11/01/2026
“THE DOGS YOU POST DON’T LOOK HAPPY”
That statement gets commented on my page every once in a while. And yeah. No s**t. That’s because MOST of the dogs I see aren’t happy - they’re in constant fight or flight; excessive emotional overload; extensively stressed; looping through behaviors of aggression, fear and anxiety; and just not having a good time. That’s the very reason why their owners are seeing me to begin with. And while in a perfect world, we would love to just have a magic wand that we wiggle around in the dog’s face so they automatically become mentally healthy, well-rounded dogs… that’s not possible. Working through negative emotional states takes time, consistency, repetition, and perseverance.
Take this dog, Lola, for instance. She’s only been in her new home for about two weeks, is undergoing heartworm treatment right now (and may possibly feel like crap because of it); has some anxiety around being left alone; and hasn’t quite been able to have all of her physical needs met just yet due to her new owner not feeling comfortable enough to handle her on the leash but ALSO due to her exercise restrictions with the heartworm treatment. This doesn’t mean that she isn’t living an enjoyable life or that she doesn’t have moments of happiness. This is a perfect example of a dog who is literally in the middle of rebuilding her life. And it’s not all rainbows and unicorns. Yet that’s also how she gets to experience a better life than what she has had in the past.
It’s impossible to live a life without any negative emotions present, especially if life has not been easy for you from the start … and this is true of both dogs as well as humans.
One moment lacking happiness, does not mean that that life is void of happiness. Context is everything.
