Four-Legged Therapy Heals Hearts

Happy Friday, everyone. Hopefully, wherever you are, you are starting to feel more signs of spring and beginning to heal after a tumultuous week last week. If you read the blog Monday, you are aware that I shared the 60 Minutes story on the importance of highly trained, bomb-sniffing dogs. Today, I'd like to share the story of a different breed of helper dog.

Photo via Jessica Testa/Buzzfeed

Meet Maggie, Addi, Ruthie, Luther and Isaiah, five helper dogs from K-9 Parish Comfort Dogs. Unlike bomb-sniffing dogs who are trained to sniff out bad things, these dogs are trained to heal good people through emotional support. These dogs travel all over the country providing support to humans in times of tragedy. Two of them actually work at Sandy Hook Elementary full-time.

National Geographic posted an excellent article about the importance of the human-canine bond. These dogs and this organization represent the importance of animals in our lives. We've all heard the stories about how pet owners tend to have longer, happier lives than non-pet owners, and now we're seeing first-hand what a couple of hours, or even a couple of minutes, petting and playing with a dog can do for our emotional well-being.