Dana Shavin has written for Oxford American, Parade, PBS’s Next Avenue, Psychology Today, and The Sun, and an essay is forthcoming in Garden and Gun. She is a three-time award-winning humor columnist and travel writer for the Chattanooga Times Free Press, and the author of a memoir, The Body Tourist, and of a collection of columns, called Finding the World: Thoughts on Life, Love, Home and Dogs. You can see more at danashavin.com. Find her on Facebook/Muckrack/Authory
The mental health benefits that come with our beloved animals.
Yes, it is possible, with tenacity and training.