“Emotional support duck” helps revive epileptic dog’s spark, long Island family says

Brookhaven: It was just what the duck-tor ordered.When Tori and Justin Cannarelli, who own a garden center in Brookhaven, Long Island, volunteered to temporarily adopt Louie the Duck after he hatched at a local elementary school, they never expected him to stay.

“I never expected to own a duck,” Tori told CBS’s Steve Hartman. “Never expected him to stay.”But Louie turned out to be a better fit at home than at the store — and for the Cannarellis’ 7-year-old golden retriever, Barley, he may have been exactly what she needed.

About two years ago, Barley began having seizures. Vets diagnosed her with epilepsy and put her on medication that stopped the seizures but came with heavy side effects.“We thought, ‘Oh man, this is medication we have to give her for the rest of her life… So this is how she’s going to be?’” Tori told the Washington Post.

“She lost her goldenness, her fun, her spunk. She was always sleeping or mopey. It was heartbreaking.”That changed the day Louie waddled into their lives.

The duck and the dog formed an instant bond. Barley started visiting Louie’s pen every morning — a clear enclosure with a small swimming pool, protected from the wind. The pair began wrestling playfully and even stealing bites of each other’s food.