As the two-legged member of a therapy dog team, I’m regularly practicing becoming a better human-centered leader with stronger empathy, vulnerability, and humility muscles. I still have a long way to go as I observe MarcelTheTherapyDog and all the other therapy dogs who are present for patients, students, staff members, and others. In fact, in recognition of their important role in providing animal-assisted therapy, the dogs were promoted to the title of “dog therapist” earlier this year at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Marcel and I also visit the College of Charleston to destress students and schools so students can read to him as a fun, low-stress way to improve their reading skills.

Volunteering with your dog is a “pawsome” experience, as our MUSC dog therapy leader Cathy Bennett likes to say. For my story as well as what we can learn about human-centered leadership from dogs, check out my Forbes blog from May 24, 2022, Want to be a better human-centered leader? Watch a therapy dog team at work.

And by the way, the dog pictured on the Forbes website is not Marcel, although he’d enjoy a workspace like that when he’s not playing on the beach, napping or getting pets in non-work situations. The picture here is from his “business card/trading card,” which also list his vital information, such as weight (100 pounds) and “barkday” (date of birth: 11/26/15).

The cards are for patients, students, staff members, and anyone else who wants to collect a memento to remember their visit with a dog therapist. By providing us and the other therapy dogs with these cards, MUSC (the Medical University of South Carolina) embeds many wonderful memories.