The Benefits of Dogs on Mental Health

Please welcome our guest writer, Jessica Brody from ourbestfriends.com.

Photo via Pexels.

It will come as no surprise to most people that dogs make people happy. However, the effects of canine interaction go beyond a simple mood lift. According to Time, dog owners tend to live longer, happier and healthier lives. If you are suffering from a mental health disorder, getting a dog may just be the best thing you could do to help. Read on for tips from Dr. Nicole Galante on how to determine if a dog can provide the healing and comfort you need. 

How Can A Dog Help?

While many other animals can and have been used for emotional support, dogs remain the most popular option for a few reasons. 

• Playing with and cuddling a dog fulfills the human need to touch and provides a soothing effect on the brain.

• Dogs are highly empathetic. They can tell when you are down and feel compelled to help.

• Their playful attitude can be a positive influence and a relief from the stresses of life.

• Dogs push people to go out the house, offering plenty of opportunity for exercise and socialization (e.g: training classes, playdates, dog park visits), both of which are great for mental health. 

• They can relieve loneliness for people who live on their own.

• They provide a sense of responsibility and, for people with severe depression, a reason to live and to get better.

Which Dog To Choose?

Not all dogs are perfect as emotional support animals and some are more suited to some disorders than others. If you have depression, you need a dog that is happy, excitable and loves to cuddle. You can opt for a more high-energy breed, but they should be trained to behave in public. According to Bustle, good examples include Labradors and Golden Retrievers. If your mental health issues are related anxiety or PTSD, you still need a dog that enjoys physical contact, but you may need a calmer breed. Saint Bernards, Corgis and Dachshunds are good options.

Overall, any dog that is calm and likes human contact is ideal for mental health support. You should also consider other aspects such as time, budget and activity to choose a breed that fits in with your lifestyle. 

Therapy Dog or Pet?

Therapy dogs for people with mental health illnesses vary slightly from the service dogs used by people with physical disabilities, which are trained to fulfill specific tasks. An emotional support dog doesn’t have to fulfill a specific purpose: They’re just there to make you happier. This distinction is important because despite what many people think, therapy dogs do not have to be allowed into private businesses like service dogs do. The main benefits of therapy dogs are being entitled to live and travel by air with the animal. 

If you decide a therapy dog is the right choice, you’ll need to obtain a letter of recommendation from your therapist or doctor. A professional should give you a letter based on whether they feel a therapy dog would help you and whether you are in a condition to maintain one.

Prepare Your Home for a Dog

Once you’ve made the decision to bring home a furry friend, you need to gather all the necessities. This includes a bed, possibly a crate, a leash or harness, a collar, food and water dishes, toys and dog food. If you have a large backyard that’s unfenced, it would be wise to consider installing a fence. Particularly if you’re bringing home a younger dog with a lot of energy. A fenced-in area offers a place to safely play, and it provides protection for your pup. Bear in mind that when you want to have a fence built, it’s important to order a land survey. Knowing the exact measurements of your property boundaries will ensure you don’t infringe on your neighbors, which can lead to pricey legal disputes. 

There’s a reason why dogs have consistently been man’s best friend for millennia. Even our oldest ancestors, when domesticating wolves for things like hunting and protection, benefited from the companionship a dog can bring. Dogs are unfalteringly loyal, unconditionally loving, and intelligent enough to understand sadness, empathy, and comfort. When you add the fact that they are furry, adorable, and a delight to spend time with, it becomes obvious why they are an incredible source of mental health relief. 

In your continued efforts to find balance, consider healing therapies offered by Dr. Nicole Galante. Through sound or healing sessions or even guided meditation, Dr. Galante wants to help you on your healing journey. 

