A Helpless Situation

Imagine waking up every day for most of your life to overcrowded living space, filth, and poverty. There is no birth control, so you just keep having one pregnancy after another. Sounds like some episode of Call the Midwife and the very stuff of life. But, I am talking about my special needs rescue dog.

When I comes to resilience, I think my dogs are teaching me new tricks every day. Meet my rescue dog Kokopelli (Koko for short.) I rescued her about 18 months ago when she was 12ish. She came from a hoarding situation in Texas with 89 other dogs on the premises.

She was considered hospice with a life expectancy of 6 months. A significant heart murmur was her biggest health issue. Weighing only 8 pounds, she had significant body wasting. She was unspayed and unvaccinated. She had giardia, mange and was through to have kidney failure. Rare female perineal hernias had developed. She wasn’t thought to be a surgical candidate. Her days were numbered.

I had just lost my heart dog and was grieving, perhaps clinically depressed. I thought rescuing a new dog would boost my optimism and resilience. But, I wasn’t ready. So, when the rescue asked me about taking on a short-term hospice dog, I thought it sounded perfect.

One problem. Koko decided to live.

Each day, she perked up a little more. She jumped through cat doors and flew off the arm of the couch. She hoarded bones and howled with joy when breakfast was served. Out of the hopeless situation, she found her will to live.

Fortunately, an echocardiogram cleared her for surgery. And, so, off she went for 7 surgical procedures and a dental. Much to everyone’s surprise, not only did she tolerate the surgery, she recovered quickly continued to thrive.

After recovery, she learned to camp, hike, travel, go to concerts, visit Santa, and wear cute sweaters.

What Caused The Shift?

A scientific study on “learned helplessness” by Martin E.P. Seligman, PhD (father of positive psychology) helps explain what was going on with Koko and what shifted once she was rescued. Seligman’s experiment involved giving one group of dogs shocks that they couldn’t control and not allowing them to escape. In time, the dogs were free to escape the shocks, but they didn’t even try. This was termed “learned helplessness” and thought to be a determining factor in depression.

Later research done by Steven F. Maier, PhD, Seligman’s partner in the initial studies, shed new light on the old research findings. The dogs hadn’t learned helplessness as much as they had not developed control over the situation.

A neurotransmitter called serotonin was identified as a likely factor in the newer research. Serotonin levels were elevated in the animals that were stressed, but dropped once the creature learned that they had some control over the situation.

Basically, they found that in uncontrollable situations, serotonin levels climb but the forebrain has the ability to tell the brain’s fear center to calm down because the situation can be controlled. (reference link)

In Seligman’s original studies, he found a small percentage of dogs that were helpless even before the shocks. And, another small percentage never got helpless. In other words, they were more resilient.

Kokopelli’s Upward Spirals

To Koko, the stresses of life weren’t controllable. She had litter after litter of puppies, lacked adequate nutrition, and developed illness. Koko’s helplessness likely developed over time. As her health worsened from all the litters, malnutrition, and neglect she lost more control. She was literally dying. But, it only took a few weeks for her to perk up and take interest in life, again.

My hypothesis is that after rescue, she began to learn that she had some control of the situation. (She is part Japanese Chin, after all.) In response, her serotonin levels likely dropped and she was no longer depressed. The upward spiral she created is amazing.

Koko’s story shows that she is resilience tuff!

Note: Special thanks to Harley’s House of Dreams in Berthoud, CO for rescuing Kokopelli and getting her the healthcare that she needed.