Gary Barg: Tell me what about the “Support Partners Canine Companions Program” 
 
Linda Dano: In traveling the country and talking with thousands of people, we all realized the vitally important role that our dogs and cats and animals in general play in our lives. They can be more than just the family pet and actually become a part of your support team in a really valuable, intense way. For instance, when Frank died and I went down that terrible road of depression, the one thing aside from my support team of girlfriends and doctors, were my dogs. These dogs were with me when I was all alone, and because I had them, I was never completely isolated. Late at night when I couldn’t sleep, when I felt no joy and felt hopeless, they were there.  I had a reason to get up and get out of bed, which is a key thing for someone suffering from depression, as you know. Just any of the little things we take for granted when we’re feeling good about ourselves are hard to do; but if you have a pet, you have to tend to them: you have to feed them, walk them; you get away from yourself for a minute. You have someone to focus on, and we realized how important this element of trying to get our lives back is, so we added canine companions to the Support Partners Program. It’s really working, and people are looking at their pets in a much different light.  Animals help you focus on something other than how bad things are; you look in the eyes of an animal and it’s comforting. 
 
GB: What kind of feedback are you getting from caregivers about the program?...read more

Take Care

Gary Barg
Editor-in-Chief
gary@caregiver.com

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