quieted for a minute and looked down at the dog, only to go back to crying. Then, he turned his head and took a good look at the dog. The handler asked the boy if he’d like to meet Cadie, the therapy dog. He stopped crying, turned around and got on all fours next to the dog. Shortly after, the boy was cuddled up with the dog on the floor laughing and playing. Within a few minutes, he was back in class as if nothing had ever happened.

Therapy dog teams around Boulder County work hard to bring happiness to people in hospitals and schools. Many people realize that dogs make people happy, but don’t exactly know why. There is scientific proof from numerous studies which show that dogs trigger the release of dopamine in the human brain. So being around dogs, especially dogs trained for therapy purposes, literally makes the brain happy.

Sue Dague, a therapy dog handler with Therapy Dogs of Boulder County, believes that therapy dogs help make people happy and helps them forget about their worries. She said that “it’s a temporary band-aid on your heart.”

According to the article “Mood-Boosting Power of Dogs,” published on helpguide.org, dogs can help people improve their lives by increasing exercise, boosting vitality, proving companionship, helping meet new people, reducing anxiety, adding structure and routine to life, providing sensory stress relief, and helping find meaning and joy in life.

University of Colorado Boulder sophomore Darden DeNuzzi, 20, has struggled with depression and anxiety for years. When she brought home Aslan, now 10-month-old Goldendoodle, he helped her with her mental health struggles. He is registered as her emotional support animal. She said that taking care of him helped her become more involved and responsible and even helped her learn how to better manage her time. She started doing better in school, and last semester earned the best GPA she’s ever had at CU.

DeNuzzi said that “No matter how I’m feeling or how my day is, he’s never failing to make me feel happier… he’s like my shadow, he follows me everywhere… he’s one of my best friends. That’s probably my favorite is that he’s always there for me.”

Bark Buddies is an event that CU Boulder hosts every semester during finals season. CU works with Therapy Dogs of Boulder County to bring in dozens of therapy dog teams over several days to help students relieve their finals stress. This event sees hundreds of students every semester.

According to the article “The Science behind Dog Therapy,” published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, petting a dog makes people feel more relaxed and decreases the harmful physical effects that stress causes. Students who go to these events can actually perform better on their final exams because of the health benefits of dog therapy.

Jenny Zhang, CU freshman who attends Bark Buddies, says that dogs help her stay happy and relieve her finals stress.

Zhang said “I think the cool thing about dogs is that they are never really stressed… and just being able to pet them and see how cute they are and just kind of take some time off, it’s really nice…. When it comes to therapy dogs, there’s no sad part about it, it’s just all wholesome happiness.”

Daryl Holle, Therapy Dogs of Boulder County director, believes that therapy dogs can really change the way the education system works. He said that children with ADHD are hard to teach and control in the conventional education system set in place today. He believes that bringing therapy dogs into schools can help these kids calm down and learn better.

Holle said that “it seems to me that...these children are in their own world, and the dogs help bridge that gap back into reality.”


Therapy Dogs of Boulder County is an organization Holle started in order to effectively get therapy dog teams into hospitals. For safety purposes, hospitals require a lot of forms and training before therapy dog teams can visit the hospital. On an individual team basis, getting into these hospitals is doable but difficult. So Holle started this organization to make visits much easier and more organized. Therapy Dogs of Boulder County has now expanded to include visits to Boulder Valley School District schools and CU Boulder.
Holle said that dogs “have qualities that are far beyond what any of us understand… they do things that are just so impressive and so connective to the human souls… and they’re non judgemental. That’s the thing that is just really crucial.”

April, 2018



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