Sitting with the Unsettled

Have you ever been in a situation where something does not feel right? Something feels off, but you cannot put your finger on it? For myself, I have felt this many times over the years. Definitely more so in the last year. The energy doesn’t feel right, nothing feels like it has an easy flow. Instantly, I always look for outside forces, the moon, storms, cloudy day, the planets, the unsettled world, did I eat something bad, did Randy get in the bird seed…the list is end less. Honestly, I could spend hours analyzing the “outside reasons” for the unsettle that I am feeling, which can range from mild to extreme.

Somedays, the unsettled also seems to be a void of energy as if I am not able to put any energy into that void other than to let it be. Again, it is just something that you cannot quite grasp or make sense of, or even explain. It just has a presence.

I talk a lot about connecting with nature, because it gets my energy into the present moment, and being with my animals in the present moment is so grounding. Although it may not “settle” that energy, it gives it time to clear. Finding little rituals at this time is important. I keep a little space set up with a candle and a crystal or two. Whatever, I am called to do at the time. Lighting that candle and just asking the universe for some supportive energy is important, meditation or other rituals may not feel “easy” to connect with during this time, just something small is all that is needed to ask and start receiving the support that is needed.

Be forgiving of yourself, know that the unsettle may not be external, internal or even yours. It could be the energy around you at the time. Say a little prayer for yourself, for the space where you are, send some serious love to yourself and then out to the world, and you will find peace in the moment.

All My Best,

Dr. Nicole

What the animals are saying…

We have welcomed the calendar years entrance into Spring. We all have different times and ways Spring announces it’s arrival where we live. Have you noticed all the shifts in nature that is coming with this season? Here, not only has the sap begun to move from the roots of trees to bring life to it’s branches and buds are beginning to appear, but animals have started to show themselves everywhere. Coming out from hiding or from the south. They are all here now, out in full force.

I was trying to think back to the time that this book, Animal-Speak, The Spiritual and Magical Powers of Creatures Great and Small by Ted Andrews, came to me. The exact moment has not returned to my memory, most likely because it is not relevant, but what is important is that this book has traveled many miles with me. On many hikes, many island visits, may camping trips and I’ve slept with it right under my pillow for immediate reach when it’s needed. This book and information within keeps me connected to my soul and my spirit.

In many shamanic traditions they have a journey to find you spirit animal is a part of learning the way of the elders. For thousands of years we have lived in among many, many different animals on this planet. We have watched their patterns, their paths and have “listened” to what they have to tell us. They have messages about the weather, predators, and life patterns. Within the teachings of this book I have truly witnessed and learned many lessons about what animals are here telling me. Most importantly, what insights they have for me about myself.

Enjoy this book, embrace this book. If it speaks to you, allow yourself to find your spirit animal or animals. Seek the messages that are here for you, today and always.

There is magic happening here!

It is the last week of winter, even though I find myself sad about “letting go” of the solitude I find durning the darker months, nature is steadily showing signs of spring.

The geese have all returned, their continual chatter and gossip of their winter travels are being relayed and are an enjoyable rhythm to listen too. I wonder if they too, are feeling the energy shifts on the planet? How could they not? The shifts are palpable.

Spring is showing its subtle signs in nature. Squirrels are abundant, they have started to come out and play as well as forage. The chorus of spring birds is expanding, and as each arrive, they are adding their melodies to the music that awakens the Earth from slumber.

The earth beneath my feet is softening, the energy of the trees is changing as they are waking up. There is magic happening here! As the snow and ice gradually melts, hints of the lush, green ground cover is exposing itself to longer days. As droplets slowly melt and free them from there winter encasement, they reach for the sun, and it makes my soul feel alive.

This past year has definitely given me time to reflect, time to reconnect and be present. It is so easy to get lost in schedules, projects, and “life.” It has truly been awhile since I have been able to get myself settled. It is truly important to remember to keep coming back to the present. It is a tough task some days, however the more you practice being present, the easier it becomes.

Gentle reminders as we come into Spring:

Be Kind to Yourself

Positive Self-talk

Be Gentle, You are just tapping into your roots.

