How Dogs Saved My Life
Written by Jonathon Moran
Jonathon Moran, affectionately known as JMo, is a journalist, author of Mental As Anyone, host of the Mental As Anyone podcast where he speaks with well-known Australians about mental health, a radio presenter, and a passionate advocate for mental wellbeing.
I think I’ve always liked animals more than humans, not exclusively but as a rule.
Even as a kid, instead of becoming the journalist and author I am today, I fantasised about life as a vet, a zookeeper or a park ranger.
There is something uniquely special about that unspoken language of emotions between a human and an animal.
Four months after my mum died – she was way too young at just 56 – I welcomed my first dog as an adult, a pug cross cavalier, or pugalier. I chose this breed because they have longer noses and don’t have the breathing issues that pugs have.
We became a family of two, inseparable.
I called her Lily Bob, I am not sure why, It just felt right.
I truly believe that had Lily not come into my life, I would not be here. She literally saved me.
Of course there are humans who kept me alive – my sisters and nieces for example.
But Lily gave me a purpose and a reason to get up on my darkest of days, when the deep cloud of depression was all encompassing and I couldn’t get out of bed.
I had a lot of those days in my earlier years with Lily.
My anxiety would reach such heights I would knock myself out and sleep, my only reason for getting up being to feed Lily and make sure she was cared for.
She loved me unconditionally and I her. She would lift me with a look, a lick or a gentle snuggle into my chest. There was no judgement, no shame, just love - Lily wanted to be close to me always even when I saw no value in myself.
This is a very special, priceless relationship, I don’t think we ever experience with a person, even our partners. That level of interdependence – she needed me but to be fair, I think I truly needed her far more.
I told her often but hope she really knows how much I loved her.
It is one of the basic non-negotiables in my daily mental health routine, that and putting my phone on airplane mode when I go to bed so I get an uninterrupted night’s sleep.
When my now partner and I got together, we became a household of six – myself, Lily, Marcia, Alex, and his two girls, Bruiser and DanDan.
We were a full pack until Bruiser passed tragically at just nine years with a rare heart condition. Her death rocked Alex, and I of course.
Bruiser and Lily died within months of each other, leaving a mighty hole in our hearts and home.
That’s when we were joined by Lotus, another Chihuahua.
And not long after, Alex called to ask if I’d be open to fostering from the Sydney Dogs and Cats Home.
I volunteer for WIRES native animal rescue, so we always have a menagerie of critters at our home, from Brushtail and Ringtail possums to green tree frogs, blue tongue lizards and various pythons.
That is how Geena (named after Hollywood actor Geena Davis) came to join us.
She is our ‘foster fail’ because instantly on meeting her, we fell in love. We are softies and despite the difficulty in toilet training an eight-week year old staffy cross puppy, she is cute and loveable and super smart.
And so, now we carry on as a crazy family of six, or 12 if you count our other permanent rescues – Victoria and Margaret (Murray River Turtles), and four snakes – Elizabeth, Ginger, Carrie and Olive.
What a crew. It is unpredictable and messy but somehow works and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
While my everyday career is about words and telling stories, home sometimes feels a bit like Noah’s Ark.
