The TDV intervention consists of a one-time 10 minute TDV with the dog handler and his/her dog interacting with the patient. The therapy dog visitation program is a currently established program and each therapy dog meets obedience, temperament, and health standards required by the organization and are deemed appropriate to therapy dog visitation. For hygienic reasons, dogs are bathed before visitation and the patient is required to wash hands before and after the visit. The TDV will be casual and not restrict the handler with conversing, which is standard practice in TDV. The therapy dog will be leashed and controlled by the dog handler. If the participant wants the dog to be placed on the bed, a clean sheet will be placed on the bed in between the dog and patient. The TDV will be casual and not restrict the handler with conversing, which is standard practice in TDV. Tactile and visual contact with the dog will be promoted.

Participants randomized to the control condition will receive a new plush stuffed animal for the same 10-min timeframe without any structured activities. At the end of the session, a stuffed animal will be offered to the participant to keep.

The TDV intervention consists of a one-time 10 minute TDV with the dog handler and his/her dog interacting with the patient. The therapy dog visitation program is a currently established program and each therapy dog meets obedience, temperament, and health standards required by the organization and are deemed appropriate to therapy dog visitation. For hygienic reasons, dogs are bathed before visitation and the patient is required to wash hands before and after the visit. The TDV will be casual and not restrict the handler with conversing, which is standard practice in TDV. The therapy dog will be leashed and controlled by the dog handler. If the participant wants the dog to be placed on the bed, a clean sheet will be placed on the bed in between the dog and patient. The TDV will be casual and not restrict the handler with conversing, which is standard practice in TDV. Tactile and visual contact with the dog will be promoted.

State anxiety will be measured using the State Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAI-C), a widely used instrument with upper elementary or junior high school aged children. The instrument is composed of 20 statements that ask about how one feels at a particular moment in time with three responses from "very to not". Scores range from 20 to 80 and higher scores indicate a higher state of anxiety. Internal consistency has been demonstrated; researchers have reported acceptable reliability coefficients in hospitalized children ages 7-11 years old with Cronbach's α of .94.

The 10 PANAS-C is a 10 item youth self-report measure used in child and adolescent populations which asks youth to rate adjectives of varying mood states (5 negative and 5 positive affect adjectives) on how often they feel joyful, cheerful, happy, lively, and proud and miserable, mad, afraid, scared, and sad. The item responses use a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 ("very slightly or none at all") to 5 ("extremely"). The 10 item PANAS-C demonstrates acceptable validity and internal consistency estimates when compared to the full-length 27-item PANAS-C scale with alpha of .86 for the positive scale; .82 for the negative scale.

The 10 PANAS-C is a 10 item youth self-report measure used in child and adolescent populations which asks youth to rate adjectives of varying mood states (5 negative and 5 positive affect adjectives) on how often they feel joyful, cheerful, happy, lively, and proud and miserable, mad, afraid, scared, and sad. The item responses use a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 ("very slightly or none at all") to 5 ("extremely"). The 10 item PANAS-C demonstrates acceptable validity and internal consistency estimates when compared to the full-length 27-item PANAS-C scale with alpha of .86 for the positive scale; .82 for the negative scale.

Attachment to pets will be measured using the Pet Attitude Scale (PAS)Questionnaire.The PAS is an 18 item paper and pencil instrument with 7 Likert response statements which measures the favorableness of attitudes towards pets. Higher scores indicate more positive attitudes towards pets. Evidence of PAS-M is demonstrated with a Cronbach's alpha of .93.