Are you a dog lover?
Every 26th August is our special furry friends day. This day celebrates working, domestic, and service dogs of all breeds. It also aims to raise awareness of the number of dogs still awaiting adoption from shelters and rescue agencies.
I hope you get to share more love and affection today. As dog lovers, we not only say a dog is a man's best friend, but we know and believe it. We have all the reasons in the world to justify this.
Photo credit: Blue Bird from Pexels
Dogs are unique pets. They're playful, friendly, loyal and listen to humans. Growing up, we had a family dog and ooh, what a best friend he was! It was a Rhodesian Ridgeback, and he was full of energy and life. He was called "Simba", meaning Lion in Swahili. We were both so active in each other's daily lives and routines. Simba was kept on our lawn, but every morning when I wake up, it was such a joyous moment to hug and play with Simba. We sadly lost him at some point, and the grief of losing him was painful. We all have our beloved dog story. What is your dog story?
All dogs offer emotional support to all of us, dog lovers and owners.
Emotional Assistance Dogs
So, what is an emotional assistance dog? They are not pets. A licensed mental health professional prescribes a legalised emotional support dog to a person with a disabling mental illness. However, the health professionals must determine that the pet is needed by the patient for their mental health needs. Emotional support dogs don't need to undergo any special training.
They are great at providing comfort to people through unconditional affection and companionship; hence they can psychologically benefit an individual with a disability - with a great deal of mental and emotional help.
Photo credit: Zen Chung from Pexels
Service dogs
What is a service dog? Service dogs are trained dogs to give service to people with disabilities. These dogs help their owners to perform their day to day activities and enable them to live an independent life. They play a valuable role but are also great loving friends to their owners.
Some qualities of service dogs are calm, intelligent, friendly, loving and a desire to work. Here are dog breeds that are commonly service dogs, i.e. Golden retrievers, German shepherds, Labradors. They have full access to public places like restaurants, libraries, airports, to mention a few.
Photo credit: Blue Bird from Pexels
Lastly, service dogs, therapy dogs and emotional support dogs offer different purposes to their respective masters. Service dogs help people with disabilities perform a function, while therapy dogs provide affection and comfort in hospitals, nursing homes and other care facilities.
Five facts about dogs
Brooch collaboration
We are delighted to share our She loves blooms and Poly Paige brooch collaboration. This dog brooch was inspired by World Dog Day. It will be available in 2 weeks, but you can pre-order now. We have also collaborated with Renay and her assistance dog Luna (IG: @fn_feminist). Renay will be sharing her story in our next blog piece, so do stay tuned for that!
I hope you like our collaboration piece as much as we do. Here is a sneak peek just for you.
As always feel free to share your dog story and your thoughts :)
Until next time, Happy Furry Week!
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