Courtney Kowalke/Winonan

At Winona State University, every dog has its day – sometimes literally.

Last week’s Healthy Mondays program, “Canine Companions,” focused on how dogs benefit people in accordance with the 2012-2013 University Theme and the seven aspects of the Wellness Wheel.

Lynda Brzezinski and her 13-month-old mixed breed, Winston taught the topic.

“The oldest, longest and closest relationship between us and any animals has been between humans and dogs,” Brzezinski said.

Brzezinski’s dog Winston is part Blue Heeler, or Australian Cattle Dog, and part Rat Terrier.  Brzezinski said traits from both breeds manifest in Winston, who habitually herds people or other animals and digs holes.  She adopted Winston from the Winona Area Humane Society when he was 10 months old.

Despite his young age, Winston is already certified as a Canine Good Citizen.

The American Kennel Club started the Canine Good Citizen program in 1989 “to reward dogs who have good manners at home and in the community.”

Winston is also a certified therapy dog.  In order to be qualified, the dog must be friendly and able to engage in animal-assisted activities at places such as hospitals, jails, and schools.  However, according to Brzezinski, “anyone can do that.”  To truly be a therapy dog, the animal’s handler must be a therapist.

Despite his qualifications and exuberant nature, Brzezinski said it took Winona State a couple years to convince Winston or any other therapy dog could be brought in without posing a risk to students, particularly in relation to biting.
Brzezinski related the dimension of wellness celebrated by Winona State this academic year to the multitude of benefits owning a dog can provide.

Regarding social wellness, dogs provide opportunities to meet new people.  “More people approach you if you have a dog,” Brzezinski said.  “They really bring people together like this [Healthy Monday program].”

Dogs also provide constant companionship, helping people feel less alone.  Brzezinski noted canines are particularly beneficial for the elderly.

Physical wellness is “a big one” for dogs, Brzezinski said, as evidenced by their constant need for walks and supervised exercise.

Brzezinski said she walks Winston about two and a half miles most days.  “I’m hoping he mellows out with age,” she joked.

Medical studies show the heart rates and blood pressures decrease when people interact with dogs.

Canines help chronic illness patients by establishing routines and aiding in setting goals.  As an example, Brzezinski noted Winston wakes up with her at 4:30 every morning for regular exercise.

Dogs also motivate heart patients to engage in cardiac rehab more willingly and help people with arthritis stay active.

As many know, service dogs specialize in helping with physical wellness, having been trained to aid who are blind, have cerebral palsy, or have seizures.  Brzezinski said dogs have also been trained to detect skin cancer by smell.

A dog’s detection instincts also contribute to environmental wellness.  Certain dogs can now sniff out the emerald ash borer, an invasive environmental species.

“It’s amazing what you can train a dog to detect,” Brzezinski said.

Brzezinski also said dogs also contribute to environmental wellbeing because ownership lessens the likelihood of a household being broken into or a person out walking being attacked.

“Wherever they go is automatically a more welcoming place,” she said.

In a broad sense, dogs promote spiritual wellness by bringing people joy, happiness, and purpose.

“Dogs are very unconditional,” Brzezinski said.  “It doesn’t what color you are, what your gender is, what socioeconomic class you belong to… if you are friendly, they won’t judge you.”

Dogs aid in intellectual wellness in unique ways.  According to Brzezinski, children who are learning to read tend to do better when they read to a dog.  “[Dogs] are non-judgmental, which is very motivating for beginners,” she said.  The same principle applies to people undergoing speech therapy who practice with dogs.

Arguably, dogs are most beneficial for emotional wellness.

“You can tell [your dog] a sad story and they’ll just lick your face and you’ll feel better,” freshman Ashlee Churchill said.“There’s always something that loves you unconditionally,” Liz Harris agrees, adding, “It’s hard to be sad when you’re looking at that face.”

Studies have also proven dogs help relieve stress as their presence can lower levels of cortisol, a hormone that lowers stress levels.

“We feel more of a sense of trust and are more willing to confide around dogs,” Brzezinski said.  She added that dogs are also beneficial to combating depression, agoraphobia, PTSD, test anxiety, and some cases of autism.

Brzezinski hopes to eventually get Winston more involved in Winona State student gatherings.  However, she believes such support would be best “only in small doses” since a lot of time spent on campus “wears on the dog.”

Contact Courtney at [email protected]