Ed

A note from Louise:

This story is from 2008, but remains as timely and important today as it was back then.

Story submitted by Natalie Allouche:

My name is Natalie Allouche and I have 4 English Mastiffs and 4 other dogs, mixed breeds, cattle dog, mini daschund and a pekingese.

I have a very emotional story to tell about Ed, my 20 month old male fawn mastiff, who was my lifesaver after I received him almost two years ago, a month after having lost the second of both my children to cancer.  Ed was born on my second son's birthday, a fact I did not realize until after I received his registration papers.  Even though I had been an RN for 17 years, I was absolutely devastated, once again, after I lost a child to cancer, and could not see myself going back into that profession.  Ed accompanied me everywhere.  I functioned according to his schedule and he kept me rooted in some form of reality.

18 months later, I started BIA, 'BROTHERS IN ARMS," animal assisted intervention, with Ed as the anchor of the program.  BIA works with bereaved children, youths in crisis and children with difficult lives.  In addition, I was asked by the school board to start a bereavement program with Ed, and worked hard on merging two well known programs with animal assisted therapy.

Please check out my website.  I am not very good with websites, but I am proud of it!

http://www.bia-aat.org/