A POTS Therapy Dog!

Harlow and Jaquie (from CBSN)

When we started our search for a new dog towards the end of Asher's life, we wondered if a service or therapy dog would be a good fit for me. At the time I was still homebound and mostly stuck in a recliner or bed. 

We didn't go that route, instead choosing to get a small companion dog (Tovah Rose) and then getting our 'oops baby', Gershwin.

Still, this month a story about a young woman with POTS and her therapy dog, Harlow, has gone viral. 

What perfect alignment with Dysautonomia Awareness Month! It's great to see awareness of both POTS and what a service dog can do being shared.

It's a heartwarming story and video. It also helps to show how a person with an invisible chronic illness and disability can be helped by a service dog.

Service dogs are typically expensive and hard to get. It also requires that people go for a lot of training with their dog, which was one of the deterrents for. Also, the wait for one can be long. Jacquie seems to have had enough resources to purchase and train her own service dog (and enough energy to do so!). Jaquie is on Instagram and YouTube explaining how Harlow helps her and how she trains her.

It's so exciting to see how Harlow helps this young woman, Jaquie to be more independent in her life with POTS! 

I really hope that more people with chronic illness can experience the joy of having a dog--either simply as a companion or as a service dog.

Blessings,

Emily