Gemma Atkinson is joined by Tracy Genever, Blue Cross’ Head of Education, and star of Strictly Come Dancing and bona fide dog lover, Karen Hauer, to talk all about pets and wellbeing.  Tracy talks about all the amazing physical and mental health benefits pet ownership can bring. How pets can truly be the best medicine (and even lead to a decrease in visits to the GP!), as well as how choosing the right pet can have a significant impact on self-esteem and help people to counteract feelings of loneliness: “Pets can make a house a home, they can make us relax, and they can make us laugh. When we are low, they can lift our spirits.” Strictly professional Karen opens up about how she feels adopting her three dogs Betty, Marley, and Phoebe has given her an even greater sense of purpose and has positively impacted her mental health and wellbeing. Alongside sharing how she credits first dog, Betty, for picking her up during a particularly challenging time and ‘saving her’.  As well as exploring how pets can help us with our wellbeing, Gemma, Tracy, and Karen also discuss how to make sure that our pets’ mental health is kept front of mind – as well as the warning signs (across different species) we should look out for which might indicate distress.  To find out more about this episode and the services Blue Cross provides, go to https://www.bluecross.org.uk/podcast. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy