Sometimes, the most meaningful journeys begin with the people we love most.
My journey with therapy dogs began much closer to home than I ever imagined: with my own daughter.
Watching your child struggle is one of the hardest things you can experience as a parent. My daughter was suffering from significant anxiety, and it wasn’t just affecting how she felt emotionally. She was experiencing frightening physical symptoms, including fainting episodes and facial swelling.
As a mum, I felt helpless at times. All I wanted was to find something that could help her feel safe, calm and happy again.
During conversations with her consultant, we explored how interaction with animals might help with anxiety and support a calmer emotional state. That was when I began to discover the potential of therapy dogs.
And that’s where Luna came into our lives.
Over time, I began to see positive changes in my daughter’s wellbeing. She found comfort and reassurance in Luna’s companionship, and the physical symptoms that had been so worrying also subsided. I can’t say that Luna was responsible for those medical improvements, but I could see the difference that having her around made to my daughter’s sense of comfort and security.
It opened my eyes to something I hadn’t fully appreciated before: just how meaningful the connection between a person and a dog can be.
Turning a personal experience into a passion
I’ve spent the last seven years working with children with special educational needs, supporting young people who face a wide range of challenges in their everyday lives.
Through that experience, I’ve seen how anxiety, low confidence, emotional difficulties and challenging life experiences can affect a child’s ability to learn, communicate and simply enjoy being themselves.
My experience with my daughter made me wonder whether I could bring these two parts of my life together.
I began volunteering with a therapy-dog charity, gaining experience in settings including a children’s hospital, a school and a nursing home.
Those experiences reinforced my belief that dogs can offer something very special: a gentle connection that doesn’t rely on finding the right words.
But I wanted to take that connection a little further.
More than just a visit
I absolutely believe in the value of a friendly therapy-dog visit. Sometimes, spending time with a dog, enjoying a cuddle or simply sitting quietly together can make someone’s day that little bit brighter.
But with my background in special educational needs, I wanted to explore how that connection could also become part of something more purposeful.
My ambition for Luna’s Helping Paws is to develop structured, dog-assisted activities that respond to individual needs.
Whether a child is struggling with confidence, anxiety, self-esteem, bereavement or feeling overwhelmed in the classroom, I want to work alongside schools and families to understand those challenges and explore how Luna and I might be able to help.
Not by promising to fix everything, but by creating positive experiences, building trust and celebrating those little steps forward that can mean so much.
Why it matters to me
Luna’s Helping Paws is more than a business idea to me.
It comes from knowing what it’s like to watch someone you love struggle, wanting desperately to help, and discovering that sometimes comfort and connection can come from the most unexpected places.
If Luna and I can help another child feel a little more confident, a little less anxious or simply a little more understood, then that means the world to me.
