She asks: “Will bringing a 2nd dog into the family have any positive benefit to her healing process?”

While this will be stressful in some respects, particularly with her physical condition, it will have many benefits because it will give her greater motivation to heal herself and to develop and maintain a robust state of healthy wellbeing because she will be challenged by having another dog present—not in the way a human would feel competition, but simply the stimulus it provides and the natural curiosity and joy of life in having one of her own kind to play with and be a companion will do wonders for her morale and in particular her anxiety about ending up alone. Another dog will be an additional healer in the family as well and that could be a bonus as it will likely be the case that the newcomer will see the welfare of its new companions as a high priority and do what is natural for the companion animal—to help its loved ones; to comfort and heal them.