Center for Pet Family Well-Being

09/07/2026

Today is Labor Day in the United States—a day when many of us step away from work, slow down, and enjoy a well-earned break.

But for service dogs, the responsibilities don’t disappear because it’s a holiday.

Service dogs are specially trained to perform tasks that support people with disabilities—from guiding and retrieving items to alerting to medical changes, providing mobility assistance, interrupting harmful behaviors, and much more. Their work can help make everyday life, employment, education, travel, and participation in the community more accessible.

September is National Service Dog Month, making today an especially meaningful time to recognize these remarkable human–animal partnerships.

Service dogs take their jobs seriously. They pay attention. They respond. They are there when they are needed—on workdays, weekends, vacations, and holidays.

And today, we are especially grateful for them. 💜🐾

We can support service dog teams, too: respect their space, don’t distract or pet a working service dog without permission, and remember that not every disability—or service dog task—is visible.

To the service dogs working this Labor Day: thank you for all that you do.

Do you have a service dog in your life or know a service dog team you’d like to recognize during National Service Dog Month?





Maddie's Fund

08/29/2026

Great job Candice Hodges Hinkle!

We do love all we do here at the University of Tennessee College of Social Work Center for Pet Family Well-Being!

Thank you Maddie's Fund for making our work possible!

08/24/2026

🐾 **Changing lives on both ends of the leash.**

Liberty Dogs™ pairs U.S. military Veterans living with PTSD with highly trained Service Dogs, including dogs adopted from shelters.

- Shelter dogs receive a second chance and a meaningful purpose.
- Veterans gain greater independence, confidence, and connection.
- And communities are stronger when both people and animals have the support they need to thrive.


Liberty Dogs was established by the Dave & Cheryl Duffield Foundation, whose philanthropic family also includes Maddie’s Maddie's Fund®.

Thank you, Liberty Dogs, for supporting shelter dogs, Veterans, and the communities they share. 💙🐕‍🦺

🎥 Watch their story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n7gvhDMSqk

Alina Dangerfield attended their leash passing ceremony Friday.

08/24/2026

We’re grateful to Maddie’s Maddie's Fund® for sponsoring the 2026 One Health Systems Summit! 🧡

Their support helps make it possible to bring together people working across **health, housing, social services, animal welfare, education, policy, and community systems** to address the structural challenges affecting families with pets—and work toward better, more connected solutions.

📅 **October 31, 2026**
📍 **San Antonio, Texas**
🧩 Pre-Conference Workshop at the 2026 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

Thank you, Maddie’s Fund, for continuing to invest in collaboration, innovation, and stronger systems for pet families. ** **

Learn more and register for the Summit:
https://csw.utk.edu/cpfw/one-health-systems-summit/


University of Tennessee College of Social Work
University of Tennessee, Knoxville

08/21/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined us for **The State of Pet-Inclusive Social Service Delivery: A National Snapshot of How Agencies Support Families with Pets**!

Our presenters, **Claire Schuch, PhD, and Kaitlyn Davis Andres, MS, MPH**, shared findings from a national survey of **209 U.S. social service agencies** and helped lead a great conversation about how organizations are supporting people and their pets.

If you missed the webinar—or would like to watch it again—the recording is now available:

🎥 **Watch here: https://youtu.be/iuGBV8z5Cwc

We also want to thank everyone who shared questions, ideas, resources, and examples from their own communities. That kind of exchange is what helps strengthen pet-inclusive services and build more connected One Health systems.

🎉 And congratulations to **Caitlin, our $50 gift card winner!**

Stay tuned—we’ll also be sharing the **data report and toolkit** from this project when they are available.

How are social service agencies across the United States responding...

08/17/2026

🐾 **How well are social service agencies equipped to support families with pets?**

Join us **this Wednesday, August 19, at 1:00 PM ET** for **The State of Pet-Inclusive Social Service Delivery: A National Snapshot of How Agencies Support Families with Pets.**

Claire Schuch, PhD, and Kaitlyn Davis Andres, MS, MPH, will share findings from a national survey of **209 U.S. social service agencies** examining how organizations currently address clients’ pets, barriers to pet-inclusive services, opportunities for collaboration, and the resources agencies need to better support the whole family.

Participants will leave with practical ideas for incorporating pets into service planning through a **Whole Family and One Health approach**.

