Sit, Stay, and Teach: Exploring Teachers' Perceptions of Facility Dogs' Impact on Stress and Retention

The teaching profession remains at a high level of workplace stress, a factor contributing to teacher burnout and turnover. The study examines how teachers in K-12 public education perceived that facility dogs might reduce stress, increase job satisfaction, and aid in teacher retention in public schools of a southeastern state. The study employed a qualitative, cross-sectional survey that was emailed to 112,546 educators from a LISTSERV request. A total of 1,242 individuals provided informed consent and completed the survey, which consisted of Likert-scale measurement items, open-ended questions, and an informational video inserted to achieve a common understanding of the facility dog concept.

Nearly three-quarters of the respondents reported feeling stressed often or always, and approximately 69% indicated that they had considered leaving the profession due to stress, according to the survey results. The response was overwhelmingly positive in terms of teachers’ perceptions of facility dogs as a support. Over 86% agreed that facility dogs could help alleviate anxiety, and 87% thought they would enhance job satisfaction. Open-ended responses characterized dogs as calming and supportive, while also boosting morale; far fewer teachers expressed practical concerns, such as the program’s cost, daily care, or training requirements.

Altogether, this evidence indicates that facility dogs can help improve teacher well-being and retention when purposefully introduced as a resource. The research highlights the opportunity presented by human–animal interactions as a low-cost, high-impact tool to enrich the emotional climate of schools and the professional quality of life for teachers.