Hershey

A Better Quality of Life

Hershey was my 17 year old Australian Shepherd.

She was with me from 2010 til 2021.

I met Hershey when she was 3 years old, living on a horse farm and rooming with her mother in an outside kennel. She had lost her ability to run free and lived in fear due to noises made in the woods behind the dogs to keep the homeowner awake and stressed by the non-stop barking their activities induced. So, once I adopted her 3 years after we met, her ability to trust was minimal.

She bolted when the door was opened and ran across the pasture, looking for trash to rummage through as if she were still hungry. The dogs didn’t get fed consistently at times before I got her. It seemed she saw life that way even though I made sure she ate well. I saw fear in her eyes without fail, every day.

When Hershey joined our family, she was introduced to Romie, a young lab/border collie mix that I adored. He was my baby. We lived on 145 acres. Romie, my young blue-eyed boy, was trained to come when called. Hershey ignored me and did as she pleased. She had a talent for slipping out of a collar in an instant. She was a project to say the least in the beginning.

One day, a cousin neglected to close the screen door as she stood there talking and both dogs darted out into the darkness. Down the long country driveway they went and were not to be seen again for hours. When we did see either of them, it was Romie, my young lab that was found.

A trip out to the main road by family members revealed the whereabouts of my lab. One of the younger men in the family cleaned him up off of the road and found a place to bury him.

Hershey had the skill to cross the road and avoid traffic out on the mountain road, and perhaps she expected him to be able to follow her with success. She didn’t return to the house until the following morning. Somewhere between the news of my boy’s demise and her delayed return to the house I had had enough of our battles, the challenge to keep her home and him as well since running with her was so much fun to him.

I took her collar off that I had provided for her, and told her to get out of the house. I sent her out onto the front porch and closed the door. I then asked my sister to find her a home and turned and went into my room with my heartbreak and anger. It was very unlike me not to continue to be patient with an animal needing love. Hershey however had no interest in being loved. All she had awareness of was survival. There was no connection between us, at all. She was even untrusting at feeding time.

Five days into my period of grief over the loss of my treasured boy, I was outside clearing out overgrown and neglected areas of the property when suddenly Hershey came near and laid down facing me. She was not lying in a leisurely manner, she had her feet out in front of her and her focus on me. I must say, I was not interested in engaging with her so she was ignored for a while. Yet she persisted, and as I moved along in my work, she followed along with her attention directed at me, moving with me and lying down, waiting. When I finally engaged with her, it was not a friendly response. Her presence served as a reminder of my deep loss due to her actions and her resistance to receiving my affection or my position as pack leader. Yet she persisted, despite the unfriendly energy I sent her way.

After about an hour of this, I finally sat down with her and expressed to her how deeply she had betrayed and hurt me, and that I had zero tolerance for any more of my struggle with her. As I did so, I could see she was hurting too and knew the impact of what she had done. To my amazement, after that interaction, she was a changed dog, willing to accept me as pack leader and to trust me at least to some degree. She became committed to me from that moment til her last and did her best to trust me no matter what. She made that effort very clear when we moved off the farm.

I brought her back into the house shortly after coming to an understanding with her. She then lived there with the family as a dog would, quite different from our earlier experience. To my amazement, the every morning rush to get her outside before she blessed my bedroom with a huge puddle was no longer needed as she chose to hold it just a little longer until we went outside. But the real proof came as we moved our belongings out of the house at the end of our time there. The front door was left open for the move-out. I had put a leash on Hershey and hung it on a doorknob in my bedroom to keep her from panicking and running away from the activity. That kept her with me as I worked in my bedroom. Once the furnishings were removed from my room, I went on to help with other areas. I came back to my room to get her when it was time, and there she lay. But to my amazement, she had chewed through the leash. One end of it was attached to her collar, the other end was on the floor. As there were now two sections, the other one was still attached to the doorknob. That’s when I knew for sure we would be just fine. After that, real love began to evolve. I could ask her to come back from where she was and she would do it, and trust me that she was safe, welcome, and cared for. That’s all I wanted, her to know she was safe and loved. From that place, we didn’t have any more battles.

