“Lean On Me ” The Wonderful Story Of Bella And George

Bella is 10 years old and suffers from Morquio Syndrome. If he manages to walk today, it is thanks to the support that his Great Dane gives him, a wonderful animal trained since he was a puppy to be the legs, the heart and the sincere confidant of children with degenerative diseases.

Her parents say that the connection between Bella and her dog George was almost immediate. Their two souls instantly fit together to form the best team in the world, the one that allows the girl to go to class normally, and find the strength with which to undergo her continuous operations and medical tests.

George, this Great Dane of just over a year and a half, is part of the “Service dog project”, a program designed to provide assistance to people with reduced mobility. One more example of the benefits of this type of therapy with animals that we want to share with you today.

Bella and George: discovering the world without crutches

Bella suffers from what is known as a rare disease. Morquio Syndrome causes abnormal bone development, especially in the spine. At just 10 years old, this Massachusetts girl was already using crutches and a wheelchair.

To try to stop the unstoppable progression of the disease, Bella has already undergone nine operations. In addition, every week, he must enter a hospital to undergo replacement therapy, with which, to get his body to break down the long chains of sugar molecules, and thus improve his quality of life.

Now, the fact of being in a wheelchair and spending more time in a hospital than in class, made Bella stop fighting. His strength faded and that’s when “Service Dog Project” came on the scene. It is a humanitarian project where Great Dane dogs are trained to offer help to people with serious mobility problems.

What this noble-eyed animal did was simply magical. George smiled back at Bella and pulled her off her crutches and wheelchair. Since then, the girl has been going to class leaning on her dog, and every week when she goes to the hospital, George lies down next to her friend on the bed. They are inseparable.

The benefits of dog therapy

Humanitarian initiatives such as those carried out in Massachusetts should certainly be seen more frequently around the world. Although it is true that little by little the figure of the dog as a therapeutic agent is being established with more force in children with physical or mental deficiencies, there are more fields of assistance that we must take into account.

Therapies with dogs in Alzheimer’s patients

Patients with degenerative neurological diseases also benefit greatly from living with dogs:

• They help alleviate the feeling of loneliness and isolation. Contact with the dog awakens the emotions of the Alzheimer’s patient and makes them more receptive to reality.

• According to a study carried out at the University of Nebraska, the introduction of a therapy with dogs in a residence, provides to the patients of Alzheimer “an anchor” for the memory.

• Dogs improve their attention and induce them to be more communicative.

Assistance dogs for children with autism

Initiatives to develop assistance therapies with dogs in children with autism are generating very interesting success.

• Animal therapy is a twist on the more traditional strategies in working with autistic children.

• Thanks to dogs, the acquisition of new behaviors can be facilitated. Animals stand up not only as positive reinforcers, but as guides or agents that “model” certain activities.

• Dogs are great elicitors of positive emotions that make the child with autism more receptive and motivated.

To conclude, we are sure that in the coming years, therapies with dogs (and other animals) will help us improve the quality of life of many people. The nobility of these animals, and, is certainly something we should all learn from.