Animals can recover from emotional trauma

My german shepherd, Lucky, spent the first 6 months of her life being used as pitbull bait in a dog ring.  She was attacked and attacked until the dog ring owners assumed she was dead, then she was thrown in a dumpster along with several other dead puppies.  I adopted her after she had been rescued by the SPCA and stitched back together again.  

While her physical wounds had healed at the shelter, her emotional wounds had yet to be addressed.  I discovered within the first few weeks that seeing another dog caused such an intense fear in her that she would drop to the ground, curl up into a ball and throw up.  At first, I was overwhelmed and worried that I didn't have the skills to help her get through the trauma.  More than one person suggested it was cruel to keep her alive and that it would be better to 'put her down' since she would probably never recover from what she had been through.  Deep in my heart, I knew that wasn't the truth.  I knew she could heal from the trauma she had experienced, just as humans can recover from the traumas they have experienced.  

I was determined to help her live the life she was meant to live . . . one filled with love and joy and happiness, a life where she felt safe and comfortable.  I'm not going to lie and say it was an easy road, because it was not.  We struggled a lot, taking small steps forward and many steps backwards but in time we worked through it. After about 4 years, Lucky was finally able to greet another dog without throwing up or dropping to the ground.  She could approach a dog with confidence and ease, and she looked like a dog who had never been through the kind of unspeakable trauma she had been through.  

I continue to be in awe of her will and determination, and am grateful that she was able to learn to trust as much as she has.  She has shown me that animals can make choices out of love instead of fear, just as humans can.  She serves as a constant reminder that animals can recover from the abuse and torture they have endured, as long as we continue to believe that they can.

When I hear people say "that's just the way he is" or "that's just the way she is" . . . referring to fear behaviors that are a result of traumatic experiences their pets have had. . . it makes me kind of sad because I don't believe they have to live that way.  I think we can help animals overcome the painful experiences they have had and live the lives they were meant to live.  While we can undo what has happened to them, I do believe we can help them release the past, step into the present and live a life without fear.  After all, isn't that what we want for ourselves as well?