I wish I had known the value of CBD oil long before she began to suffer from hip pain. Due to the pain in her hip that caused her great stress and frequent falls up the stairs inside and outside the house, I looked into CBD oil for relief. Sure enough, within just two or three days the pain was manageable. Her stressed breathing became calm in a matter of a couple of hours after the first dose, and she was able to lie down and sleep. I saw it as a huge success. I committed to giving her a full dropper of oil every morning and evening, daily.

You can go HERE to learn more about quality CBD for your pets.

Go here to check out other products and reviews at vitalityscience.com.

Use coupon code secondchance10 for 10% off of your order.

Within days, she was bounding up the stairs with so much more ease and no falling or crying out in pain. Although the oily, odd taste was not ideal to her, she knew it helped her feel better. I watched my fearful dog transform to a friendly, happy and playful girl. Her fear of people she didn’t know transformed and she became eager to meet other people, as she had done while staying with a dear friend while I was away.

Three years after Hershey joined me, I was invited to join family overseas for a six-month period. My dear friend was willing to take Hershey home and care for her while I was away, neither of us knowing exactly how long my stay would be. She graciously cared for Hershey with joy and much love the entire time, and they bonded. She watched Hershey learn how to joyfully be a dog. She played and ran, running to willing neighbors to introduce herself and then routinely running to them to play. It warmed my heart to hear how expansive her level of joy and simply living life became. Hershey proved to be as much emotional support for my friend as she was for Hershey. When I arrived back home and we were reunited, the joyful reunion ended with Hershey hopping back in my friends car to go home with her. It warmed my heart that she had bonded with my friend, so rather than feel put off or replaced, I warmly encouraged my friend to take her back home with her until she’s ready to join me again. Hershey was loving her life, and would have to get acquainted with family I was with that she knew very little about. A man had joined our family that she had never met, so she chose what she preferred. It worked out wonderfully for her and for my friend. All I wanted was for Hershey to find safety and happiness. I knew she would be back. When she was ready, she chose to stay with me and my family as my friend went home.

As she got older, the anxiety increased. It took me a while to understand that she had hip pain. I was more focused on the issue of her belly. As I watched her level of anxiety with the use of CBD oil give way to a happy, calm pleasant personality, I wished I’d known about the benefits years earlier. Only those who had watched her over the years could understand the transformation that took place. She was a different dog, loving life and loving everyone around her. She greeted people with ease rather than slinking away in fear.

I share this story in hopes that your pets get the chance to love their lives like my Hershey did, with the help of CBD or hemp oil. I know there are many people with dogs and cats who deal with anxiety or pain. I also know that making the decision to try CBD or hemp oil for your pets can be a tough one when it is unfamiliar and your vet isn’t the first person to suggest its use. Of course, most vets are taught to know more about medications than holistic options. I encourage you to do a little research on the products and result people get to help you decide if an oil makes sense for your situation.

Make sure you use an oil that doesn’t have essential oil combined with it. There are plenty of brands available for pets. I used different ones in the beginning with Hershey. One of my favorites is a hemp oil that I get from Vitality Science. The size is large enough to use for 30 days and I trust their products after my experience with Joi.

You can go HERE to take a look at the product page.

Go here to check out other products and reviews at vitalityscience.com.

Use coupon code secondchance10 for 10% off of your order.

Another one that I trust is from Dog’s Naturally. Here’s a link:

https://thenaturaldogstore.com/collections/joint-care/products/cbd-oil-for-dogs

I don’t have a discount code to offer for this one. I can tell you that this is one of the brands that gave my Hershey daily comfort.

Please look over the products and familiarize yourself with ways to replace some of the side effects of medications. We’ll talk about foods and other concerns that can help to give our pets a better quality of life, so watch for my articles.