Photos of Bride With Service Dog Melts Hearts Everywhere

Every bride dreams of her wedding day. For Valerie Parrott, however, and millions of women all over the world, the big day means extra anxiety, and therefore, extra panic attacks. It’s a good thing there’s a pill for that, or rather, a dog.

In a touching photo that recently went viral, Parrott is seen snuggling her dog Bella, a specially trained service dog that alerts Parrott when her anxiety levels are rising. Bella helps calm Parrott down by licking her hands or leaning her weight on her.

“Basically it helps me to take a moment away from whatever is causing the anxiety and keeps me from having a panic attack,” Parrott told Countryliving.com. “When [Bella] does this, she will do things like lick my hands or lean and put her weight on me, and generally gets me to focus on her instead of my surroundings.”

Parrott – who suffers from constant headaches, according to her blog – was matched with Bella in 2013 and they have been best friends ever since. Since Bella helps Parrott with everyday tasks, it was no question that Parrot and her husband wanted to include Bella in the wedding.

“At first we couldn’t decide when to bring her in and finally my mom said, ‘Why wouldn’t she walk with you like she always does?'” Parrot said.

They dressed Bella in a tutu just for fun, but according to Parrot, “She actually loves tutus.”

The blushing bride said that the wedding day was pretty much just a normal day for Bella.

“She did her tasks and kept me on track and really made sure I could enjoy the day and not worry about medical things.”

Parrott also blogs about the issues facing people with invisible disabilities. You can read more about Parrot’s and Bella’s adventures on their blog, The (Service) Dog in the Room.