While\nthe larger study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, has a number of\ngoals, Wanser\u2019s thesis investigates the development of attachment bonds between\nyouth with disabilities and their household dogs. This area of inquiry is\nunique in that, while much existing research focuses on bonds between adults\nwith disabilities and their dogs, less focuses on children and dogs, and none\nhas examined the dog\u2019s attachment toward the child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since\nthe study started in summer 2017, Wanser has coordinated, directed and\ninstructed all six sessions of DAID camp. When camp is in session, Wanser needs\nto be everywhere at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey\nalways had an answer for every obstacle that came up, either with the kids or\nthe dogs,\u201d said Holly Duvall, a former volunteer who is now pursuing a\ndoctorate in veterinary medicine at OSU. \u201cDoing this for two and half years, I\nthought I had creative solutions \u2014 but Shelby \u2014 they really know how to relate\nto the dog.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
DAID\ncamp is very far from Wanser\u2019s first rodeo. Their previous work runs the gamut\nfrom training piglets for a Minecraft commercial to serving as a surrogate\nparent for two litters of wolf pups. They can trace their history of training\nanimals back to the third grade, when they put a yardstick over two five-gallon\npaint jugs in their Eugene backyard and started teaching Sam, the dog they had\nlong begged their parents to get, how to jump over it.<\/p>\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/1811\/files\/2019\/12\/Shelby-Wanser-Body.jpg\")
Wanser\nwas just 11 when they entered Sam in a dog agility competition, the first in a\nseries that would ultimately take them to nationals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe\nwas very much a perfectionist,\u201d Wanser said fondly of Sam. \u201cAs am I.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As\na kid, what struck Wanser about animals was how open their communication was\nand how, \u201cthrough their body language they told their exact intentions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wanser\nhas come to believe that being around animals mitigated their own feelings of\nbeing different as a child: \u201cIn hindsight, my strong connection with animals\nfrom a young age was probably related to growing up as an only child of two\nmoms, and not knowing anyone else who had same gender parents. And also now\nknowing that I am queer and agender and not really being able to articulate\nthat at the time. I felt different, but I didn\u2019t feel different when\ninteracting with animals. I just was completely myself, completely present, not\nthinking about anything else other than that interaction in the moment and how\nmuch joy that interaction brought me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wanser\u2019s\nlong-term goal is to offer animal-assisted psychotherapy for adolescents, and\nsays the \u201cincredible lessons\u201d they\u2019ve learned from training animals are the\nsame ones they believe the children at DAID camp go home with: \u201cpatience,\nconsistency, empathy, trust, encouragement and having a positive attitude.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As\nit turns out, Wanser\u2019s study is the first to show that a bond between a child\nand a dog is \u201cbidirectional,\u201d meaning that not only can a child develop\nattachment to a family dog, the dog can develop attachment toward the child. By\nway of illustration, Wanser described how, at the beginning of camp, a young\nfemale dog would stand by the door after a parent\u2019s departure, anxiously\nwaiting for the parent to come back. By the last day of camp, that same dog was\nlooking eagerly to the child, asking with her body, \u201cWhat are we gonna do now?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n