Barb Kucera is a dental hygienist in Charlotte, North Carolina. Due to past trauma, she has been diagnosed with PTSD, General Anxiety Disorder and Depression. She experiences memory flashbacks and finds herself avoiding places and events that trigger her anxiety. She has problems sleeping, lacks focus, and often feels overwhelmed with life.
ATKINS is a sweet and playful yellow lab, who will walk through life by Barb’s side! She will help Barb by anchoring to rising anxiety and by disrupting negative behaviors such as panic attacks and nightmares. This will allow Barb to start each day confident that she can take on any task that comes her way. With ATKINS by her side, there is nothing she cannot accomplish!
In addition to being certified as an Assistance Dog, ATKINS is also certified as a Facility Dog to mitigate dental anxiety by providing Animal Assisted Intervention for pediatric and adult dental patients. Millions of Americans suffer from dental anxiety and dental phobia. ATKINS is helping them overcome it one patient at a time!
Sweet Smiling ATKINS and her loving personality will transform Barb’s life and the lives of all who meet her! Thank you for donating to their team so they can “pay it forward” and help another individual or facility receive an Assistance Dog from paws4people.
Media Links
How Facility Dogs Mitigate Dental Anxiety
