INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Our four-legged friends can bring us laughter, joy, and love. But one Indianapolis woman says they can also help us heal.

Roleen Demmings has written about her challenges with depression and grief after the death of her mother. She stopped by Daybreak on Wednesday to talk about her journey of healing.

“My mom was in hospice. She had cancer. My sister and I were her caretakers, and throughout that time, we noticed that we were gaining weight,” Demmings said. “We didn’t want to get out of bed; we had to force ourselves to and we realized the depression setting in even before she died.”

She says she knew she needed to exercise more, eat better, and go to therapy, but then she found a non-traditional way of coping: a handsome Newfoundland/Poodle mix named Remy.

“Those days where I didn’t want to get out of be, I knew I had to walk him and then, he’ll just lick all over you. He doesn’t understand depression, but, y’know, he’s really helped me with mine,” Demmings said. “While we were going through our sadness, he really was a light for us. I call him our lifeboat in the sea of depression.”

Click on the video above to watch the full interview with Roleen Demmings.