Trauma…MAN versus DOG!
As a therapist, I work with individuals who have suffered all types of trauma from childhood and adulthood. I have been trained and educated in the power of healing. So when my 18 lb. dog was attacked by a large 100 lb. dog, you can imagine the trauma he and I both suffered.
I was visiting my parents yesterday (the day after my father’s lung was biopsied for lung cancer) with my sister and her three children. The visit was ending and we all walked out to the front lawn to say goodbye. The two boys, Richard and Robert decided to have one more wrestle on the ground with my dog Charlie. The boys and the dog rolled around. I sat there looking at the boys and dog saying to my mother “look how cute they are”. I thought it was one of those times “to be in the moment” and enjoy life. We had been through so much the last couple of weeks with my father that it was one of those moments where all our worries disappeared and we just got to enjoy life and nature. I continued to smile looking at the dog jump over the heads of the boys as the dog leash whipped in the air with him when I heard my mother scream “pick up the dog!” My instinct was to run to the dog and grab him. My parents and I live in south Orange County and we are all very aware of the presence of coyotes and it is always in the back of my mind that coyotes would love to eat Charlie. He would be the perfect meal. So, I quickly ran to the dog, but before I could reach him (and he was only about 10 feet away), the neighbors two dogs reached Charlie. The female dog, Jackson, put her jaws around Charlie’s neck. The male dog, Shack, also was just about to join in when luckily the owner of Jackson and Shack reached us and was able to call Shack off with the command of just his voice. However, Charlie’s neck was in the lock of Jackson’s jaws. Her owner tried to pry open her mouth, but I could see in horror that it was not working. My sister and I joined him to try and unlock her jaw. Charlie was starting to whine and scream when my mother said to the two boys, as she held them “do not look!” Later she told me they were not able to stop looking. Luckily my niece Kathryn was safe in the car and said that she just buried her head down and did not look. Flashes of Charlie’s throat being ripped open started to enter my mind. Jackson’s owner saw the gravity of the situation too and went against every dog owner’s instinct and started to hit the dog in the nose. Jackson would not budge. I started to hit the backside of Jackson with all my might. I heard myself screaming in horror. Neighbors were starting to come out of their houses. I pounded and screamed for a minute as Charlie continued to yelp, scream, begging for help. Jackson continued to lock down, my sister continued to wrestle the jaw and the neighbor started to punch Jackson in the neck. Jackson finally released. My sister grabbed Charlie and ran into the house. We got the children back in the house too. I started to check Charlie and realized that I could not tell my blood versus his against his soft white and caramel fur. I had to wash my hands and my niece and nephew held Charlie. When I returned, Charlie was sitting in a ball on their lap. The four of them frozen and wide-eyed.
An hour later my sister drove the children home crying. We all could not stop talking about what happened. I called my sister later that night to check in on the children. She said they were shaken up, but each was dealing with it in his or her own way.
And Charlie? Charlie is jumping all over me and begging to play as I write this. He is fine and does not seem to think for one second about what had happened. He is “in the moment” enjoying life while I am still so shocked that I find myself needing to write about it to shake some of the trauma off.
So, what is the difference between man and dog when it comes to trauma? Animals are traumatized in the wild every day. It is a world full of life-threatening events. Yet they continue on as if nothing happened. Researchers think that animals literally have an ability to shake it off and reorient themselves to their surroundings to heal. So, now I must follow the advice of nature and take Charlie outside and look at the sky, the green grass, the large trees and even smell the neighborhood… To be more like Charlie, that is my goal.