Elaine and Dawn are the human side of Acehounds Friendship Dogs. With the aid of our gentle, loving greyhounds we seek to enrich the lives of vulnerable people within our community and help sufferers of mental health.
Having a dog around is a great distraction for people coping with stress and depression because dogs provide a sensory comfort. Simply touching them and stroking their fur reduces the level of cortisol (the stress hormone) in your blood and instead releases oxytocin to help you feel calmer and more relaxed. As well as giving you a feel good factor, it also lowers your heart rate and blood pressure so that you can think clearer and start feeling better about yourself as well as feeling more relaxed.
The mission of Acehounds is to harness the human-animal bond (a form of communication and connection which does not rely upon spoken human words), and provide the opportunity for isolated people to reconnect with their life and their community through the use of animal assisted activities, and to encourage individual well-being and positivity for all those we work with.
Through our Visiting Dogs Programme, we aim to help people get outdoors, get mobile, get talking and to gain self-confidence and self-esteem. We particularly aim to help people with learning difficulties, autism, mental and physical conditions, older people suffering from loneliness and isolation, and people facing personal barriers such as lack of work or low self-confidence.
