By: Sheenagh Morrison
I would love to tell everyone about my friend, Amy.
Amy is a Newfoundland dog therapy dog. Amy is a registered therapy dog with Pacific Animal therapy Services.
There is a difference between a service dog and a therapy dog. Services dogs help you if you are visually or hearing impaired.
Therapy dogs are there to calm you down if you have anxiety issues, for example.
I live in a Supported Apartment situation where there are others in my program and we all have diverse ability / disability.
It’s nice for us to be able to visit with Amy for an hour. We are not allowed pets where we live, but Amy comes to visit our program once a month so we can get that time with animals.
We take her for walks on Dallas road, or in Beacon Hill park.
I now see Amy once a month by myself for a walk.
I find it easier by myself to get that time with her rather than in a big group where it was getting too overwhelming for me.
Amy use to go and visit students with special needs at Victor school on Mondays, but she got too old to go there.
Amy is 9 years old. She had a brother, Buddy, who was a black and white Newfoundland dog. She also has a great niece Newfoundland dog named is Pippin. Pippin is a year in a half.
All Newfoundland dogs are a Canadian breed and are water dogs. They are also rescue dogs and are supposed to be excellent swimmers.
But Amy is an embarrassment to the breed because she does not enjoy swimming! This one hot sunny day in August my program and I were out for a walk with her at the lake and we threw her favourite toy into the lake and she jumped in and went for a swim .
Amy is very special to me because when my dad passed away she helped when I was first struggling with my grief .
Amy is like a teddy bear. She’s there to give me animal love and support when I’m feeling down. I love having her in my life.
You can learn more about animal therapy by visiting http://patspets.ca/wordpress/
