Tag Archives: mental-health

Walks for Love

Posted on by Pugminded

Came across this and wanted to share. What a nice idea…

Walks for Love

Anne Sardena, founder of “Walks for Love” in San Diego, Calif., understands the power of the walk—and the power of a helping hand. That is why she started the volunteer, non-profit dog walking service for owners who are otherwise unable to walk their dogs.

Walks For Love“As a pet sitter, I realized that there are a lot of dogs that are neglected because their owners are unable to care for them,” said Anne. “It bothered me to think about all of the dogs I could be helping, dogs that just want to go outside for a walk, or spend time with someone, but they are stuck inside with owners that are disabled or ill and can’t physically take care of their pet.”

Still in its initial stages, Walks for Love is currently working solely in the San Diego, Calif. area with hopes to bring the concept to other parts of the US. Recently, however, the group has joined efforts with the local Meals on Wheels program, which provides meals for the elderly and disabled, to help walk the dogs of those who receive their meal service.

SkyDue to his owners disability, Sky was not walked in four years. With the help of Walks for Love, Sky is now getting daily walks. As the organization begins its expansion, Anne remembers how it all started. “The first dog I started walking was referred to me by a company that provides mobility service dogs,” said Anne. “The dog’s owner had a progressive form of a disease that weakens the body’s muscles. After I walked his dog for the first time, he looked at her and said ‘she looks happy.’ I felt so fortunate to help the dog’s owner.”

For the Love of Dog

Posted on by Pugminded

The Love of a Dog Helps Us Find Balance in Life

By Cesar Millan

I often speak of how important it is to keep body, mind, and spirit in balance, but am often reminded of how unbalanced we have become as a society. Every time there’s morning rain in Los Angeles, traffic falls apart, for example. Living in big cities we can forget how to stay balanced and live in the natural world. My clients remind me constantly—or they wouldn’t be my clients. Some are Harvard graduates, but they can’t walk a Chihuahua. Because you need more than intelligence to create a connection with Mother Nature. Many of us have lost that connection and it is reflected in our animals. Dogs are our mirror and when they’re not following us it’s because we’re not balanced.

The love of a dog is unconditional. Being unconditional, that’s a dog. Humans are very conditional. Dogs, accepting. You can look horrible, but a dog will look at you like you’re the most beautiful human being ever, because what he’s looking at is your feelings. Dogs have integrity. But many humans measure integrity materially, with money. That’s how disconnected and unbalanced we have become.

If I can help people to understand how simple it is to reconnect ourselves back to Mother Nature, then the payoff we get is community life, country life, world life. Because… if you transform your relationship with your dog and your neighbor does too, the whole neighborhood will feel it.

There are thousands of dog issues, but at the end, they’re all the same. Unfortunately, the world does not live in prevention mode, just intervention mode, ignoring an issue until it becomes a major problem. That’s because there’s no money in prevention. But the benefits of prevention are enormous—it gives us a balanced world, a lot of happiness, and a lot of health. That’s real integrity. Working with Mother Nature, not against her, is the best prevention in the world, rain or shine.

Related articles