Vicky Piper and Therapet® Dusk

Volunteer Vicky Piper has provided a lovely update on her Therapet®, Dusk!

" What a week for Dusk! Dusk has had a pretty incredible few days. Last Friday, she had a wonderfully successful day representing Therapet® at Moy Game Fair, surrounded by people, activity, noise and all sorts of new experiences — and she absolutely took it in her stride. Then today, she had a very special 1:1 Therapet® visit with a lovely lady and her daughter. We met at Café 11 at the Gro For You Campus in Tain, somewhere Dusk had never been before. She walked into a completely new environment happy, relaxed and confident, settled beside the lady we were visiting and stayed there throughout our time together, perfectly content for her to rest her hand on Dusk and gently stroke her head and ears. It might sound like a fairly ordinary Therapet® visit, but for Dusk it represents something quite extraordinary. Dusk came to live with me just over a year ago. She came from a wonderful, loving home where she had been very much loved and cared for, but following a very frightening experience that was completely outwith their control, she had become incredibly nervous and anxious around unfamiliar people and could find public places and new environments really difficult. When she first arrived, I genuinely didn't know whether becoming a Therapet® would ever be possible for her. We've taken everything slowly, at Dusk's pace, never asking her to be anything other than who she is. And somewhere along the way, that nervous girl has blossomed. Watching her now walk into unfamiliar places with confidence, happily meet new people and, most importantly, choose to sit quietly beside someone and offer them her gentle presence is incredibly special. Today I found myself looking at her and thinking about the dog who arrived a year ago, and just how far she has come. She hasn't become a different dog. She's still Dusk. She's simply learned that the world can feel safe again, that new people can be kind, and that she is allowed to feel confident within it. And now she's sharing that quiet confidence, trust and enormous capacity for love with other people through Therapet. I couldn't be prouder of her. What a difference a year can make "