This is a personal story. Trauma can affect more dogs and puppies than might be expected. Trauma does not need to be a major event. Trauma shows up to each individual as a lasting emotional response to a distressing event that is difficult to cope with or out of one's control. Think about how much is out of a dog's control in todays environment. Harmony was a dog who went through the first year of her life with physical and emotional abuse. There were injuries in different stages of healing. She came to me in 2021 and I must have intuitively known that what she required first was safety. Much to the dismay of many, love would not enough. She did not need to know what most usually think of training, how to learn to sit, do a down, focus on me. She wouldn't even make eye contact with me. People, hands, collars were not safe to her. The first few months there was a lot of destruction. She was never reprimanded for tearing up portions of the deck or when the security camera was destroyed. No is not part of my verbiage when it comes to teaching any dog. It is now 2024 and she still has flashbacks while so much as changed. For her as well as for me. This journey led me to take a course called Slow Thinking is Life Saving for Dogs (this link will take you to all her courses) presented by Dr. Laura Donaldson. This is where the paradigm shift began. This course taught me so much about trauma and how to help dogs that have experienced trauma. How to slow down the thinking of dogs and puppies who have experienced trauma in their lives. Even to consider not taking a dog for their usual walks when they have been exposed to dogs barking, being attacked by another dog, or even for a puppy when a loud noise scared them while going potty outside and now they don't want to go outside. There is also a course which is offered called Becoming Trauma Informed which I highly recommend. Through this course I also learned more on pattern games through Leslie McDevitt's Control Unleashed. As well as Sarah Fisher and Free Work. Where items are placed on the floor or on different surfaces and the dog explores these items as they are observed. There is no interaction with the dog from a human, thus the name Free Work. What we might be looking for is what the dog prefers to sniff, does the dog want to eat from a raised platform, are surfaces avoided. The dog has so much to teach us, we need to learn from them to guide them. As the journey continued another course which had a large impact on me was Family Dog Mediation. This course is presented by Kim Brophey. This course teaches about the L.E.G.S. of the dog. L=learning E=Environment G=Genetics S=Self. Each dog is their individual self. Can't be compared to another dog we might have had, even within their genetic background. What they were bred to do thousands of years ago has an effect on them today. There are 9 categories which are represented: Bull Dog, Guardian, Scent Hound, Toy Dog, Herding, Gun Dog, Terrier, Sight Hound, Natural Dog. What was very interesting was what we, as the professional, might be called to help with and a labeled problem with a person's dog. When in fact, these "problems" can be what a dog was bred to do. As an example, the Guardian: Aggression toward unfamiliar people or animals, especially near the home or your property. Wandering off, not coming when called, protectiveness of owners or other pets, territorial barking. The most impactful statement I heard in the FDM course was, we take our dogs from their natural environment and hold them captive. My takeaway is to give them more agency, control over their lives, and safety first through time and space. Watch them, learn from them. Fulfilling their needs, what they were bred to do, might reduce the very behaviors we find annoying. Dogs are sentient beings with many feelings, many of them big feelings, that are expressing in many ways. The mutual understanding of each other as we look at the L.E.G.S. not only of the dog, our own L.E.G.S.. can teach us so much. Through this mutual understanding change can occur, relationships grow stronger as we learn to walk on this journey together in trust, love and respect. Facebook: Animal Behaviour and Trauma Recovery Service UK Control The Meerkat Everything Control Unleashed Reading The Body Keeps the Score Bessel van der Kolk
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