‘I’m Trying Not To Cry’: The Story Of One Elderly Dog’s Life-Changing New Mission

You might not be able to teach an old dog new tricks, but you can certainly give one a new way to bring joy into the lives of others. That’s what Lisa Kanarek realized after a chance encounter with the Husky living next door.

A lonely existence

The first time Kanarek really noticed Gaia, who was a 9-year-old dog at the time, was when the dog appeared eager for companionship within the confines of a small fenced-in backyard. As it turned out, Gaia’s owner, Sandra, was an elderly woman who had been hospitalized and was reaching the end of her life.

Kanarek arranged to take the Husky for a walk, and the two soon developed quite a bond. A few weeks later, one of her neighbor’s friends advised her that Sandra’s death was imminent and offered to let her adopt Gaia.

A short time later, she was the dog’s new owner — and the arrangement ended up changing a lot more lives than just the woman and her new pet.

A natural calling

As Kanarek and Gaia took more walks around the neighborhood, it became obvious that the dog had a connection with kids. That gave her owner an idea.

After enrolling Gaia in a training program to become a therapy animal, she passed with flying colors and soon began her work. She was assigned to the Children’s Medical Center in Dallas and, after spending so much of her life cooped in Sandra’s home, Gaia was now free to bring her exuberant joy to kids facing serious illnesses.

Kanarek, who became an end-of-life doula around the time of Sanda’s death, is now letting Gaia help her comfort terminally ill patients.

“I’m trying not to cry,” she said. “I don’t know. It’s just knowing the effect she has on people.”

Chris Agee March 12th, 2024

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