Faithful Friends LLC

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Maggie

I sincerely believe that any dog you spend much time with will impact your life. They might change how you view yourself, or someone you love. Or perhaps they teach you a valuable life lesson that you will carry with you for years. Or maybe they simply fill an emotional need in a hard time of your life… regardless, dogs impact us in special ways. Some will change your life. Maggie was a lab shepherd mix that I bought for $60 from a local farmer. I had hoped this girl would be good with kids and visitors and would be a good companion as my two older Australian Shepherds aged out. That hope, unfortunately, was the opposite of my soon to be reality. Maggie developed health issues that manifested in eruptions of aggression, some visible health issues arose and were addressed, but her behaviors continued to escalate. As a response, I began taking Maggie to dog obedience classes. We tried the big box store obedience lessons, and that did nothing. We moved on to a local, very experienced, trainer and spent a lot of money with obedience training to try to help her work through her issues. And despite all our efforts the day came that Maggie turned her aggression on me, and bit me twice. The heart break I felt as the realization occurred to me that I was failing to help her work though her issues is something that I can’t put into words. I had lived with the stress and fear that she might bite someone, or hurt one of the other dogs in one of her unprovoked rages. And the day came that the dog I knew loved me was unable to control whatever was going on inside of her to the point that she bit me. So off to the vet we went, and hard questions and decisions had to be addressed.

As a person with a degree in nursing and psychology, I am well aware of the impact that mental illness in a family member will have on a household. What had never crossed my mind, in all my years of loving and living with dogs, was the amount of stress dogs with behavioral issues can cause a family. Dogs aren’t viewed as dogs anymore. We as a society become very emotionally attached to one of the few constants in our lives, the wagging tail when we open the door each night. Dogs have such an enormous potential to impact our lives in positive ways. Well behaved pets brighten your days, therapy dogs brighten even your worst days, and service dogs brighten a life full of days filled with challenges. As I had to say good-bye to Maggie, I realized that I wanted to help dogs and people have the best relationship possible. Obedience and behavior modification is not the primary goal for me, instead it is the process of opening up communication and building relationship. Helping both the owner and the dog discover how to trust and give parts of themselves to each other that will deeply impact their lives, not just today, but for a lifetime.