For Warrnambool’s Shauna Darcy, her dog Ruby is more than her best friend, he is her lifeline helping her to leave the house.
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Shauna, 20, has anxiety and panic attacks and Ruby helps alert her to a panic attack, often before she is even aware she is having one.
Ruby will paw Shauna’s leg when she starts fidgeting or breathing heavily.
“She alerts me to a panic attack before they even happen,” Shauna said. “When you have a panic attack you spiral out of control so if you can catch it before it happens you can control it.
“Once I’ve sat down she does something called deep pressure therapy and puts her whole body along my lap and provides warmth and it lowers my heart rate.”
A heart condition worsened Shauna’s anxiety, which she had during her teenage years, to the point where she would become physically sick if she had to leave the house.
She has up to five panic attacks a day and said having Ruby had changed her life and helped her to get out and about. “I don’t know what I’d be without Ruby or where I’d be. I’d be in a lot worse state than I am now.”
Shauna and Ruby often have trouble accessing public places and she wants to raise awareness that MindDog psychiatric assistance dogs have the same public access as trained seeing and hearing dogs. The program relies on donations. To donate or for more information go to minddog.org.au
