A unique human-animal bond program opens up many different opportunities…

In a quiet corner of Montana, Carroll College has launched a new psychology program that explores the human-animal bond. The first of its kind in the nation, this program offers students a minor within the psychology department.

The college administration in Helena hopes to create a majors program in this new field by 2011, with the first graduates in the spring of 2012. The HAB courses focus on the beneficial relationship between humans and animals, exploring a new frontier for students who are interested in working with animals in a social service setting, while advancing the academic discipline of human-animal studies.

The courses help students going into psychology, counseling, veterinary medicine, research, physical or occupational therapy, nursing, sociology and social work.

Anne Perkins, MS, PhD, and professor at Carroll College, had the inspiration for the program.

“We’re not just talking about the human-animal bond. The students work with animals and are learning how to train or partner with animals, and thus experience this in an applied way,” said Perkins.

“There are many anecdotal stories about the wonderful things that happen between dogs or horses and
people, and this bond,” added Perkins. “But there is very little research in this area because this field has been limited to veterinary medicine and animal science. Our students will look at the psychological perspective and why people love their animals so much.”

When she was writing the grant proposal for this curriculum, Perkins referred to events surrounding the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

“When FEMA came to rescue people and told them they had to leave their pets behind, some people wouldn’t leave their pets. There was a huge lack of understanding about how important pets are to people. We need to be researching this and studying it with an academic perspective rather than just having more anecdotal stories about remarkable dogs that saved someone’s life,” she said. “This is what our program is about—a scholarly program in the field of psychology.”

While other colleges may have single courses on these topics, no other college is offering a comprehensive curriculum like Carroll College. The University of Denver offers graduate courses in this area through their Institute for Human-Animal Connection.

Carroll College plans to limit the major to 80 students, with 40 for the canine and 40 for the equine tracks. They currently have 56 total students.

Hands-On Learning

As they go through the program, students choose whether to enter the canine branch (learning how to train service or therapy dogs) or the equine branch (learning how to partner with horses to provide physical or mental health services).

In addition to a solid theoretical background regarding the bonding pro-cess, the hands-on experience creates students who can teach service animals or use them for psychotherapy.

“We also want our students to develop an appreciation and understanding of people with disabilities,” said Perkins.

The college has a small equestrian center close to campus owned by Perkins and her husband. It includes a small covered arena, 40 feet by 100 feet, and stalls. It’s not fancy but much like many horsemen might have for themselves, with a rural flavor.

“The students manage the center and work here with the horses,” said Perkins. “Some of the students will be able to board their horses at the equine center, but we will also have room for five horses that belong to the college. The students can work with these horses to practice and learn equine skills needed for keeping themselves and clients safe.

“For our purposes, this little place is perfect—it feels small and intimate compared with a big equestrian center,” added Perkins.

Two Icelandic horses have been donated to the program. “I love them for our purposes because they are small and safe and ideal for students who have no prior experience with horses or are uncomfortable around intimidating horses,” she said.

While some students in the program have a lot of experience with horses, others have always wanted to work with horses but never had the opportunity.

“This wide variance in experience makes it hard for an instructor, so we are trying to provide a curriculum where the more experienced students become teaching assistants,” said Perkins. “The goal is for them to learn how to impart information. Just because you know how to do something doesn’t necessarily mean that you have the ability to keep a client or another student safe when working with horses.”

Although many equestrian schools and courses are modeled after the horse industry—the show industry, breeding, racing or rodeo industry, for example—this one seeks to help students develop relationships with horses and use them beneficially in terms of health, wellness and safety.

“We are not going to make you a professional jumper or barrel racer. Although we do have a very active equestrian team and a small rodeo team, they are operating as a student-driven club,” said Perkins. “We’re very proud of them, but the club is separate from the academic program. Some of my more mature students are finding out that there are some very interesting professions that are related to animals, far beyond what we generally think about.”

“The HAB program allows me to blend my lifelong interest in animals with a rigorous education. The curriculum is designed to not only instruct students in how to handle animals, it teaches us the cognitive and physiological reasons behind why animals do what they do,” said McKenzie Homan, a junior from Helena, Mont. “With that information we can begin to understand why the things that they do have such a profound effect on us humans, and we can use that information to help people.”

Lots Of Career Options

With this training as a springboard, a student can go in many different directions.

“This is one of the exciting things about the HAB program,” said Perkins.

Some students, for instance, are thinking of becoming attorneys and understanding the impact that legislation has on animals.

“We have some students who thought they wanted to be veterinarians, and now they want to be attorneys and work with legislators—because sometimes laws get passed that are very problematic for animal owners. Now these students are studying these kinds of things,” said Perkins.

Another career may be in animal welfare, investigating potential cruelty cases. An educated investigator can tell the difference between a horse that is being neglected and one that looks rough because he’s 30 years old.

“Some communities are starting to hire certified animal people to go in and assess these cases. This is a new kind of profession that a person could go into with the degree we are offering,” Perkins said.

The HAB program could also benefit someone interested in pre-veterinary study. “They already get a great background in zoology, chemistry, biology, etc. With the HAB program we are adding to that immensely, with this component of canine science and equine science and the hands-on work with the human-animal bond as part of the pre-vet curriculum. Students who really like animals and know they want to be veterinarians definitely find a place in our program,” Perkins said.

On the other hand, students who know they are not going into veterinary medicine but who still like animals will have a chance to be exposed to some alternative careers in the HAB program.

“In the past this has been problematic for many young people. They like animals and want to work with them but don’t want to go to vet school,” said Perkins.

Today a growing number of organizations are beginning to recognize the need for this type of education, in various professions.

