Greta’s Healing Journey Continues

Hello Everyone -

We hope you are all doing well and enjoying springtime!

Today, we want to update you on Annette and Don’s sweet rescue dog Greta, who is near and dear to Ada’s heart as well. Over the past two years, the three of us have worked together to help Greta feel safe and loved. From the moment Annette saw her photo online with her beautiful brown eyes, Greta has filled our hearts with joy. She is kind, gentle, and incredibly loving. Each day with her has indeed been a gift.

As you may remember, in her past, Greta experienced a life that left her very traumatized. In fact, the shelter where we got her said that she was the most traumatized dog they had seen. Having never had a rescue dog or even been around one, we now understand that when we adopted her, we had no idea what they meant by “traumatized.” We thought our patience and love would be enough.

We started to see Greta’s trauma within a few minutes of her arrival at Annette and Don’s home. She would run as fast as possible to the nearest corner of the room or under a table or chair, curl into a ball, and shake furiously. We bought a crate for her, thinking that this might bring her some comfort – a place of her own where she could feel safe. She would run as fast as she could into the crate and hover in the back corner, shaking. It was pretty heartbreaking to witness. What had happened to her?

In these past two years, all three of us have worked extremely hard with her, and little by little, she is getting better. Yet, two years later, she still struggles with being afraid. It isn’t an all-day-every-day afraid anymore. She can come up to us for pets now. She likes to go outside on walks and loves to help when we work in the yard. She has a spot in every area of Don and Annette’s house where she feels comfortable – most of them not in corners or under something. Overall, she has made a great deal of progress.

However, Greta’s trauma still triggers her. So, last week, we reached out to our veterinarian for support. She recommended that now that Greta feels safe with us and safe in her home, getting some tools in her toolbox to deal with her trauma would help her as she continues to heal. We agreed. We certainly don’t want Greta to live the rest of her life traumatized, so we located a trainer who will be coming to help her each week until she is able to let go of some of her fear.

And you know, the more we think about our veterinarian’s advice, we see how people are no different than Greta. We ALL have experienced trauma in our lives, and we get triggered just like she does. Just like Greta, we need tools to deal with what happens in our lives. Unfortunately, we aren’t born with these tools, so we must make a conscious choice to learn them in order to show up as our best selves.

Being able to teach tools and support others is what we love so much about our coaching practice – and why we are very excited to help Greta as she continues her healing journey.

No matter who we are, what has happened to us, or how we are struggling, there IS help. We just have to search and make sure we find it. Sometimes it can be tough asking for help. It might even feel embarrassing to say, “I don’t know what to do.” And yet, giving ourselves the respect we deserve by asking for help will ultimately give us the opportunity to heal and the freedom to live – not from our wounds but our healed selves.

We want this for ourselves, our clients, our friends, and we want this for our dear, sweet Greta.

Thank you to all of you who encouraged us when we adopted Greta, gave us your suggestions, and have asked about her during these past two years. We really appreciate your support!

Many blessings,
Annette and Ada