Feed Your Soul

Listen to Your Surroundings

Breathe in Fresh Air

Walk Barefoot on the Fresh Grass

Take Time to Be Present

Allow yourself to feel the magic of Spring. Be open for all this beautiful season of renewal had to offer. XOXO

Dr. Nicole

Signs of Spring

I went out to do my morning barn chores this morning, and there was 3 extra inches of grass that has emerged from underneath the snow, and some of it is even green! Every morning now the grass area will get bigger as the snow recedes.

As I open up the chicken coop for the day, I hear a hen clucking, they are starting to lay again. I wonder if I will have a clutch hidden on me again this year and have baby chicks seem to pop up out of no where.

I look out at out towards the pond as I close the coop door and I realize that the Canadian geese that come every year are probably not far way now. I love when they return again to swim, explore, call to each other, and raise their young.

I pass the my garden that is laden with snow, and ponder the arrangement of veggies that I grew last year, and where they will need to go this year, and did I remember to order the last couple of seed packets that I wanted to try…

The walk way to the barn is changing from ice and snow to a bit of mud. I let Rosie the cow and Randy the sheep out for the day. Rosie will have green grass to munch instead of just hay she has had for the last few months, and soon Randy will need shearing.

The list of changes that comes with the arrival of spring runs through my head: the violets and johnny jump-ups, the cats chewing on plants started inside, the shrubs blooming, how to keep Randy from eating all the flowers, robins hopping and flying about he ground and trees, the mud that will be here for a couple of weeks, the grass that will need mowing soon after that. So many things are about to happen!

But for now I stop to inhale the smell of spring that is on the breeze, the energy that is coming from the earth as it wakes, and the possibility of life that is awaiting to “Spring” forth. I will enjoy witnessing each of these things in there own time. Until then the excitement of the Earth awakening resides in me as well.

What are you waiting to see or feel this spring?

All My Best,

Dr. Nicole

20 Hawks

Ever have a time when a few chapters in your life where everything feels stagnant? No matter how much you try to meditate, try to change your surroundings, fight off the urge to run, basically just try to see things differently, just to feel something that is different than the “funk” surrounding you, the “funk” that is within you? It is difficult to sit with your own energy, especially when the world around us feels like a slow hamster wheel.

I have been lost many times along my way, and while I do manage to spend time every single day outside due to the needs of my animals I don’t always take enough time to just be in my surroundings, soaking in the messages from nature.

Have you ever been traveling somewhere and seen a bird, deer, dragonfly or raccoon? Did you ever take a moment to think in that the exact moment about the message that came along with seeing that animal? Being present in the moment is the best way to allow your energy to be open to receive the spiritual gifts that are presenting themselves to you.

Last month, the energy during Mercury Retrograde was heavy for some, almost feel like having blinders on, or basically treading water. It was during this time spirit reminded me to take time to be in my surroundings, to “see” what animals and messages that where coming my way.

It was a random day of the week, it felt no different than any other day, except I noticed a hawk sitting in a tree. All of a sudden my heart felt lighter. I felt my energy shift, as hawks represent the ability to use intuition and higher vision in order to complete tasks or make important decisions. Within an hour and a half, I had seen 14 hawks, and by the time the sunset, I had seen a total of 20.

Up until that day, I had been feeling stuck. These bird messengers gifted me with a new perspective, a sense of clarity and a big hug from the spirit world and beyond that there is never a moment my soul is left alone. It was extremely powerful, and a reminder to be present, to keep you heart open and be willing to be uncomfortable in your own skin, for it is a way to shed off a few energetical layers to reveal something new.

While I have my own spirit animal through my shamanic work, every encounter I have is a message from the spirit world and is gifting me a piece of wisdom I need to have in my life. Take a deep breath, ask for help when you need, look around and you will be surprised what you see.

