Rescuing a Dog From a Puppy Mill Was the Hardest Thing I've Ever Done

While Fleet and I have very different upbringings — she was uncared for, caged and kept alive for the purposes of breeding, and shown little to any love until we met her — we both have anxieties. But many of hers were visible. When a huge truck would drive by and she'd sprint back home, or when the vet put her in a cage temporarily and she'd focus all of her attention on her arms and bite them furiously, I jumped in. I knew enough about how I treated my own anxiety that I used that to help Fleet work through hers. I sat with her and rewarded her while the triggers drove by on the street, and I offered to sit with her in exam rooms before vet appointments to avoid her ever having to go back into another cage again.