Sweet friends, I'm just dropping in to say thank you--with all my heart. I am very slowly working my way through all of the comments and messages and notes of encouragement that you've sent. It will take me a bit of time, but please know that I'm reading them all, with love and a giant furry beast asleep at my feet!! So grateful for all of you! xo #communityovercompetition #quoteoftheday #mood #grateful 
This beautiful beast and I thank you all so much for the overwhelming amount of support and encouragement you've shown us since our post this morning. I have no words right now. But I do have a heart that feels an immense amount of comfort from the love that has risen up to meet us. š¤ š¾ #goldensofinstagram #englishcreamgoldenretriever #doglife #theviewfromhere @whisperingwillow_goldens 
I had my first panic attack in a really long time earlier this week. It happened when a lady from Brodyās dog training facility called meāhalf an hour after I dropped him off for an hour of doggy daycareāto tell me that I needed to pick him up. When I got there, she explained to me that while he didnāt have a single mean bone in his body, he was simply too overstimulated to be a good fit for their facility. Especially for his size. I stood in front of her as she continued to talk to me, but I didnāt really hear the words anymore. I asked if we could do some private training with their facility so that we could better support him. She told me that it couldnāt be trained out of him. And thatās when it started to happen. I tried really hard to hold on until I got into the car, but the tears started to pool in the corner of my eyes and I knew as soon as one of them fell that the rest would soon follow. I donāt know how much time passed in between but once I finally got Brody in the car, I just fell apart. Having a dog has reminded me so much of having our first child; the unfamiliar territory, the tendency to compare, the constant pursuit of standardized āmilestones". Iāve been incredibly grateful for the extremely small handful of people that Iāve authentically shared this experience with because they have been lifelines in what has often felt like an isolation of quiet judgement. But even then, I cried some of the most desperate tears that I have in years that day. Because I was crying tears of shame. I felt like a failure. As though I had failed my family and failed this beautiful beast that we had been trusted with. And the heaviness that came with that was beyond overwhelming. I called our vet later that day; my eyes swollen, my head throbbing, my heart broken. (continued belowā¦)