The development of green care in western European countries.

This article represents a review of green care across Western European countries. The following questions are addressed: What is green care, and what are its basic goals? What are the most commonly known types of green care interventions, and how are they connected to each other? There are different sectors of green care intervention that vary from each other regarding their structure, specific goals, and purpose. These traits will be investigated in this review.

Physiological arousal for companion dogs working with their owners in animal-assisted activities and animal-assisted therapy.

This study investigated the physiological reactions of companion dogs (Canis familiaris) used in animal-assisted activities and animal-assisted therapy by measuring salivary cortisol concentrations. The dog caregivers (owners) collected saliva samples (a) at 3 control days without therapeutic work, (b) directly before and after each therapeutic session during 3 consecutive months, and (c) again at 3 control days without therapeutic work. The study used an enzyme immunoassay to analyze the samples.