{"id":10336,"date":"2026-07-17T14:18:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T18:18:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/synergiepp.com\/should-an-animal-approach-a-beneficiary-whenever-it-feels-like-it\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T14:37:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T18:37:23","slug":"should-an-animal-approach-a-beneficiary-whenever-it-feels-like-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/synergiepp.com\/en\/should-an-animal-approach-a-beneficiary-whenever-it-feels-like-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Should an animal approach a beneficiary whenever it feels like it?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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“We always let the dog choose the person who needs it most.”<\/div>
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This idea is often presented as a great quality in animal-assisted intervention.<\/div>
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It’s touching.<\/div>
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It gives the impression that the dog instinctively knows what to do.<\/div>
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But an essential question deserves to be asked:<\/div>
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Is it really the animal’s role to decide who it should work with?<\/div>
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At Synergie Plumes et Poils, we believe this responsibility belongs first and foremost to the professional.<\/div>
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The most common mistake<\/div>
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Some consider that a dog spontaneously taking the initiative to approach a beneficiary demonstrates great competence.<\/div>
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However, this initiative can also place the animal in a situation it is not able to assess.<\/div>
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The dog does not know the person’s history.<\/div>
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It does not know their fears.<\/div>
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It does not know if they like animals.<\/div>
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It does not know if they exhibit unpredictable behaviors.<\/div>
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It does not know the intervention objectives.<\/div>
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All this information belongs to the professional.<\/div>
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The SPP methodology perspective<\/div>
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At Synergie Plumes et Poils, we want the animal to be able to take initiative.<\/div>
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But we distinguish between two realities.<\/div>
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A structured initiative and an initiative left to chance.<\/div>
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We encourage a dog that returns to its handler to obtain a reference before approaching a beneficiary.<\/div>
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This return is not a sign of dependence.<\/div>
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It’s a collaborative behavior.<\/div>
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The dog learns that its human partner has information it does not have access to.<\/div>
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By checking in with its handler, it is then directed toward a safe interaction.<\/div>
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This way of working protects everyone.<\/div>
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An everyday example<\/div>
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Imagine a young educator entering a new classroom.<\/div>
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Without knowing the students, he spontaneously decides to pick up a crying child.<\/div>
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His intention is probably excellent.<\/div>
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But does he have all the information?<\/div>
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Does this child like being touched?<\/div>
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Is he experiencing trauma?<\/div>
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Is he in pain somewhere?<\/div>
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An experienced professional will first take the time to observe and understand the situation.<\/div>
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Why would we ask a dog to make such a complex decision alone?<\/div>
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An example in helping relationships<\/div>
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A handler is working with a group of people living with different challenges.<\/div>
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One of them is showing great distress.<\/div>
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The dog notices this agitation.<\/div>
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Rather than rushing spontaneously toward this person, it returns to its handler.<\/div>
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It makes contact.<\/div>
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It waits for a reference.<\/div>
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The handler quickly assesses the situation.<\/div>
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Is this the right time for an interaction?<\/div>
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Does the person want contact?<\/div>
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Is the context safe?<\/div>
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She then invites the dog to approach… or chooses another strategy.<\/div>
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The dog has not carried the responsibility for this decision alone.<\/div>
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It has worked as a team.<\/div>
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Professional practice protects the animal from decisions that do not belong to it<\/div>
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We want animals capable of taking initiative.<\/div>
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But we never want them to carry the responsibility of analyzing complex human situations.<\/div>
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This responsibility belongs to the professional.<\/div>
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It is the professional who knows the intervention objectives.<\/div>
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The characteristics of the clientele.<\/div>
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The risks present.<\/div>
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And everyone’s limits.<\/div>
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The animal’s preparation therefore consists of teaching it that it can observe, explore, return to ask for a reference, and then go when its partner invites it to do so.<\/div>
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This approach is based on a methodology of human and animal interactions, rigorous selection, assessment, progressive preparation, and certification that allow the human-animal team to intervene safely.<\/div>
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Because a good partner animal is not one that makes all the decisions.<\/strong><\/h3>
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It’s one that knows when to return to its handler to make them together.<\/strong><\/div>
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Initiative is a strength. Checking in with one’s partner makes it a professional competence. <\/strong><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“We always let the dog choose the person who needs it most.” This idea is often presented as a great quality in animal-assisted intervention. It’s touching. It gives the impression that the dog instinctively knows what to do. But an essential question deserves to be asked: Is it really the animal’s role to decide who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10337,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jet_sm_ready_style":"","_jet_sm_style":"","_jet_sm_controls_values":"","_jet_sm_fonts_collection":"","_jet_sm_fonts_links":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[176],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-intervention-methodology"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/synergiepp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/synergiepp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/synergiepp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/synergiepp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/synergiepp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10336"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/synergiepp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10338,"href":"https:\/\/synergiepp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10336\/revisions\/10338"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/synergiepp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/synergiepp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/synergiepp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/synergiepp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}