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‘Bear the 3-legged wonder dog’ helps Calgarians battling health problems

CALGARY – Deb Spence and her five-year-old chocolate lab “Bear” aren’t letting a couple of severe setbacks get in the way of lending a helping paw to Calgarians.

Bear’s been a volunteer therapy dog since he was a puppy, visiting patients who have autism and dementia.

Then a year ago, Bear needed some care of his own.

Diagnosed with cancer, he had to have a leg amputated.

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But he carried on with his patient visits during his six months of chemotherapy, even expanding his work to include people undergoing chemo treatments.

Spence knows what a difference that can make, as she battled cancer five years ago herself.

“We’re kind of a little cancer team,” said Spence. “It feels good when I’ve helped somebody. It feels good seeing him, that he enjoys doing that.”

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Bear the three-legged therapy dog helps patients in Calgary. Nov. 16, 2015. Gil Tucker / Global News

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