“For example, [some members] of the American Veterinary Medical Association want their veterinary students trained in understanding the human passion for animals so that when veterinarians are talking to their clients they will understand this. Human-animal bond divisions are cropping up in other professional organizations including the American Psychological Association and the American Sociological Association. People who are interested in the human-pet phenomenon, as opposed to the human-livestock relationship, can benefit from this program,” she said.

“By exposing our students broadly to all these different kinds of issues and subjects, we are opening more doors for them,” she added.

“I decided to try these courses because they looked very interesting and because it was covering material that I’ve never been exposed to in a classroom setting,” said Heather Carrie Thomas, 18, of Salmon, Idaho. “After taking the first course, HAB 107, I am hooked and will take all of the classes I can.”

Unique Opportunities

The students in the dog program commit to living with a dog 24/7 during their junior year.

“We recently rescued three dogs from the local humane society, and the students paired with those dogs have to keep these animals with them, training them,” said Perkins. “This is a huge project, with two students per dog. They can’t do this until their junior or senior year, but they have been preparing for it for two years and are very dedicated by the time they take on this commitment.”

Some of the equine students are participating in the Equus Project. “This is a dance company that dances with horses. The director of the Equus Project is a graduate of the Julliard School of Dance. What’s different about this project is that it is not a competition. We have a very progressive theater here, called the Myrna Loy, that contacted the Equus Project and asked them to come to Helena, Montana,” said Perkins.

To prepare for the presentation, the Equus Project asked local people with horses to participate. “It’s local horses and local riders who learn the pattern, and then the Project people arrive a week early, to have a week of rehearsal with the local riders—and then put on the performance. They contacted the HAB program and asked if there would be students willing to do that, and I have three students participating in this presentation,” said Perkins.

The HAB program also enables students to connect socially with others who have similar interests.

“I have all these wonderful students who work together, volunteer together, go out and ride together. There’s an added dimension; they are taking their true love and applying it in an academic program where they can study something they are intrinsically interested in,” said Perkins. “They meet one another in the introductory class and make instant friendships, working together on team projects. In the HAB program every student excels because this is what they love.”

The ISAZ Meeting

Anne Perkins gave a presentation about Carroll College’s human-animal bond program in October 2009 in Kansas City, Mo., where the International Society of Anthrozoology and the Center of Research on Human-Animal Interaction held a joint meeting. More than 300 researchers and practitioners from around the world gathered to share information about the human-animal bond.

“This historic meeting truly launched HAB as a new and legitimate discipline. ISAZ is a scholarly organization that aims to promote the study of human-animal interactions by encouraging and publishing peer-reviewed research,” said Perkins.

The second part of the conference was sponsored by the Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction, which is a collaboration between the College of Veterinary Medicine and the College Nursing Program at the University of Missouri. This center focuses on the promotion of health through pets.

Former Carroll College student (and first graduate in HAB) Whitney Call participated in Perkins’ presentation regarding the Carroll program, and a film crew interviewed Call and Perkins.

“They were very interested in a college that was offering a program at the undergraduate level and were making news clips for Dish Network and DirectTV. It’s my hope that other students in our HAB program will present their research at this conference in the future,” said Perkins.

The Horse Program

Lief Hallberg helped start the equine side of the human-animal bond program. She has been in the field of equine-assisted activities and therapies for 14 years, with background as a mental health professional and in equine-facilitated psychotherapy.

She did her thesis studying psychological implications of the horse-human relationship and wrote a textbook called Walking The Way Of The Horse that helps define the concept of partnering people and horses for psychological benefit. Hallberg created three of the courses for the equine part of the HAB program.

“The students start with Historical Perspective—Horses and Humans, looking at the evolution of equids and how horses co-evolved with human beings,” said Hallberg.

Humans hunted horses for food before they captured and tamed them for use as food, beasts of burden and transportation. This class also looks at myth and metaphor regarding horses—ancient stories and religious teachings. They explore Hindu, Celtic, Greek and Roman mythology, Christian teachings and the entire history of the horse in early lore and writings.

“Then we look at the relationship between Native Americans and horses on our continent, the history of cowboys and horses, and finally the industrial revolution and its impact on the horse-human relationship,” she said.

Each class has a corresponding lab that takes students through all stages of developing a relationship with horses. “First they learn how to meet and greet a horse, look at equine communication and behavior, herd dynamics, how to move around horses. They learn how to approach, halter, lead, tie and groom a horse—the basic things about how to relate to horses in a safe, responsible and respectful way,” said Hallberg.

The second class is Equine Science—Nature of Horses. “This provides more information on equine physiology,
psychology and behavior. Students also learn about breeds, colors, markings, how you measure a horse, veterinary practice and procedures, and horse maintenance,” said Hallberg.

The lab segment of this class takes students to the next level of interacting with horses—riding them, learning balance and position and basic aids in communicating with their mounts. At the same time, they are learning how to care for a horse.

The third class—Equine Assisted Activities and Therapy—introduces how humans partner with horses for physiological and psychological benefit.

“We look at therapeutic riding, hippotherapy, adaptive riding, mental health methods and various learning and educational methods associated with horses. The students research various programs and talk with organizations in these fields. We want students to gain a broad understanding, to prepare them for any direction they might choose to go,” said Hallberg.

In the lab for this class they work on Equine-Assisted Activities and Therapies, experience the activities themselves and practice facilitation skills.

“We’ve added a NARHA [North American Riding for the Handicapped Association] riding instructor certification course, a two-semester class at the senior level,” she added. “We also want students to do an internship with an EAAT program or a research project.”