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FRIENDSHIP ON FOUR LEGS
How Wag & Company is ending loneliness for older dog lovers
Words by Jane Imrie
Photography by Christopher Owens
Video by The Works
The old adage of dogs being ‘man’s best friend’ might feel like a trite one, but there’s no denying we’re a nation of dog lovers.
Even I, a feline superfan who has ambitions to become the most fabulous old cat lady in my later years, am not immune to the charm of our canine companions. Growing up with dogs at home meant that from an early age, I understood and appreciated how much comfort and love our four legged friends can give us.
Dogs are such an integral part of our lives here in the UK. They are welcomed and even encouraged into many public spaces, and even sometimes play a crucial role in helping us to navigate the world and identify risks and dangers.
They also have an incredible power to connect with and enrich the lives of those who may seem unreachable to us - something which North East charity Wag & Company has tapped into and harnessed for good.
“It was wonderful to see the impact of just a two hour visit in the care home, everyone was thrilled to see the dog, it was like the light went on and bluebirds started to fly.”
Founded by Diane Morton in 2016, Wag & Company has a simple but important and admirable mission: to end loneliness for older dog lovers across the North East.
The team matches and enables professionally assessed volunteers and their special dogs to safely befriend and regularly visit elderly dog lovers across the whole North East; from as far north as Berwick, across to Brampton in Cumbria, right down to North Yorkshire and pretty much everywhere in between.
As well as regularly visiting people in care homes, hospitals and hospices, Wag & Company is the only visiting dog charity in the North East, spending time with isolated and often bereaved older people alone in their own homes.
Wag & Company is one of very few physical befriending organisations in the North East, so demand is huge!
Their volunteers (406 today) and their lovely cuddly dogs are carefully matched to regularly visit people on referral from the NHS or Occupational Health, Social Services, Age UK or even directly by people themselves or their own families.
This means that more elderly and vulnerable people can find connection and affection when they often have trouble leaving their house. For many, these visits are the highlight of their week; they look forward to the hour or two they’ll spend with their new friends and, importantly, it lets them know that somebody out there cares.
Wag & Company has made over 170,000 friendship visits to people across the region so far - and with requests for visits at an all-time high, that number is only set to rise.
HARNESSING THE POWER OF CANINE COMPANIONSHIP
Lifelong dog lover Diane discovered her passion for supporting older people with her dog during her time as Group HR Director for Northumbrian Water from 2002, where she also volunteered for Pets As Therapy as part of NW’s Just an Hour scheme.
“My volunteering was on Sundays, because I was too busy during the week - and it had to involve my husband and our dog, otherwise we'd never have seen each other,” Diane says with a smile.
“It was wonderful to see the impact of just a two hour visit in a local care home, everyone was thrilled to see the dog, it was like the light went on and bluebirds started to fly.”
Some years later, Diane was confronted with a painful reality close to home: her father in Shropshire being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease which ultimately led to her retiring early.
“Living with Alzheimer's disease is so hard for the person, but also very hard for the people who love them,” Diane explains. “[My dad] didn't know me, but he knew my labrador, Harry, by name,” she remembers.
“He couldn’t do everyday things any more like use a comb or a toothbrush or pick up a sandwich, but he knew instinctively what to do with a dog's head in his lap and how to stroke a silky ear.
“It gave him pleasure, which gave Mum pleasure too, we saw him become himself again in those moments - wonderful really. When you have a loved one who's ill, you do spend an awful lot of time working out how to make their life feel better. Harry made Dad smile. That's pretty priceless at that time in people's lives.”
“Living with Alzheimer's disease is so hard for the person, but also very hard for the people who love them. My dad didn't know me, but he knew my labrador, Harry, by name. He made him smile again and that’s precious.”
It was during her Dad’s illness that Diane decided to dedicate her professional skills to making sure every older dog lover could always have access to canine companionship: “I was always so grateful that both Mum and Dad had us and the dog during this difficult time. I thought it was so sad that people like Dad would have to miss out because no visiting dog charity would visit people alone in their own homes’. It was from this emotional time that Wag & Company was born.
Drawing on her own professional expertise, that of her husband Doug, and a small, skilled group of North East professionals and businesses who wanted to help (including Northumbrian Water where it all started), Diane was able to give her time to lay the groundwork of a well-governed and sustainable organisation and then run it as a volunteer.
“With the support of professional dog temperament and veterinary/wellbeing advisors, a wonderful group of skilled Trustees, the volunteers with their lovely dogs - and importantly with older people themselves in their own homes - we created and continuously improved over the first 4 years, really, a suite of visiting processes and protocols that enabled Wag to effectively manage the risks of visiting people with dogs and particularly the new service: visiting people alone in their own homes. It was essential obviously to make sure we could keep everyone safe as well as happy.
