Beyond Companionship

About the Book

"This book serves a valuable purpose. It demonstrates the special relationship between people and animals and shows how dogs contribute significantly to the health and emotional stability of many individuals."-Alan M. Beck, ScD, Professor and Director, Center for the Human-Animal Bond, Purdue University, School of Veterinary Medicine, Indiana, and Aaron H. Katcher, MD, Professor Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania. Authors of Between Pets and People

Dogs have been serving people for centuries. Today they are helping more people than ever, as Service Dogs for people who have physical disabilities, are hearing impaired and as Therapy Dogs, visiting various facilities. They are in the armed forces, police departments, and are used for tracking, search and rescue purposes and as useful companions to the socially isolated, the elderly, and children with special needs.

In words and photographs, Beyond Companionship profiles a number of actual such dogs and people in these circumstances and contains sections on gathering further information, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index.

About the Author

Mary-Ellen Siegel has written books for professionals and the general public on a variety of health and mental health topics and also has been a guest on over 150 radio and television shows, and lectures widely. She is a licensed clinical social worker and a clinical instructor in the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. Mary-Ellen Siegel has worked with many patients who have found dogs an important part of their lives, both for companionship and for help in their activities of daily living. She lives in New York City. She and her late sister, Hermine M. Koplin collaborated on this book.

Hermine M. Koplin lived in New Jersey, and had always been a dog owner. Her love of dogs led her to work extensively with the elderly and physically challenged at home, day programs and in residential facilities. She produced and narrated a documentary concerning relationships between dogs and humans. Hermine Koplin was the founder of Loving Paws of Northern New Jersey, a chapter of Therapy Dogs International.