Animal Therapy

I believe that animals are the best therapy. They have a way of just “knowing” when you are upset, worried, or happy. Through waves of emotion, our beloved animals are always right there beside us begging to help. The pup that rests his head on your leg when you can’t seem to stop worrying is a way of saying I am here, tell me all about it, or what’s on your mind? When tears never stop escaping your eyes, they will be there to hold and kiss the pain away.

At the age of eleven, I was faced with a devastating loss. My best friend was diagnosed with a tumor residing on his brain stem. He was placed in a hospital where he received intense chemotherapy for over a year. I checked on him frequently, and for a while everything seemed to be going as expected. I wrote get wells and invitations to tour the island with me and my family. He begged me to take him on a great adventure. Unfortunately, Tyler never got that chance.

It was November. Dad brought me into the other room.

“Becky,” Daddy’s words fought to come out, “I am so sorry, but Tyler died five minutes ago.”

I stood in horrified disbelief. The last time that I checked he was home on a heavy cocktail of medication. The doctors assured us all that his tumor was no longer present or threatened his life. With my head bent, I tried my hardest not to cry, but I just couldn’t help it. Tears sprang from my eyes like a leaky hose and continued to flow. My father held me close and wept with me. Tyler had been like a brother since the beginning of my life. I sat on the couch with a blank stare facing the wall while the tears dribbled down my face.

Out of frustration I ran to the next door neighbors, William and Margaret Burden, who housed, fed, and loved twenty-five Alaskan and Siberian Huskies. I climbed up the steps to the yard where my favorite dogs lived. I flung the gate open, and instantly they were by my side. Their pleading eyes begged to help, and all I could think to do was tell them the whole story. One human and two dogs sat closely in the manger snuggled in the straw. I spoke of my encounter with death while they sat there and looked at me as though they were completely coherent of what I was saying. I sobbed into their fur and allowed their gentle tongues to caress my face. They took on my emotion and grieved with me. These creatures, knowing nothing of human communication, where able to communicate with me in a way that no one possibly could have, through pure silence.

Animals are some of the most amazing creatures on this Earth. They have an ability to read human emotion better than any psychologist on the planet. I don’t know how they know, but they just do.