“We have fantastic volunteers. Visiting vulnerable people can be really rewarding but sometimes quite challenging too, and our volunteers need to know they have support available to them whenever they need it, 24/7,” she says.
“Developing Wag has been a team game from the start. So many local people and businesses have done what they can to help - supporting, donating, volunteering in many different capacities - amazing truly!
“We never charge anyone so that no one misses out, so we have relied entirely on the generosity of people, businesses, trusts and foundations to meet the mainly staff and technology costs needed to safely support the hundreds of placements, benefitting thousands of older people.”
Nine years later, with a small paid team from the donated office in Hexham, Wag & Company has made over 170,000 friend visits, has over 400 volunteers who are regularly visiting 220 people in their own homes and patients and residents in over 200 hospitals, hospices and care home settings. Wag was awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2021, a Points of Light Award from 10 Downing Street in 2020 for their work during the pandemic and Wag even featured in the BBC’s tributes to her late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II!
The charity’s popularity and recognition reflects the life-changing impact that dogs can have - particularly the unique befrienders at home - for those who need it most in the region.
“Sometimes I walk away from a hospital bed in the palliative care ward and you'll hear a patient saying ‘Oh, that's really made my day’. I go away thinking that it was incredibly poignant, so I get a lot from that as well.”
THE PEOPLE AND PASSION BEHIND THE POOCHES
The charity runs on the goodwill and enthusiasm of its volunteers, who work with their beloved pets to make a difference in the lives of those they visit. In Diane’s words, “we are all just dog owners helping other older dog lovers who can’t have a dog of their own any more”.
“The volunteers go the extra mile [for their older friends]. Often they become real friends and because they're matched from their own communities, they have so much in common, a lifetime of dog-owning locally, often knowing the same vets, the same dog walks, sometimes even mutual friends or members of each other’s families,” says Diane.
As well as giving them an opportunity to support people in their local communities, volunteering with the charity provides a sense of fulfillment and purpose that for some, can be truly transformative.
Wag & Company volunteer Suzanne found a renewed sense of purpose after experiencing tragedies that many would have found insurmountable. “I lost my 17-year old son to suicide in 2020 during the pandemic, and then I lost both my parents really soon after,” she explains.
“My relationship broke down. My NHS job down in London was under consultation. I thought ‘I need to start again’, so I moved to the North East three years ago.”
Suzanne became a volunteer with Wag & Company in 2022, taking her dog Gracie into palliative care settings to offer comfort and support. Here, Suzanne meets many people who are often in their last days and hours of life.
“Sometimes I walk away from the beds and you'll hear somebody say ‘Oh, that's really made my day’. I do go away thinking that it was incredibly poignant, so I get a lot from that as well,” she says.
Mandy, who has volunteered with Wag & Company since 2017, is particularly passionate about supporting those who have left their home and moved into a care setting permanently.
“I have been very privileged to be in a lot of situations where I get the first hand experience of what the charity does,” she explains.
“Sometimes people will go from their own home to hospital to a care home, and never actually get back to their home. It [can be] very, very sad sometimes when that happens.
“The connection of the dog makes such a difference. When you have the dog, they're talking to the dog. They're kind of not really talking to you, which I think sometimes probably helps them process things, and just have a friendly ear.”
“That's the power of WAG, really,
that dogs can make the
difference
when other people can't.”
Through Wag & Company, dog lover Jan has been able to combine her passion for her four-legged friends with her lifelong commitment to volunteering.
“For about 40-50 years, I've always volunteered. I love volunteering - big charities, small charities - it's been a massive hobby, and I've been privileged to be able to do it. My other huge passion is dogs.”
Speaking about one particular elderly lady that she visits, Jan explains: “My friend is a widow living alone in her own home in her 90s. She’s just so lovely and she so appreciates what we do. I've got cards from the last two Christmasses, and on them, she'd written: ‘You and Teddy are my everything.’
“You get a response like that, and you think, ‘Oh, my goodness, what I give her is nothing for me’. It's two or three hours a week. But when you make a connection and you make a difference like that, I always think you get back much more than you give.”
As well as visits to individual homes, Jan takes her dog Teddy into local hospitals, where the pair often cause quite a flurry of excitement: “I also visit the Freeman Hospital with Teddy, and I used to visit the QE [Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead]. The whole hospital visiting thing has been a revelation - the difference it makes walking in with a dog is unbelievable.”
“The QE staff used to follow us around the corridors saying, ‘Oh, we've heard there's a dog in the building, and we've been looking for you’ I mean, it's just incredible,” she says. “We used to visit the A & E department just to let the staff have 10-15 minutes with Teddy. You could see the pressure leaving them when they're around a dog.”
“That's the power of Wag, really, that dogs can make the difference when other people can't.”
