![]() ![]() Riley’s breath slowed down, the tears seemed to stop, and she was much more relaxed. As my daughter was hysterically crying, Magnus, on his own, walked over to her and laid by her side, calming her down. However, even with no training or bond with Magnus, when I would have to give Riley her shots, Magnus immediately took stock of the situation, realized that a person was in distress and needed comforting, and immediately went into action. It was a new dog, in a new house, with new people. There was no connection yet between Magnus and the family. When we adopted Magnus, he didn’t listen to any commands we gave him, and it was almost like getting an 8-week-old puppy. We adopted Magnus when he was 1.5 years old and Riley was 11 years old. This was the catalyst for Magnus becoming a therapy dog. The entire process was extremely traumatic for Riley, causing her to get very anxious and upset. Part of her treatment regime was me giving her weekly, and sometimes daily, injections at home. Unfortunately, my oldest daughter Riley was diagnosed with severe juvenile arthritis when she was 8 years old. When we first adopted Magnus, he was only supposed to be a family pet, not a working dog. Prior to having Magnus I never had any exposure to pet therapy at all, except from what I have seen online or on TV. What was your first exposure to pet therapy? What was Magnus’ transition/ training to be a therapy dog like? We talked to Magnus’ owner, Brian Benson, whose motto is “Life is better with a dog.” Originally bred to be a service dog for the blind, he had a doggie career change to being more of an emotional support animal and therapy dog. Magnus the Therapy Dog is a yellow labrador retriever with about 3.5 million followers across TikTok and Instagram, making him one of the world’s most famous therapy dogs. ![]()
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