MONCTON, N.B. – After suffering for years with chronic mental illness, Nova Scotia artist Cora Dehaven, was ready to lay down her paintbrush for good. Until a brown-eyed spaniel walked into her life.
For years, Dehaven says she lived a painfully grey life, gripped by chronic anxiety and depression, she lost her will to create.
“When I start painting if there is not enough distraction I can start slipping and zoning out and going into bad places in my mind so I wasn’t able to paint,” she said in an interview with Global News.
Until a four-legged companion brought colour back into her life. Jaydin is Cora’s three-year-old medical alert service dog, a brown-eyed King Charles spaniel with the soul of an artist.
- One Toronto man’s mission to cook for the city’s hungry
- Simply Delicious Recipe: Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Yellow Cauliflower Curry Sauce
- Simply Delicious Recipe: Bocconcini salad with prosciutto and Ontario Cantaloupe
- Renewed exploration in Saskatchewan’s Uranium City brings hope to current, former residents
Paula Sears is a dog trainer with Therapeutic Medical Alert Service Dogs, the organization that trains service dogs in across the Maritimes.
“A lot of people get a service dog and they have the dog that just helps them with their medical aid. But when we have a client that has a passion like Cora does with painting we work with them and help them to teach the dog that skill as well,” Sears said.
Get breaking National news
So, Jaydin learned how to paint. And he can also sense when Cora is about to have an anxiety attack.
“He redirects my attention from everything else going on to him,” she said. “I am still not able to paint like I used to. But with the help of Jaydin I can do a lot more.”
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.