David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
Song for a Therapy Dog
By Stan Coren, Psychology Today
March 1, 2009
In the past I have written about therapy dogs and how they have helped people overcome both psychological and physical difficulties-even if the dog is not trained to assist and is unaware of the help it is providing. I recently received an email from Pete Dowan which described the therapuetic effect of a dog and the resulting emotional effect it had on him.
Dowan is a Canadian who began writing songs at age 16 and is now based in Southern Ontario near Niagara Falls. He played, wrote and sang rock music in several Canadian bands which resulted in a number of releases. He suffered from a medical disability which made him unable to continue as a performer. However, with the help of his dog Scuttle he recently overcame this setback and returned to the scene as a song writer and now co-writes with Jan Blumentrath. The help of his dog inspired him to write a song in his pet's tribute. Here is an edited excerpt of his letter.
and is called "Good Friend." It is the second song down the list.
By Stan Coren, Psychology Today
March 1, 2009
In the past I have written about therapy dogs and how they have helped people overcome both psychological and physical difficulties-even if the dog is not trained to assist and is unaware of the help it is providing. I recently received an email from Pete Dowan which described the therapuetic effect of a dog and the resulting emotional effect it had on him.
Dowan is a Canadian who began writing songs at age 16 and is now based in Southern Ontario near Niagara Falls. He played, wrote and sang rock music in several Canadian bands which resulted in a number of releases. He suffered from a medical disability which made him unable to continue as a performer. However, with the help of his dog Scuttle he recently overcame this setback and returned to the scene as a song writer and now co-writes with Jan Blumentrath. The help of his dog inspired him to write a song in his pet's tribute. Here is an edited excerpt of his letter.
Hi Dr. Coren:
I am a medically disabled songwriter from St Catharines, Ontario, Canada, and have written many songs about many different subjects and in several different styles. One song in particular was a personal thank you to my dog. The song is called "Good Friend".
I mention my disability because various factors of my condition stop me from being able to use professional studios to record my songs, so I have to do them here, at home, in my basement, on donated equipment from musicians I used to work with. For the same reason, I also am unable to perform my music live.
History of the song: For the first few years that I had my current health condition I had a very difficult time walking. One of my doctors figured out the reason, and when that was dealt with, it was up to me to get myself "going". That's where our dog, Scuttle, came in. He bugged me daily to take him out ... wouldn't let up until I did so. His determination was catching, and within a year we were both going on outings that I never dreamed I'd be able to do again. As a thank you, I wrote the above mentioned song for him. (R.I.P. my boy)
If you know it's about a dog, the lyrics jump out at you as being obvious, but if you don't, there's only one line that definitely points to it.
Musically Yours,
Pete Dowan [pronounced like plowin' ]
I thought that you might like to hear this song for his therapy dog. It is located at Pete Dowan on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music DownloadsI am a medically disabled songwriter from St Catharines, Ontario, Canada, and have written many songs about many different subjects and in several different styles. One song in particular was a personal thank you to my dog. The song is called "Good Friend".
I mention my disability because various factors of my condition stop me from being able to use professional studios to record my songs, so I have to do them here, at home, in my basement, on donated equipment from musicians I used to work with. For the same reason, I also am unable to perform my music live.
History of the song: For the first few years that I had my current health condition I had a very difficult time walking. One of my doctors figured out the reason, and when that was dealt with, it was up to me to get myself "going". That's where our dog, Scuttle, came in. He bugged me daily to take him out ... wouldn't let up until I did so. His determination was catching, and within a year we were both going on outings that I never dreamed I'd be able to do again. As a thank you, I wrote the above mentioned song for him. (R.I.P. my boy)
If you know it's about a dog, the lyrics jump out at you as being obvious, but if you don't, there's only one line that definitely points to it.
Musically Yours,
Pete Dowan [pronounced like plowin' ]
and is called "Good Friend." It is the second song down the list.
