A new study from Wayne State University finds therapy dogs may be just what the doctor ordered for kids experiencing anxiety in the emergency room.

Research shows around 15% of children need medication or physical restraint just to get through treatment in the ER, adding to an already stressful situation for them and their parents. The study included 80 kids ages 5 to 17, who received standard child-life therapy, but half of the kids also spent about ten minutes with a therapy dog team.

Dr. Jeffrey Kline, lead researcher and Wayne State emergency medicine professor, says there was an almost 50% reduction in anxiety among the kids who interacted with the therapy dogs.

“The dogs worked as well as, say for example, a drug like Valium, but with no drug,” Kline said. “Also, the kids that received the therapy dog plus handler generally required fewer behavioral control medications.”

More than half of the kids who did not see a therapy dog needed medication to calm their anxiety. However, in the group that spent time with a dog, only about a third needed those drugs.

Kline says there are more than 50,000 therapy dogs in hospitals, schools, and nursing homes across the country, helping comfort people of all ages, from pediatrics to geriatrics.