🔗 **Register:** https://tiny.utk.edu/PetInclusiveServices






University of Tennessee, Knoxville
University of Tennessee College of Social Work
Maddie's Fund

08/07/2026

🎧 New Podcast: Understanding Pet Impacts on Quality of Life and Loneliness

How do pets influence our quality of life, sense of connection, and experiences of loneliness?

In a new podcast from the Human-Animal Interaction Section of APA Division 17, Center for Pet Family Well-Being team members Claire Schuch, PhD; Candice Hodges Hinkle, MBA, PMP; and Kaitlyn Davis Andres, MS, MPH discuss research exploring the complex role pets can play in people’s lives.

Pets may provide companionship, routine, purpose, comfort, and opportunities for social connection. But from a One Health perspective, the story does not stop there.

The well-being of pet families is also shaped by the environments and systems around them—including access to veterinary care, pet-inclusive housing, transportation, social services, financial resources, and community support.

Understanding the human-animal bond means looking beyond whether someone simply has a pet and asking:

💜 What helps people and pets thrive together?

🎧 Listen to Understanding Pet Impacts on Quality of Life and Loneliness:
https://www.human-animal-interaction.org/podcast/understanding-pet-impacts-on-quality-of-life-and-loneliness/

We’d love to hear from you: How have you seen pets influence loneliness, social connection, or quality of life—in your own life, your work, or your community?







University of Tennessee College of Social Work
Maddie's Fund

08/04/2026

🐾 **International Assistance Dog Week: We Are **

This week, we celebrate the remarkable partnerships between people with disabilities and the assistance dogs who support their independence, safety, health, mobility, and participation in everyday life.

Assistance Dogs International’s 2026 theme, ** **, reflects an important One Health truth: the well-being of people, animals, and the environments they share is deeply connected.

You may hear the terms **assistance dog** and **service dog** used interchangeably, but there is a slight difference.

🌍 **Assistance dog** is commonly used internationally as an umbrella term that includes guide dogs, hearing dogs, and service dogs.

🇺🇸 In the United States, **service animal** is the legal term used under the Americans with Disabilities Act for a dog individually trained to perform work or tasks related to a person’s disability.

Through a One Health lens:

👤 **Human:** Assistance dogs can support independence, mobility, communication, medical needs, emotional stability, and access to work, education, healthcare, transportation, and community life.

🐕 **Animal partner:** Assistance dogs are highly trained working partners and often deeply loved family members. Their physical and behavioral health, veterinary care, rest, appropriate workload, enrichment, and retirement all matter.

🌎 **Environment:** Accessibility depends on more than the dog. Welcoming businesses, workplaces, healthcare facilities, transportation systems, schools, housing, and community spaces help assistance dog teams participate safely and with dignity.

We are truly ** ** when communities remove barriers, respect working dog teams, and protect the well-being of both the person and the dog.

💬 **Join the conversation:**

What is one thing your workplace, organization, or community could do to better welcome assistance dog teams?

Assistance dog handlers: What do you wish more people understood about your partnership, access, etiquette, or your dog’s welfare?

Learn more:

🔗 International Assistance Dog Week:
https://assistancedogsinternational.org/iadw

🔗 Assistance Dogs International:
https://assistancedogsinternational.org/

🔗 Canine Companions’ campaign:
https://canine.org/news/bettertogether-campaign-highlight-assistance-dog-standards/

Canine Companions has joined in an international campaign to promote high training and welfare standards for assistance dogs. Read more.

07/17/2026

How well are social service agencies equipped to support pet families?

Join us for The State of Pet-Inclusive Social Service Delivery: A National Snapshot of How Agencies Support Families with Pets, presented by Claire Schuch, PhD, and Kaitlyn Davis Andres, MS, MPH.

📅 Wednesday, August 19, 2026
🕐 1:00 PM ET

This webinar will share findings from a national survey of 209 U.S. social service agencies, including current approaches to clients’ pets, barriers to pet-inclusive services, opportunities for cross-sector collaboration, and the resources agencies need to better support the whole family—people and pets.

REGISTER TODAY: https://tiny.utk.edu/PetInclusiveServices



University of Tennessee, Knoxville
University of Tennessee College of Social Work
Center for Pet Family Well-Being
Maddie's Fund

07/15/2026

40% of Americans would choose pets over children, new study finds

According to the survey, 44% of pet owners agreed that "the cost of living today makes me worry about whether I can continue to afford the life my pet deserves," with concern rising to 54% among Gen Z and Millennials

A growing number of Americans—particularly younger adults—are prioritising pets over parenthood, with many reshaping their finances and even future plans around their animals, according to a new survey by The Harris Poll