The Love That You Are

This month the theme of love and the shining of our light that carries our love has been a theme, and how very timely this theme has been. I also mentioned, sometimes the love that surrounds us is hard to see, but really love is always with you. Some of us love ourselves implicitly, some of us love passionately everyone around us, but forget ourselves. Some days we are both of these people. Either way we benefit when we give ourselves time, attention and our own love.

You know that I love to be outside no matter the season, to have the sun on my face, my feet on the ground and surrounded by animals. Here I can close my eyes and come back to myself, remember the love that I am, and that I have for myself. It is these beautiful moments like this that I would like to be able to help you with, to find or remember that place within yourself where your sun shines, where you can ground yourself and be the part of nature and love that you are.

To do this, I have a few suggestions for a meditation for finding a place of peace to look inward, towards your heart and finding love there. A love for yourself and the grace to receive it unconditionally. Your heart holds the light that allows you to see the Love That You Are.

Where do you feel the most relaxed and at peace? What are your ideal circumstances for comfort, healing and safety? Can you physically be there? If so, great! If not, making yourself comfortable and envisioning yourself there is a wonderful place to be as well.

Please start with getting to your space and getting comfortable. Take three deep breaths and start to notice your surroundings. Slowly ask yourself: What do you see? What do you hear? Do other senses come into play? Make sure to acknowledge and enjoy what brings you this ability to ground and enjoy the calm and peace that surrounds you.

When you have settled into this place take notice of in what part of your body does this awareness take place? On your skin? In your mind? In your heart?

Let’s try to bring that awareness to your heart. Bring the peace, warmth and contentment you have in this space to your heart. This may take some practice. If you need to place your hand over your heart to start with, just bring one aspect of what you are feeling there. In time more will follow. This is where the light of your love shines, it shines right there within you. This love is for you and it is you. Take your time there, getting to know this love and that it is really you. Let it spread throughout your body as your heart beats, let it grow, let it fill you, and let it spill over into the world.

Welcome your love back to yourself, welcome yourself back to yourself.

Carry this light within you where ever you are or go, and remember these sensations of love for what they are, You! The more you visualize and remember who you are, the easier it is to hold this understanding and bring it forth.

I do this daily, as there are many distractions in this world that can make it easy to forget to remember myself, and as many teachers say, on the days where I don’t have time, I do it twice.

All My Best,

Dr. Nicole

Coming Back to Myself

Hello Everyone!

Sorry, for long absence of me writing to you here. I have started numerous blog posts, some with what I felt to be profound words, that turned into mush halfway through and then thoughts became so jumbled I could not get them down on paper... So, finally I awoke this morning with some clarity. Please, be patient as I once again transcribe thoughts and feelings in my head into writing.

Time has flown by, this last year seems like a blur. If I had a feelings chart, you know one of those that you put on your refrigerator to help identify what a person is going through at the moment, I would definitely have cycled through EVERY single emotion, EVERY day. While trying to navigate though the constant stream of emotions, I thought my physical day had not changed much, in retrospect it has indeed changed. Life has changed. Perhaps it was just denial or trying to remain calm, life has shifted into a new paradigm.

While talking with a now, new stay-at-home mom, who is trying to navigate “at home learning” while still maintaining her sanity, our conversation was interrupted by her child and she asked, “Why are you not on with your teacher? You need to be on the computer with your teacher...” Directions where given and our conversation continued. Not two minutes later this mom was asking, “Why are you in your Captain America costume? You need to get back on the computer with your teacher...” It was in this moment I realized we are all navigating life in our own special way.

While we are in challenging, frustrating and nerve wracking times, remember there is truly an immense amount of LOVE and UNDERSTANDING as every single one of us have our struggles with this new paradigm. Remember all of your feelings are valid, and need to be worked through. When you need to, take a moment to breathe, scream in a pillow, cry in your safe space, get outside or whatever you need to do in the movement. Feel it, acknowledge it and then let it go.

