Viewers couldn't contain their emotion when The One Show presenters Alex Jones and Harry Judd introduced them to a group of adorable Newfoundland dogs on Tuesday, July 12. The animals offer a unique and incredible service giving emotional support to people suffering with their mental health.
During the clip, The One Show fans saw Pete Lewin, a paramedic and the owner of the dogs at Stanton Lakes in Leicstershire, talk about sharing his furry friends with other people for such a good cause.
"I've been a paramedic now for 26 years," he says. "We're here to help people with emotional support. It's a wonderful thing to be able to share my pets with other people. They're changing people's lives. They are all Newfoundlands my dogs."
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The dogs, Storm, Sonar, Walker, Bob and Ralph, are of various ages but share the same loving quality.
"We're here today to take six veterans that are suffering with PTSD," says Pete, "and we're going to be rescuing them out of the water with the dogs for their therapy."
Speaking of his dogs, that "just know what they're doing", he says: "They have this big coat, so when they go in the water [it] floats up as buoyancy. They have great big feet and they don't do a doggie paddle, because they're not the fastest dogs around, but they'll keep going and going with weight on their back."
Fiona Myers from NHS mental health services adds of this weight-free therapy: "We've found dogs are a really great leveller, and people can have fun swimming and the dogs are always very responsive to supporting any individual, as long as they get stroked."
"The unique therapy we have," Pete adds: "[The] dog swims out, goes round the back of the handler, so we tell the person to lay on their back, put their head back in the water and don't open your eyes... all you're doing is floating, holding onto a dog. It is so simple."
During the clip, he recalls one volunteer who'd been struggling but who made him a promise to go to a session. Of their conversation, he remembers her saying that that morning, she was going to take an overdose because she'd "had enough" - but she turned up as promised.
Once she was in the water, Peter remembers she said: 'Just swimming out with you was like a weight being lifted off the shoulders.' He adds: "The way the dogs eyes look at you, there's no condemning, there's no judging, all [they're] doing is coming out to get you and take you back to shore."
Mark Eyres, a veteran in the RAF says of the experience: "I was in the Royal Air Force. My main duties were fire fighting. My life has been really hard... I wanted to be a better person. I reached out, which, for any veteran, is a really, really difficult thing to do. It took that 20 minutes in the water and then I realised: 'I can trust these dogs'." He adds how he was able to "get rid of everything I had been thinking about all day, leave it in the water" and that the therapy was "like a cleansing".
And viewers at home were in awe at the heartwarming and incredible things the dogs are doing to help people in need. One fan, @bvdsteel, took to Twitter to say: "This story with the newfies is absolutely phenomenal. dogs are just wonderful #theoneshow"
Another wrote: "These dogs are awesome and awesome they are helping these veterans lovely story #TheOneShow", while user @cantdecideonit2 commented on the clip: "Crying. Them big newfoundlands proving animals are the greatest therapy #TheOneShow".
@lilacbeagle also said: "What a beautiful segment on #TheOneShow featuring the #Newfoundland doggies and therapy for #mentalillness "
The One Show airs weekdays at 7pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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