Accidental dog therapy

Shortly after my diagnosis, a colleague came to visit me. She had survived the same breast cancer and shared her insights with me just as I was poised to begin treatment. One of her tips was that, during recovery, I needed to find a hobby that filled my days. Something new that I would enjoy, and would fill the hours off work with a distraction. No use spending all the time on the couch, fixating on the "What ifs."

She took up photography. I intensified my efforts in dog rescue. (Sometimes I think she made the wiser choice!) But to blog about life in-between treatment and recovery means that I must introduce you to my pack. They were an integral part of my support team during the awful experience of treatment, and continue to assist me as we live "in between." Each dog plays a role in keeping me focused and physically active - so if you are not a dog lover, you may wish to stop reading here!

Our journey (my husband and I) with dog rescue started the year before cancer arrived. We adopted 2 dogs from a rescue, Friendly Giants Dog Rescue. Jake was the first to arrive.

He had been pulled from a shelter in North Carolina, after having been dumped there far too young to be apart from his mother, or to survive the shelter. So he was pulled by the rescue, and plunked on a transport heading north. He arrived a sickly puppy and has grown into the most beautiful and intelligent dog I have owned.



Next came Harley.

Harley and I have a lot in common, as he has terrible hips and often limps with pain after a long day of too much activity. He is a survivor too - having been found in a forest in North Carolina, tied to a tree, starving, shot, and left to die. After intensive efforts to rehabilitate him, he is a stellar Cane Corso: powerfully built, physically intimidating and a big softie. He has bonded deeply with us, following me around the house and our property. All he wants is to be together with Pete and me.

And then there is Sam.

Sammy is the anchor of our pack. He is oldest, and was our very first rescue, arriving before Harley and Jake. After living in the Northwest Territories for a year, we brought him home from a shelter. Everyone loves Sam. He is small mixed breed; calm, gentle and very balanced. He is Harley's security blanket, Jake's playmate, and my snuggle buddy. He may be tiny, but he fills a huge spot in our pack and our hearts.

And of course we have Lady. Lady was originally a foster dog, but came to us with a complicated history. She is now a "forever foster" because while she has made a good deal of progress in the last year, we figure she would only regress if she left and had to make another adjustment to another family.

Walking my pack has been an essential tool for recovery: a simple pack walk conquers nausea, fights off the blues, and forces me to get up and out of bed every day no matter the weather or my body's objections. They are, without a doubt, a huge part of my personal support team.