[doyoutrustme]

I have been itching to bring mine lately. I feel like he has a good sense of who to trust and I am curious to see what his reaction would be to T. (I also would be curious to see how T responds to my pet.)

Anyone ever do this? Should I ask?

[Arha]

I have thought about it, but I haven't even suggested it. My sessions are taking place in a hospital and no way would they permit a big dog in there. Plus I think she'd be a huge distraction during the session. I am very conscious of not wasting my T's time, but also think I'd be using my pet as a distraction.
Questions I've asked myself are:
Would your pet distract from the therapy?
What would the presence of your pet add that you can't talk about without the pet there?
Is it therapy related, or (this is what I think would be my motive) or more related to getting the T to know you outside therapy?

[stopdog]

I think you should ask. The building might not allow pets, therapist could have allergies, other clients could have allergies and so forth.
I took a dog I had with me to the first therapist I ever saw for about a year.
I did it because the job I had meant the dog, who was very young, would have been alone for too long if I did not take her with me.
I stopped as soon as I had someone else to help me with her.
Mine was not a big distraction as such once she got used to it and she was not a very people loving dog so she would lie on her blanket with the bone I brought her.
But in general I find animals to be distracting. I don't think one can waste a therapist's time, the client is paying for that. I think it could be a waste of the client's time if the dog was distracting. I admit I don't usually think that my pets are judges of character one way or the other and would not use them as a testing tool for the therapist.
I do think the one I see mistakenly thought her dog would somehow be useful (she has told me her other clients love the dog and find him comforting or reassuring for some unknown reasons to me). IT was not. I do not go if the woman's dog is there.

[doyoutrustme]

He might be a distraction, depending on how he behaves... It is relevant to my therapy, because we are working on the fact that I trust animals far more than people.

[roimata]

I asked my therapist if I could bring puppy into sessions last year and she was cool with it. I know another client brings her Great Dane in, and there's another T in the building who has her little terrier there everyday. Wouldn't hurt to ask!

Edit: If it makes any difference, my T works in private practice, so how your T feels about you bringing in your pet may vary depending on whether she's working in some sort of clinical setting or not.

[critterlady]

My T used to have a client that brought his dog with him. Unfortunately, the building manager told T he couldn't have animals in the building unless they were service animals.

It's certainly worth asking about.

Originally Posted by critterlady

My T used to have a client that brought his dog with him. Unfortunately, the building manager told T he couldn't have animals in the building unless they were service animals.

It's certainly worth asking about.

Couldn't he claim the dog was a therapy dog, or assistance dog? I know assistance dogs are allowed anywhere guide dogs are over here. ETA i just learned that what you call service animals equals assistance dogs over here sorry for confusion.

[MoxieDoxie]

Mine has a therapy dog in a grate. A labadoodle. He used to bring him out to comfort me during dissociation or after a hard session. He does not offer that to me anymore. I feel like he decided I need to learn to comfort myself or something.

[Eliza Jane]

Yes! When I got a new dog, she asked if I wanted to bring her in. I did and it was neat to see her interact with my furry friend.

EJ

[BlessedRhiannon]

I would love to bring one of my dogs to a session, but the building my T is in (a huge office building) does not allow any animals except service animals. One of my dogs has often been mistaken for a service animal and I could probably bring him, but he's not the one that gives me the most comfort! My young dog brings me the most comfort because she'll sit in my lap and I find that very grounding. She's young, though, and acts like it. If I put the time in to training her specifically as a service dog, I could bring her with me, but I'm busy showing her in dog shows and performance events.

My pdoc often has his cat in the office, but I'm allergic, so he has to remove it when I'm there. The therapist that shares an office with him has her dog there sometimes too. So, I could probably bring a dog with me there, but I just don't see a need.

[ThisWayOut]

I brought my dogs to group once (after having the ok from my T and the group) and they actually scared the crap out of us... they were all on edge because of the energy in the room. My T would bring her dog in occasionally, and that was cool. I think I could take a dog with me to an individual session, but I learned my lesson about groups with this dog. I am not sure how my T would feel about any of my other pets though.

[growlycat]

LOL not sure if I'm just weird...in college I brought my pet rat to therapy, after asking first of course and only because he said he had one in college too. He held it like a kitten, it was really sweet!

[feralkittymom]

There were times when I would have loved having my cat with me, but my T was allergic, and my cat would not have appreciated being there!

I did, however, sometimes visualize her on my lap when I was upset, and that helped.

[Solepa]

I never did but I would love to have a cat or a dog in during the session. Doesn´t really matter if mine or hers. I have so much better relationship with animals then with people I can connect so easily to them. The only problem I can see in my situation is my T would be the odd one out there lol.
I even told her "Bring a kid or animal here and you will see a different me" ...but she didn´t lol.

I see my T at a hospital setting so I wouldn't think it would be allowed.
Would be a great idea though.

[kirby777]

I, too trust animals, much more than humans. I LOVE dogs! i am so happy around a bunch of dogs. I am a different person as well.

Now I would not bring my dog to T because I do not know how she would behave and would probably disrupt the session, pawing at the door.

I would like to see how T interacts w/my dog. She had a comment about my dog's name. She found it very telling.

My t brought her newborn puppies once. I was the first outside person to meet them. We also walked her dogs a couple of times. I am currently taking care of her dog, she left her with me while she had to leave the country for a family emergency two years ago.
T also met my pets when she came over to my house, and we took them for a walk. It was fun. T loves animals. Oh, and i also played with her pet horses once. T is very good with animals. We both trust animals more than we trust people.