Loneliness and isolation are known to have a profound impact on people's wellbeing, particularly for the elderly, and around the country, there are many home visiting services, but Age Concern Canterbury is offering something a bit different: visits from dogs.
Lewis, six-year-old Shih Tzu, was meant to be a show dog. He wasn't any good at being a show dog so his owner kept him stuck in a cage until he was given up at around age two, and then he was taken in as a rescue dog by Linda Cowan. Now Lewis has a new role as a visiting dog with Age Concern Canterbury.
The dog visiting service started in February this year as a trial and Lewis was the first dog to be matched up with a person wanting a visit.
Now each week he spends half an hour with 88-year-old Margaret.
Lewis' owner Cowan said the two have a ritual.
"Margaret sits in her La-Z-Boy, puts her sheepskin on her lap; Lewis jumps up and he gets patted for 30 minutes on a good day and he thinks all his Christmases have come at once," Cowan said.
"Margaret talks to Lewis, its lovely actually. She absolutely loves him."
Margaret's daughter Karen said her mother became profoundly deaf about six years ago and was unable to lip read, and had become very socially isolated.
Visits from Lewis have brought new delight to her life.
"It gives her something to look forward to. Every week she gets up and she's watching for them to come down the road because Linda's only a few minutes away. And it's just made such a big difference in her life," Karen said.
Cowan also now make a newsletter for Margaret each week with an update on what Lewis and she have been up to.
Karen said her mother found it far less intimidating to be visited by a dog than a stranger.
"There's no expectations from the dog to mum. And Lewis doesn't know that mum is deaf, and Lewis accepts mum as she is. And mum loves Lewis. It works really, really well."
The project is overseen by Aged Concern's Beverley Mason - her dog Toby makes the initial visit to a home to ensure it is well set up for a dog visitor.
She has six dogs on her books currently - four of which are matched with a person.
Beverley does a bit of matchmaking to make sure it is a good connection and a good fit.
She said that meant looking at whether people wanted to be visited by a big or small dog, the environment at the person home where the dog would be visiting, and where they were based as they preferred who people did not have to travel too far for the visit.
"Of course the dog needs to engage with that particular person too, so that first visit is vital for all parties. For the dog owner, for the dog itself, does it like the person, does it like the property. So there is always a trial visit."
Age Concern Canterbury chief executive Simon Templeton said they had operated accredited visiting services by people for about 14 years.
He said for people who that system doesn't suit, a visit from a dog might be a better fit.
"That may be someone who has English as a second language or someone who struggles to talk in a loud enough voice, or is deaf. It opens up an opportunity to connect with another living being."
He said Covid-19 put a dampener on the project this year, but they were now pushing the programme to see what worked and did not.
Templeton said if the trial was successful they would look at going to funders to get more support for it.
He said the evidence of the impact of loneliness on people's health was clear.
"A recent Otago [University] study showed that 21 percent of the over 65 population was lonely."
He said there was evidence that people who were chronically lonely had the same risk profile for their physical health as people who smoked 15 cigarettes a day, and an increased risk of developing dementia.
Margaret's daughter Karen's advice for elderly people who are feeling lonely is to give a dog visit a try.
"It's just a great idea. If more people are aware of it that are just sitting there lonely and maybe for half an hour they could just rub a dog's tummy and feel the benefits of it. You know it's just uplifting, and [has] just opened up a whole new world to mum."
Age Concern Canterbury would love to hear from anyone who thinks their dog might make a good visitor or anyone who would appreciate a new dog friend.
