Abstract:

The paper deals with the positive effects of education with the assistance of dogs in primary education in students with special educational needs. In this work we focus on the terminology of canistherapy with emphasis on differentiation of dog assisted interventions and dog assisted activities. We also point to some problems that prevent the popularisation of canistherapy in our conditions. The aim of the work is to point out the possibilities of applying education with the assistance of dogs to selected groups of students with health disadvantages.

We assumed that three quarters of primary education teachers know canistherapy and that primary education teachers aged 24 to 45 will be more interested in dog-assisted education than teachers aged 46 to 65.

The research results describe the perspectives of the use of education with the assistance of dogs in primary education in Slovakia.

In conclusion, we present recommendations that can help develop canistherapy in practice. The aim of our work is to highlight the positive contribution of human-animal interaction in the school sphere.

Keywords:

Canistherapy, Animal Assisted Education, Primary education.