De-stress with a dog: New N.L. group to offer canine therapy for mental illness

When a doctor recommended Esther Vardy get a service dog to help with her bipolar symptoms, she struggled to find the resources.

Recognizing the gap in the mental health care system, Vardy and her husband got to work founding Pawsology, an organization dedicated to providing service dogs to those living with mental illness.

"This is looking like something that can help a lot more than just me," Vardy told CBC's Here & Now on Tuesday.

"I can put myself on the back burner for now and really focus on establishing something in Canada that can help more than just myself, and through others then I can get there for me too."

Vardy said there is one other organization in Canada that provides service dogs for people living with mental illness other than post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but it isn't accepting applications because it can't meet the demand.

Even touching a dog lowers our blood pressure, lowers our anxiety.- Glenn Redmond, Pawsology trainer

She's hoping her organization can help fill the void.

"We'd really like to provide tools to people outside of the traditional mental health care. There's lots of things that you can be involved in where you can get support and help," she said.

Glenn Redmond, the head trainer for Pawsology, said there are many ways a dog can help someone, and each dog will be trained specifically for the person it is paired with on a case by case basis.

"Somebody with anxiety issues that doesn't like to leave their house, that's afraid of going outside, or has real fear issues in that realm, certainly a dog can be trained to even just get them out the door. Even if it's for a five or 10 minute walk just around the block," he said.

"Even touching a dog lowers our blood pressure, lowers our anxiety. There are many aspects of a canine that can really help in these situations."

Bringing help to Newfoundland

Vardy lived in Ontario and Alberta before coming to Newfoundland three years ago. She said before moving here she had "a really tight team of mental health care" support.

She said she wondered how she would get the help she needs in her new home. 

"It took me a long time, a lot of speaking up, pushing for myself, pushing for what I need. Because I was so used to getting it, I knew what I wanted and what worked. Not everybody has that ability, they don't even know where to go for help," she said.

Pawsology is currently accepting applications for volunteers and from people looking for service dogs. They are working on gaining accreditation through Assistance Dogs International and are set to get their first three dogs in March.

Vardy said by mid-to-late summer she hopes to have paired a couple of service dogs with people who need them.

"Hopefully in 18 months their lives will be totally different," she said.