After the shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville, more than 40 dogs have been taken in by families at Covenant, a small Christian school of about 120, according to an article in the New York Times.

The story features two siblings who lived through the shooting and created a PowerPoint presentation for their parents explaining how a dog could help them avoid PTSD, improve their mental health and boost their happiness.

Dogs do indeed provide kids with many mental health benefits, said Tommy Wilde, an animal expert and founder of Floofmania.com, an online publication about North American wildlife.

“Emotional support dogs don’t care who you are, what you look like, or if you’re smart, stupid, beautiful, ugly or if you’re able to correctly express yourself in English or any other language for that matter,” he said.

A child who needs emotional support might be intimidated or have preconceived ideas about what the adults around them might think or feel. But they’d never think that about a dog, one of the reasons kids feel comfortable getting emotional support from their canine companions, he said.

“In addition to that, a good emotional support dog will be an unconditional friend that provides love and attention no matter how you’re feeling,” Wilde said. “They easily identify our emotions and instinctively know how to respond to them in an extremely empathetic and uncomplicated way.”

What’s more, a dog’s familiar presence can help a kid feel less vulnerable in unfamiliar environments. The dog’s familiar smell, feel and sound can provide reassurance to a child, increasing their sense of security and reducing their stress and fear, said Paola Cuevas, a veterinarian and animal behaviorist with Petkeen.com.

We see these empathic dog traits in our golden retriever, Hudson. If anyone in our household raises their voice, cries or expresses any kind of negative emotion, he comes running.

He sits in front of whoever is upset, and looks into their eyes, as if curious about what’s causing the trouble. We like to say that when Hudson does this, he’s reporting for duty. He presses against the upset person and stays by their side.

There’s science behind the way dogs help kids with emotional challenges, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. Petting a dog reduces the stress hormone cortisol, while the social interaction between people and their dogs actually increases levels of ocytocin, which is a feel-good hormone.

“In fact, an astonishing 84 percent of post-traumatic stress disorder patients paired with a service dog reported a significant reduction in symptoms, and 40 percent were able to decrease their medications, reported a recent survey,” said Johns Hopkins.

The siblings who created a PowerPoint presentation for their parents did a great job of studying up on the many emotional benefits of bonding with a dog!