I wrote about this long before I lived this version of it...
.... but life has a way of circling back to our own teachings when we need them most.
Right now, I’m experiencing a collision of two chapters from my book:
Chapter Eight — "The Nervous System Doesn’t Lie" where it speaks to the obvious, but also to the need for “a different kind of stay.”
Not the stay of obedience.
Not the stay of compliance.
But the stay of true presence — nervous system to nervous system, heart to heart, congruent, attuned, grounded.
The kind of stay dogs need. And humans need, too… but rarely offer.
Especially in this day and age where whatever’s easiest, fastest, cheapest, and most effortless takes precedence.
and
Chapter Thirteen — "Emotional Health: The Forgotten Frontier"
which exposes how few people have the emotional bandwidth to hold space for someone else’s big, intense, heavy truth without retreating into:
Newsletter unsubscribes
Silence
Self-preservation
Judgment, assumptions, and armchair opinions
Blocking out anything that feels like “too much”
And then goes further — into the reality that emotional health is the unspoken frontier in the worlds of behavior, training, health, medicine, and modern care.
Because the truth is this:
Most “behavioral issues” are 100% emotional in root.
Closely tied to the nervous system.
Shaped by personal filters and perceptions — thanks to this little thing we call Life.
Most behaviors are actual attempts to find safety, relief, comfort, attention, love, acceptance — to be heard, seen, understood, and connected.
This is just as true for dogs — another highly attuned, deeply social species who 100% look to, depend on, and rely upon us — as it is for humans.
I’m watching both chapters play out in real time… (yet again in Life).
If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I’ve always chosen to be transparent about what’s happening in my life.
Why?
Because I know it’s teaching.
I know it’s creating awareness — self-awareness and social awareness.
And I know it’s calling attention to hard, pressing issues that most people never see… or choose to look away from.
This particular version of life is intense — completely brutal, even — but it’s also a repeating theme… one I’m sure many of you recognize in your own story.
A select few humans step closer in moments of heaviness, intensity, and “hard”… but most disappear.
And I want to be very clear — the ones who have shown up for this rescue effort and for me as I’ve muddled my way through it?
The ones who donated, shared, encouraged, or quietly supported us through the GoFundMe’s?
I see you.
I appreciate you more than words can express.
There is absolutely no way these dogs would have made it this far without the kindness, generosity, and hearts of followers, dog lovers, and even complete strangers who simply cared.
Your presence has been a lifeline. Truly.
A lifeline for them — and now a lifeline for me — as I work tirelessly to keep the promise I made to each of them: that they’d never again know abandonment, fear, insecurity, carelessness, neglect…or a world or life without love and support.
This situation with Ava and the pups is huge.
Like… really, really huge.
It’s urgent.
So unbelievably heavy.
Absolutely heartbreaking and, honestly, unconscionable.
And while a select few have stepped closer — offering presence, support, steadiness — many have quietly backed away.
Their nervous systems simply cannot hold the weight of someone else’s reality.
And yes… it hurts.
It hurts every time life stops being tidy, inspirational, or “happy” and people disappear.
But here’s the deeper truth: most people were never taught how to sit with discomfort — their own or anyone else’s.
Most people don’t know how to offer that different kind of stay.
Most people cannot hold emotional space without shutting down, avoiding, numbing, or retreating.
But the ones who can?
The ones who stay?
The ones who witness without turning away?
The ones who support without sanitizing or shrinking the truth?
The ones who hold space for the raw, the real, the heavy?
They are the true unicorns of the human race.
Rare.
Sacred.
Deeply treasured.
And I’m fortunate to know a few, thanks in most part to this rescue effort.
If you’re still here — after nearly one full year of this rescue mission… after all the humps and hurdles… after all the highs and heartbreaks… if you’re still truly here…
I deeply and sincerely thank you.
Your presence means more than you know.
This chapter of life is massive, heavy, and very, very real.
And I am profoundly grateful for the hearts who can hold space for it with me — who even support me as I attempt to do the impossible… the kind… the good… and the right thing…
when most would turn the other way, wipe their hands clean, and say:
“Welp… we tried.”
This is also for YOU.
For those who’ve walked this year-long journey with Ava and her pups — for all of us committed to seeing this through, together.
If you feel called to support us in this final stretch, our GoFundMe is still live.
We have less than two weeks before we must leave California, and we’re just 33% of the way to our goal.
Every share, every donation, every bit of help truly, truly matters.
It all goes directly toward getting Ava, Cowboy, and Winnie safely to South Carolina and honoring the promise I made to them — the promise that they would never again know abandonment, fear, insecurity, carelessness, or neglect.
This is my humble attempt to do the absolute impossible — to save their lives and see this rescue effort completely through, exactly as I vowed I would.
GoFundMe link: https://gofund.me/83407a134
And here's our travel wish list (we leave the first week of December): https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3FO6IN56H45BD?ref_=wl_share
And if you prefer to support through my work, know that 100% of all profits from Dog Mom University masterclasses, courses, and all book sales are going directly toward Ava and her pups.
Every single purchase moves this mission forward and helps get them safely to the other side of this.
----------
"The Human End of the Leash: Dog Training's Missing Link"
Amazon: https://a.co/d/1vu93aJ
Signed + Personalized copies (with custom bookmark + highlighter): https://kimberlyartley.com/books-and-ebooks
Dog Mom University (formerly the "PackFit Academy"):
https://dogmomuniversity.thinkific.com
(In the Comments of the FB post on this are a few old videos of Ava and the pups from months ago: https://www.facebook.com/KimberlyArtley1/posts/pfbid028mHX3LaroqbFT4uvjSrdUAabTVv3Zc3qHK89rfbqgkwjb18qLonEsRpWS7fdBArEl)
