Therapized

Nick and I are both big believers in therapy and the importance of working through issues. After Sheeba-the-Wonder-Dog's latest 'attack trauma', we've been worried that she's suffering the effects of doggie PTSD. To help the Sheeb-miester process everything that happened to her, we decided to get her a stuffed dog to allow her to 'act out' the violence she experienced at the hands of her own kind. The results were...troubling. Slowly but surely she worked through her stages of grief...Take a look:



Stage One: Reenactment.
Sheeba went straight for the right haunch on our "Safe to Explore Doggy Therapy Buddy". Immediately stuffing began to fly, and we knew we were already seeing the tip of the ice burg that constitutes her trauma.   



Stage Two: Denial.
Also known as the "If I don't look at it, it will go away" stage. We had to push her past this emotional block into the crucial next stage...



Stage Three: Depression.
It was clear that right about at this point it hit home the viciousness of all she experienced. There were tears... lots and lots of doggie tears.



Stage Five: Rage.
Never pleasant to watch, but it was obvious Sheebs had some fury to work through.



Stage Six: Leg Amputation.
Thankfully Nick moved his foot out of the way in time - narrowly sparing his right appendage.

Stage Seven: Remorse.
We thought it might go from here straight into the healing stages, but turns out we had to revisit...

Stage Eight: Return to leg amputation.



 

Stage Ten: Co-Therapy with Dad.
Sadly co-therapy involves Nicholas slapping her on the heiney while she shakes and tosses the therapy dog. I'm still a little unsure of the therapeutic value in this.




Stage Eleven: Forgetting we're in therapy and just focusing on ripping our new stuffed dog in half.
Self-explanatory.



Stage Twelve: Forgiveness.
Always accompanied by a nose choke-hold from Dad.

Therapeutic Remains.

She looks more balanced, no?

No one said therapy was easy.