People sometimes forget that when something traumatic happens, it can scar an individual for the rest of their life. That isn’t something that is reserved only for humans. It can happen to animals, too and it did happen to a dog named Taka back in 2018. At the time, Taka was nine years old and the family house caught on fire.
The dog was eventually pulled to safety, but not before he received significant burns over the majority of his body, including his face. Given his age, which was already quite advanced, veterinarians didn’t initially hold out a great deal of hope that he would survive.
To make matters worse, his family was suddenly unable to care for him, as a direct result of losing their home in the fire and the mounting bills that accompany such a tragic event.
Fortunately, firefighters had taken the dog to Care More Animal Hospital. The veterinarian who was on staff at the time had significant experience with dogs that had suffered burn injuries.
He and the person working as his Vet Tech that day, Crystal Wesley, began the initial treatment to save Taka. It took time, of course, but the dog did eventually pull through.
Since the family were unable to financially care for him and had been forced to move to a location where they were no longer allowed to have a dog, Crystal stepped up and offered to take the dog into her own home.
She became Taka’s foster parent, for all intents and purposes. Unfortunately, helping the dog survive his physical injuries was only part of the puzzle. The rest would actually take significantly longer.
Because of the massive emotional trauma that Taka suffered as a result of the fire and subsequently being separated from his family, he became quite aggressive. He could not be around other dogs and Crystal had become worried that he could become aggressive towards humans.
When virtually every type of behavior modification technique failed, Crystal was put into contact with Mandy Foster, who was in charge of the Canine Training Project. As it turns out, this organization focuses on rehabilitating dogs who have developed behavioral issues as a direct result of some type of trauma.
Crystal and Mandy spoke about Taka’s issues and even though the dog was of advanced age, Mandy agreed to take him in and work with him directly.
Mandy admitted that he was a challenging candidate and it did take some time but she was able to successfully rehabilitate him and turn him back into the sweet dog he had once been. Thanks to her efforts, he’s now back with Crystal. In all likelihood, he’ll live out his days with her, as this has now become his home.
There is one more positive twist to the story, however. Taka is now serving as a certified therapy dog for other dogs that are just coming into the program.
In other words, he’s helping other animals with behavioral issues stemming from trauma learn how to be dogs again, acting as living proof that it is indeed possible to overcome all kinds of traumatic experiences.
Everyone can learn something from Taka’s experience. Almost every individual goes through some type of trauma in their life.
That trauma can define an individual or they can choose to rise above it and become better because of it. That’s precisely what Taka has done and it’s what he’s teaching other animals to do right now.
If an elderly dog can manage to do that, don’t you think people owe it to themselves and to others to at least try and do the same thing?
Credits to WSAV3.
