Therapy dogs first rose to prominence in Europe, from there they quickly spread throughout the United States, and are currently gathering momentum in Australia.

The first documented use of animal therapy was in 1792 when an asylum incorporated animals as part of the rehabilitation of patients. In 1942 a convalescing solider in New York requested a dog keep him company, subsequently other patients also requested companion dogs. In 1953 psychiatrist Boris Levison began to use his dog, Jingles, in his office during consultations.

Today, therapy dogs can be found working in a variety of residential and care settings: nursing homes, hospitals, hospices, rehabilitation units, mental health facilities, special educational settings, class rooms, senior citizen programs, domestic abuse shelters, children’s residential facilities, prisons, courtrooms, foster care and home health visits. Therapy dogs are widely used to reduce loneliness, anger, stress and depression of those that interact with this type of initiative. These programs show that regular interaction with a therapy dog has a significant and holistic benefit for its benefactors, especially when the dog becomes an integral part of the human habitat of a facility.