As many of you know I LOVE WINTER! So, regardless of the cold and snow, I get outside. I recommend this to everyone. Spending time in nature is the only thing that brings me back to myself, but I may invest in a Captain America costume to bring me that joy, or maybe dress up Randy.

All My Best,

Dr. Nicole

Let me tell you about Miss Rosie…

Miss Rosie was rescued when she was about 10 months old, she is now 16.  Miss Rosie spent 10 years of her life on a downeast farm where she was the family milk cow. Chances are if you lived in Downeast Maine during this time, you had milk from Rosie.  She was treated like a queen, she had three little girls who grew up painting her hooves and dressing her up.  Rosie had 4 calves over the years and she became the “farm pet.”  As the children grew and life changed, the family decided not to have a farm anymore, it was a Full Time Job, and they were adjusting to their family’s growing needs. They thought long and hard about “what to do with their beloved Rosie.

That is where Mike and I enter the picture.  The family asked if we could give Rosie a “retirement home”.  Besides having some backyard chickens, which is a blog for another day, we decided to welcome Rosie to our home.  Neither of us ever had livestock, I actually grew up in the city, and honestly we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into, but we were all in. 

We got Miss Rosie a barn, I painted her some signs and  made it her home. We learned that the Feed and Seed was now our favorite new place to shop for the essentials for a queen. In the years Rosie has been retired I have learned many more things… It’s her way or NO way.  During the winter she will not come out of her barn, unless you bring snacks and snowshoe her a path.  In the summer she prefers two fans, as one requires her to turn back and forth from her face to her bum, but if she has two it’s almost like AC.  She loves apples, she loves scratching her neck on all the trees, she hates fly spray, will tolerate a bandana, and will never turn down a brushing.  She loves when the school bus shows up with a group of kids, and on those days it’s always about her.  Rosie has also enjoyed the garden club, when they came she was a star, and the flowers decorated her. There also was another group of artists that brought their easels and paints and sure enough Rosie did not disappoint. 

Rosie also happily goes for walks, and she never turns down attention. She is very social.  I learned that Rosie loves men, I mean LOVES them.  She turns into a total flirt, her head down and kicking up dirt and then blowing at them all. I have left patients laying on my chiropractic table because the neighbor called and Rosie was out running the neighborhood. 

Rosie’s great to talk to if you need a good cry. She can take all of your weight, give you warmth, and always listens until you are good and done with all that you have to say. Rosie has listened to it all, all my woes and all my excitement. Rosie will endlessly “help” Mike clean her stall, but she likes it done her way. I assure you that Mike’s words are sometimes colorful, but she just lets his words go, and keeps right along “helping” in her own special way,

Rosie has been a pure joy, I have looked out and seen her playing with the deer, I have pulled porcupine quills out of her head, but I told her she made the best cow-icorn ever.  She’s one of the loves of our lives, she’s a rock to anchor us, she makes sure we get out everyday and most days lets me process my day with her, aloud or to myself, but I’m there in the barn with her.  She gives me the space to bring me back to myself. There has not been a minute we have not enjoyed her spirit and energy around our home, and she helps make our house, home. 

When people ask what do you have for pets? I have a list that I go through and when I get to Rosie I say, “We have a 1,200 lb dog.” 

“All My Best.” - Dr Nicole

Who is Randy?

Randy came into the world in February 2019, in the frigid cold. It was so cold that his mother was unable to get him up and dried off quickly enough before frostbite had set in. Luckily, Randy’s farmers were able to get him inside and thought out his frozen body with a hairdryer and nursed him back to health. This took about three months. While Randy has some permanent damage to his hind legs, ears, and feet, he is a healthy, wooly lamb. 

October 2019, I was having a conversation with one of Randy’s farmers about getting Miss Rosie a companion animal. As I felt she gets a little depressed in the darker months. At this time I was told all about the little frostbitten lamb, who just did not quite fit in around there “working“ farm. I do not think of myself as a farmer, I think of myself as a caretaker of all creatures in a steward of my land. So, arrangements were made to bring this 9-month-old lamb to become part of our family.

