A furry, four-legged prescription for mental health

There she sits with her majestic, soft fur. Her front paws tucked gently beneath her face, tongue drooling, eyes beholding a galaxy of emotions.

A few minutes running your fingers through Willow’s silky, smooth fur is all it takes for your heart to be stolen. At six, Willow already knows a lot of tricks. She can fetch, sit on command and gulp down a dozen treats. But nothing comes close to her ability to heal people.

Willow started training to be a therapy ‘dog’ in 2021.

Reminiscing, Willow’s proud owner David Milne told Bristol24/7: “She’s such a lovely, friendly dog that I thought she would be a much better companion dog.”

The best start to any day is getting a relaxing nap

It took a little research to get the ball rolling.

Milne reached out to a charity called Therapy Dogs Nationwide, which first assessed Willow to check if she had the potential to become a therapy dog. Beaming with pride, David said Willow passed with “flying colours”.

Since then, David and Willow have visited student accommodation, schools, mental health facilities and hospitals, acting as a beacon of hope for many.

Catherine Milne, David’s wife, said that when she accompanied the pair on one of their trips Willow’s healing effect was clear to see. Mrs Milne said: “It was a mental health hospital and one of the things that really got me was when we went to a ward where people are (placed) when they arrive.

Willow is NOT a husky! She is half Northern Inuit and half Utonagan

“Willow lay on the ground and the nurses brought patients up and you could see they were really heavily medicated.

“There was one chap who came over and touched her ears very gently. Then the nurse said – could you go and put that light on for me? And he went and put the light switch on and she got really excited about that. I didn’t quite know what was going on.

“What we were told afterward was that this gentleman had OCD and he hadn’t been able to touch anything since he had come in. But the fact he touched Willow’s ears and it was alright for him to touch a light was a real breakthrough.”

Willow is one of the many dogs that perform what is called animal assisted therapy – the foundations of which can be traced back to Florence Nightingale in the 1800s.

Willow is a certified therapy dog

A 2022 RSPCA survey of pet owners in the UK showed that 87 per cent of dog owners, 82 per cent of cat owners and 78 per cent of rabbit owners credit their pets as helping them feel mentally healthier.

When you meet her, it’s hard not to be mesmerised by Willow’s tranquillity. Catherine recalls it took a lot of work to get Willow to this point of calmness she is at today. She explained: “When she was younger, she was still very big and would jump up when she got excited. If a small dog jumps up there’s no issue but if a big dog jumps up at a small person, or an older person or a child then they could go down. So we did a lot of work to calm her and tell her to sit. She doesn’t jump at all now.”

Catherine added: “The great thing about Willow is that you can touch any part of her body. You can touch her paws, you can touch her ears, her tail and that’s fine! She loves that!

Agreeing with Catherine, David continued: “It’s such a calm atmosphere when she’s there with people. There’s a lot of enthusiastic people who want to come and meet her but she’s really calm. She loves the attention.”

Willow brings joy into every room with her wagging tail, fluffy ears and beautiful eyes. Her story is a powerful example of how pets can positively contribute to mental health and wellbeing.

All photos: Catherine and David Milne

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