Animals can be very therapeutic and I know has helped my anxiety

It's great you have something sweet and harmless to interact w/ when trauma may have you feeling backed into a corner.

Many folks swear by "pet therapy", including those isolated by physical illness.

We each need our own sweet thing to help inspire us to move ourselves forward.

Congrats.

I have a shih Tzu and I don't know what I would do without him. He is great. He seems to know when I am having a rough time and he spends a lot of time snugged right up to me. I trust him more than I trust a lot of people. Love my dog.

He also gives me a reason to get out of bed everyday. He has to be let out and looked after. I cannot let me best buddy down when he gives me so much.

Short answer (I'm feeling flu-ish).....

My wife and I are separated. She got a rescue yellow lab (Sammy). Sammy is a wunnerful, wunnerful dog, but ... he's got some Separation Anxiety Disorder issues.

Meaning: when I'm at her house, and SHE isn't ... Sammy gets *really* anxious, making life more difficult for me, instead of easier.

Though I DO love him.

When he's calm, he's a Xanax for me. Gives love. Accepts love graciously. Petting him is very soothing. Just the simplest of interactions between a couple of living beings.

My wife has a Vietnam vet neighbor, a few doors down. HE was "given" a trained "therapy dog" to help with HIS PTSD.

THAT dog ... is extremely calm, and nudges him if he's having nightmares, wakes him up, and just lays next to him.

So ... the right dog ... with the right owner = nearly magic :-)

Okay. Now, I miss Sammy ;-)

Ive thought about this in the past. I think Im the kind of situation that really would benefit from a small dog. So much of my anxiety revolves around feeling isolated and just being in the presence of others lifts it a lot. For example right now I feel pretty damn aweful, but just knowing my roommates in the other room keeps me from going off the deep end.

I cant get a dog though. I live in a school apartment. No pets.

My 15 y.o. Dalmatian and I do a "walking meditation" about 5-6 times a day, to get the outside stuff to happen OUTSIDE (atleast monstly). This is not a jog, or a power run. Sniff and inspect every blade of grass along the way. Seeing him respond to fresh tracks of a groundhog (he can't see much, but he knows by smell if they were there last night or just a few minutes ago), tells me about his quality of life.

This forces me to spend time outside, walk a lot, and look at my surroundings. Whether I have the brains to do that for myself or not, having him in my life means it will happen.

I visibly wince at hugs from aquaintances and air kisses, but dogs are never weird. Dogs as companions and cats as kids. Yep, just two cats shy of a crazy cat lady...

This is wonderful.

dogs are great and are very helpful when it comes to making someone feel better to a point. i know i would be lost without my 2 dogs they know when im down and thats when they wont leave me alone until i start laughing or playing more with them. they can bring me out of any mood that i maybe in or ever help me feel safer. with my ptsd its hard for me to live where i do but with my dogs i feel safe cause there is not a noise that they wont hear and alert me on and with them i know no one can hurt me cause they are right there

wow - well, yes, my Swissie is wonderful for me. The Heeler we had and then the St. Bernard/Newfoundland were both too much for me. Maybe depends on the dog.

I'm lost without mine, I'd rescued one early last year but then she got sick and had to be put down.
My spouse will not allow me to have another one but I do know when I had her, she always seemed to sense when I was in trouble and stayed quietly right by me.
My cat is Mr. Independent, a good cat but not the "cuddly" kind:(

Thanks for sharing this, it might very well be "food for thought" for someone here:)