‘Max has gotten a little better at being a dog, sure. But I started to love him.’: Difficult puppy teaches first time dog mom how to love him and herself unconditionally, helping her heal from trauma

Author image for Laurent Shinar
Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Sep 27, 2026 7:30 AM EDT

You'd certainly be furgiven for thinking that the only way for someone who has been through trauma to heal is with the help of a highly trained pupper who has been to school, graduated and opened a 401 Canine. But the truth, as you'll come to find in this story is that even a problematic pupper can support someone's healing journey. For the healing does not come from the pup, but from the hooman learning to love the pup no matter what.

Now, CPTSD is a very complex issue. It is made up of many parts and there are several opinions on how to treat the recovery process. Of course there are all sorts of things that doctors can prescribe, but nothing can quite compare to what certain dogtors are capable of pawscribing. Sure, these pawfessionals might not hold the same degrees as those in hospitals, nor are they really able to hold anything in their paws. But what they lack in holding ability they more than make up for in pupper power.

By which we mean the power to make us hoomans see beyond ourselves and forgive an incredible amount of mischief, knowing that there is no use in getting mad or overwhelmed by something that our dog has done. Largely because they do not know what they are doing and there is simply no blaming someone for something they cannot understand now is there. So join us for one woman's healing journey thanks to her pupper's chaotic and messy approach to life.

 

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  • 01
    "He's not perfect. Sometimes, he's needy and naughty and downright obnoxious. But I love this dog."
    via Yen1969

    Golden retriever lying on woman.

    Picture does not depict real parties.


     

  • 02
    I've been toying with the idea of owning a dog for years. I've read the research and knew it would probably help me feel better. I just was always lacking time, money, or both, and I guess part of me wondered if I could really
    via Yen1969
  • 03
    attach to or genuinely love an animal. I like animals and they like me, but I've never felt attached. SO knew from when we met that I might be getting a puppy in the late spring or early summer, and as a self- professed dog lover, volunteered from the beginning to help me raise him.
    via Yen1969
  • 04
    Did my research a while back and set my heart on a Golden Retriever. I've been in contact with a farm with about five adult goldens in bumfuck nowhere, Minnesota for about a year and a half. In January, I got an email
    via Yen1969
  • 05
    that they had a litter, asking if I wanted one. Talked to my (at the time) brand new SO and decided to go for it. We brought Max home on March 7th when he was 7 weeks old. He is so
    via Yen1969
  • 06
    Cheezburger Image 10666768640
    via Thecrabbylibrarian
  • 07
    cute that he looks Photoshopped, but my God, is he a lot of work. He likes to eat his own р p and roll around in it (at this point, we jokingly call it "pp snacc"). He makes it about as difficult
    via Yen1969
  • 08
    as possible to bathe him after he rolls in his own sł t. He needs to go out all the I time, sometimes in the middle of the night. He chews on everything, including us. He loves to eat socks and sweatpants, he's bitten holes in so many of my
    via Yen1969

  • Oh holy mackerel, well mackerel would be an improvement to the smell that this pupper is likely putting out. Who on earth could have imagined that this would happen when purchasing a pupper. Sure, you might come to expect it if you happen to adopt from a shelter and pick up a pup with some trauma of their own. But a brand new doggo in the world from what is meant to be a good home. This is certainly strange. And quite likely not the challenge that this pawrent had hoped to come up against when taking on her first ever puppy. 
     

  • 09
    clothes. He has eaten two dd birds as a rule, the more disgusting something is, the more interested Max becomes. I've been awake at 3AM scraping dog di a off pavement in the pouring I on rain. I've been p while carrying my dog
    via Yen1969
  • 10
    Cheezburger Image 10666769152
    via Thecrabbylibrarian
  • 11
    outside. I've had my skin broken by sharp puppy teeth. It's been HARD. And kinda like I was fearing, I got pretty d d at first. I was stiff and rigid and terrified of having something relying on me the way Max did. I regretted
    via Yen1969
  • 12
    taking him home. I thought I'd overestimated myself. I wondered if I even loved this dog, if I ever would. I resented him for having inconvenient needs, just like how I resented myself. I dreaded spending time with him and sometimes tried to
    via Yen1969
  • 13
    avoid it. At one point I said to my SO, holding back tears, "you know, we don't have to pretend this was a good idea." But at some point, this shifted. Max has gotten a little better at being a dog, sure. But I started to love him. I started feeling
    via Yen1969
  • 14
    sorry for him when he had the runs instead of angry that I had to deal with it, sorry for him when he had to pat 7AM instead of irritated that I had to get out of bed. I started thinking about how his poor puppy teething gums hurt when
    via Yen1969
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    Cheezburger Image 10666768896
    via Thecrabbylibrarian

  • And there it is. Often us hoomans have an issue that is caused by our big old brains. That issue being that because our brains are so big we are unable to see beyond ourselves. This can make it hard to gain pawspective on things and in general see that there are many others suffering just like us and that we can reach out and ask fur help from like minded people. And it seems that this hooman has finally found a way to see past themselves by unconditionally loving their slightly problematic pupper.
     

  • 16
    he chewed on stuff instead of getting upset that he was chewing. He's not perfect. Sometimes, he's needy and naughty and downright obnoxious. But I love this dog. He doesn't have to be perfect. He just has to be a dog. And, weirdly, this is leaking into other areas of my life.
    via Yen1969
  • 17
    I love my little family so much. I'm so grateful to have them.
    via Yen1969

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dogs teach dog mom puppy better reddit story help trauma difficult first time unconditional love health love dog story
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