Thunderphobia be GONE!

You may recall, dear readers, that Very Old Dog's thunderphobia had advanced to the point where I feared that he would literally die of fright. His fourteen year old heart simply would explode under the strain. He was terrified. And he got worse with each storm.

He had been totally oblivious to storms or any loud noises until about the time he turned twelve. During the last several storms he had gotten to the point where he paced, he shook, he panted and he suffered abject terror. The flash of the lightning would make him jump and whimper, and then the thunder... oh it has been awful. And in this part of the world, thunder storms are a violent, persistent presence. Year round.

Well, one of you dear readers, who happens also to live in Paducah, took pity on the old dog. We knew her casually; she and her husband enjoy Bill's art. They had us to dinner once and we had reciprocated, and we'd see each other at goings on around town. Jean (not to be confused with Jeannie who went to see Xela run with me, even though I called Jean Jeannie for three months cause I'm not so swift) and Roger were fun people and we looked forward to getting to know them better.

(A moment of truth: I was intimidated by that first dinner. Holy Moly could she cook! And everything was so beautiful, and organized and ... and I'm not. But I've gotten over it.)

I can't remember if Jean called or just stopped by, but she said the magic words, "I might be able to help Giacomino be not so stressed during storms."

Well, don't be bashful, come on over!!

I had been interested to hear about Jean's course of study, which she's been doing for some years. (Ill find out how many and edit.) She studies Energy Medicine, and is a Certified Practitioner. Now, I imagine it took some courage to come to the house of a retired M.D. and a retired R.N. and say, "I am going to work on your dog's energy flow and meridians and help him with his fear of storms." But I'd seen very good results in my dogs and horses with acupuncture treatments in the past, and I said, "Sure! It can't hurt."

So she worked with him. Oh, yes, she is trained to treat humans, but she had one course on animals, and she punted.

The first couple of storms after the first couple of sessions, I didn't see any improvement. But then the next storm, I thought, "Huh." He didn't seem so frantic. I reasoned that maybe his hearing was gone to the point that he couldn't hear it. I wrote if off as a simple, "huh."

But then there was no denying the improvement. More storms came, doozies, and he was unfazed. Maybe he'd look slightly unsettled for a nanosecond. BOOM!!! The windows rattled and the room lit up. Zzzzzzzz went Giacomino. "Oh thank everything that is good," cried a happy me!

Night before last was a big test. Bill and I were out, and a bad storm rolled into town, just minutes before we got home. When we opened the kitchen door, I saw dear Giacomino standing with both ears straight up, staring at the flashing window.

Uh-oh, I thought.

He was fairly worried. So I "worked" the points to relieve his fight or flight reaction, as Jean had taught me. This storm was bad, but I felt the pulses under my fingers, and saw some of my dog's muscles twitching, meaning that I was getting a reaction, and then, as the flashes and crashes kept on, I saw Giacomino relax.

And then, he went to sleep.

Good glory be it's a genuine miracle!!! I am one happy whippet servant! What a gift! (I know that is a lot of exclamation points, but I am exclaiming!) It is so miserable to watch your dear dog in a total panic and not be able to do a thing to help, and it is heaven to be able to help him.

Thank you, Jean.

hug your hounds