In addition to work, dog walking has become a real therapy for a young Canadian woman with fragile mental health. Spending time in the company of these creatures helps him overcome difficulties associated, in particular, with depression.
For Sarah Hillier, her dog walking job is perfect. Thanks to him, she was able to climb the slope and start leading a normal life again.
Diagnosis dropped in 2017; In the same year, this resident of Conception Bay South, in Newfoundland and Labrador (eastern Canada), learned that she had a complex form of post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as type 2 bipolar disorder, combined with depression and hypomania.
The young woman wondered how she could make a living. Her doctor advised him to quit her job as a call center manager because it was too stressful. She received benefits while on sick leave at the time, but they were far from enough. She needed a way to live decently without affecting her sanity again.
One day when she was walking her dog and another time greeting her, she thought she could make it her profession. 5 years later, Sarah’s Snouts Services, her small dog walking business, is in full swing.
She is professionally happy and is getting better and better thanks to the dogs she walks with every day. For her, every step she takes with them is another step towards healing.
In an interview with CBC journalist Andrea McGuire, Sarah Hillier explains that she walks her clients’ dogs in groups of 3. She takes them to the forest where they can frolic and play, and then brings them back to do the same with the next trio. She usually takes 4 or 5 walks a day.
Walking, being active, being in the company of animals, being flexible in your work… All of these contribute to your well-being.
Even on days when the weather is terrible and Sarah does not have the courage to endure it, she changes her attitude towards dogs. They run through the mud, play and have fun, as if it were a sunny day. «Dogs really show us how to live in the moment and enjoy its little pleasures wherever you can get them,» says Sarah.