“A little ginger rescue dog, being soft and tender, can bring a little bit of light and spread a bit of joy at the hardest times.”
A DOG’S LIFE: GRACIE’S JOURNEY
As well as the committed and compassionate volunteers, the dogs themselves are of course front and centre of Wag & Company’s ethos and mission.
Additionally, it is not only humans who benefit from the incredible work that the charity does. In some cases, dogs that have gone through their own traumatic experiences are given a new lease of life and a chance to trust and build bonds with people.
Described by volunteer Suzanne as “Chihuahua, dachshund, Pekinese and a few other toy dogs all thrown in”, Gracie’s temperament appeared as lovely as her gorgeous coat of golden copper hair and big brown eyes when I was lucky enough to be introduced to her.
A Romanian rescue dog who was regularly chained up and shown no human affection in her previous life, Gracie has a particularly sad story. “She was a lookout dog in a scrap yard, and that was kind of her job,” Suzanne explains.“Then she was rescued, and then came over to the UK in a van, and then I got her when she was four.”
Having made the daunting 1,500-mile journey, Gracie was then rehomed with dog lover Suzanne, who bonded instantly with her and gave her a safe and loving place to call home.
Suzanne was initially unsure whether Gracie’s trauma would impact her ability to be a Friendship Dog: “She's quite a nervous dog - she didn't used to like men - so when we went for the assessment, I was a bit worried.
“[She is] like a lot of rescue dogs, they don't like metal and like walking sticks and frames, because I think they've obviously been hit in the past.”
However, to Suzanne’s delight, Gracie passed her Wag & Company assessment “with flying colours”.
Since becoming a full-fledged Friendship Dog, Gracie has made an immeasurable impact on those she has visited, even in the most heart-wrenching times. “People like to have photos taken with her in the last days of their life,” Suzanne says, almost bringing me to tears as she speaks.
“It's so uplifting at such difficult moments. A little ginger rescue dog, being soft and tender, can bring a little bit of hope and light and spread a bit of joy at the hardest times of life.”
Gracie’s success story is testament to the fact that volunteer dogs don’t need to be the most obedient, Crufts-worthy pets out there; they can just be ordinary pets with the ability to bring happiness to someone’s world.
SUPPORTING A CAUSE THAT CHANGES LIVES
As loneliness continues to be an epidemic amongst the elderly in the UK, Wag & Company is committed to growing its services.
What has become clear to me while speaking with these women is that the charity offers so much more than just friendship - it can often be a very real lifeline for those in the most need of care and support.
As Jan explains, volunteers are able to be another set of “eyes and ears” for those who are vulnerable, reluctant to have outside help and may otherwise fall through the cracks: “I’m very close to my friend and her family, and I can raise the alarm or help with Wag’s support if I have any concerns about anything.”
When many people hear ‘volunteering’, they worry about being able to commit to rigid times or schedules that aren’t compatible with their own lives. This is where Wag & Company really stands out as an organisation - its genuine commitment to flexibility and supporting its volunteers is clear, and echoed enthusiastically by its volunteers.
The time commitment can be as much or as little as volunteers are able to do, and volunteers are able to be matched with people who are in need of canine companionship close to home, in their own communities. The team has seen first-hand the disproportionate impact that dog visits can have on a person’s wellbeing, even if it’s just an hour or two most weeks.
“Honestly, the charity is brilliant in [that] they work around you, they're very, very, very grateful for the time that you can give them. And if you say ‘right, I can only visit once a month’, then they would find you somewhere,” Mandy says.
For Diane, a life without giving her time to enable people to have a dog in their lives again seems inconceivable: “Once I started, I thought I can never not do this, because it matters so much to them and I’m lucky to have my own dog and my family and be able to give my time, so it’s important.”
Sometimes volunteers worry that their four-legged friends won’t pass the Wag & Company dog assessment - which is more accommodating of livelier dogs than you might expect. “Don't ever think your dog can't do it, because some of the dogs I've seen for Wag & Company are under control but very lively,” Suzanne explains.
“A couple of hours most weeks is all it takes to make the world of difference to an older dog lover who badly misses friends with two and with four legs.”
Diane has a final earnest message for those thinking about volunteering: “Whatever time you can give, we will find you the perfect match.”
“Whatever it is, we’ll make it work for you, and make it easy for you to make this difference to people who miss their own dogs so badly and can’t have one of their own any more. We never think it could happen to us or our own family members, but we see every day how quickly and easily it happens to people.
“We desperately need more volunteers right across our region, our services are in so much demand that we could double in size and deploy everyone to people who really need us, almost immediately.
“We’ll support you every step of the way, that’s our commitment to you, our volunteers are absolutely the beating heart of this charity.”
Learn more
To learn more about becoming a volunteer at Wag & Company, visit https://wagandcompany.co.uk/volunteer/