Randy was dropped off on a beautiful fall day, the air was crisp, the sky was blue and I had no idea how to care for a sheep, honestly I never even had been around sheep. He was timid during the first couple of days but wanted nothing to do with being in a barn or a pen or a companion for Miss Rosie. He was stuck to Mike and I like glue. Lester was beyond excited to have a mini-me to play with, and could not figure out why Randy could not come inside to play. 

In less than 48 hours we learned that Randy did not care about electric fences, he really wanted to eat anything but grass/hay, he loves to be fussed over, to have his chin scratched, and he let us know he was not your “ordinary sheep“. 

Fast forward, Randy has been in our lives for nine months, which in sheep parent terms “terms“ it feels like decades. The winter presented some Randy challenges, mostly convincing him he was not a house sheep, although his persistence was enough to figure out how to open the front door, the garage door...basically, any entry to the house was fair game. Calling the local hardware store asking for someone to fix your screen door, because your pet sheep just walked in, is just “normal“ these days

Spring presented an entirely new set of Randy “issues”. I have spent 14 years working on my flower gardens, they are truly a labor of love, for Randy they have been what he loves to eat! The first glimpses of the greens were tempting and tender, which he really enjoyed. The gardens that had open borders were Randy’s favorite spots to graze, the ENTIRE DAY. We spent hours trying to find the best “Randy proof” fencing, we had several failed attempts, as he would find the weakest spot and then, there he would be, grazing on daylilies and peonies. There are decorative fences, my yard-garb creations my dad made, pallets, old windows, and rocks all over the yard surrounding the gardens. While they look nice, there are a few plants Randy loves and there are extra layers of protection for them. Luckily, the vegetable garden has always been protected, from Miss Rosie as well as the neighborhood dear. Over the years I have enjoyed planting annuals and having a splash of color all over the yard, now those are simply hanging baskets as well as a couple of pots behind dog gates. Which are 100% effective if put in the exact right spot.

Randy just wants to be included in EVERY SINGLE  thing we do. He would hop in the truck and go if we let him, he never misses a walk, he is kind to every animal he meets, he watches the cats with amazement, he enjoys animal planet when he’s inside, he hangs out with the chickens, he greets the delivery people, he lets you know when it’s 6 PM (time to eat!), he loves kisses, he loves to be brushed, he loves Lester, he burps a lot, he nibbles everything, he enjoys a cool day and most of all he makes your soul happy. Randy, has bought brought an endless amount of joy to our home, we say, “No Randy” at least 20 times a day, and he will gladly nibble on your tire if you come and visit but no worries, he’s never given anyone a flat.

There has yet to be a dull moment around since we adopted Randy. Nor, has there been a reason to lock our doors before, but now we do, all because of a sheep name Randy. He’s the fluffiest, funniest creature, he thinks he’s skinny and knocks over our lawn furniture, and he sleeps on the dog bed beds. On a happy note, upon weeding my garden he will eat the entire pile of weeds which is great for me, a little less work. There are days that just Randy alone, can leave you feeling like you have been chasing 10 toddlers around all day, but in reality, it’s just been Randy touching everything. 

Randy has a very special relationship with Lester, their energy feeds off each other, and in their time together it is easy to hear each of them blaming the other for all things wrong. There is a “sheepish“ way Randy looks at Lester and calling him the “black sheep.” They are indeed a pair, and our lives will never be the same because of the two of them. We have enjoyed watching Randy’s personality flourish, we have enjoyed watching him try to be a “real sheep“, we have learned resiliency of plants and their ability to adapt to a short growing spring. We enjoy our family walks, and most of all we LOVE RANDY and all his little quirks, he fits in perfectly.

All My Best,

Dr. Nicole