We have four pedigree Smooth Fox Terrier dogs. Lovely, lively dogs full of energy. Highly intelligent and each with a special gift of uniqueness. They are an absolute pleasure to have and fulfil our lives greatly.

All would be perfect but for two years our one dog had a terrible enzyme over his whole body. He was constantly scratching and rolling just to get rid of the itching. He had sores on his belly, the hindquarters and tail. Certain patches of his body didn't have hair. The poor dog was depressed and was just laying down and didn't show much interest in anything around him.

We did everything in our power to help him, we bathed him with skin recovery shampoo's, we changed his diet, we took him many times to the vet, he prescribed tables time and time again but with no real results.

At the end of last year (2004) we decided that we can not see him suffering any more and that we need to make a drastic plan. We decided to take him one last time to the vet to see if there is perhaps something that we can do. The news from the vet was not encouraging. He told as that he had done everything that he could for the dog and that there was only one more thing to try.  He needed to keep the dog in for about three to four days for different blood tests to see what is going on and then we would have to wait for the test results. Only then could he decide on a new treatment. The bad news was that this would cost us at least one month's salary.

In that same week my partner had to go and pick up some dog food from the lady who supplies us. She has a Doggy Salon where she grooms dogs.  He told her about our dog's condition and that he felt completely disheartened about the whole thing.  He explained that he didn't want to take the dog for tests or to let him stay at the vet's rooms as the dog is very sensitive. She said that she has perhaps something for him and gave him a Herbal Mix. She said that we should rub the dog with it and see if it will help. He took it but without
much hope as we tried for so long to get our dog better.

In the interim I was busy with my studies in Professional Relaxation Therapy, Colour Therapy, Crystal Healing, Reflexology, Aromatherapy, Kinesiology, Shiatsu and Reiki. I was reading a lot about the human body and how all these treatments help people in various ways. I also practiced on my family and friends to get the treatments right. When I saw this bottle of Herbal Mix I saw it as a sign to apply my knowledge to our dog, to actively get involved in the treatment.

I sat down and wrote a programme of all my knowledge so far and how I could apply it to him. I started by putting crystals in his drinking water.  Rose Quartz let him feel our love and caring towards him, Green crystals for healing and Blue for calming. I put a green blanket in his basket.

Before the actual treatment I visualised him and myself being surrounded with white light and called in the 'powers of the universe' to help with the healing. He would not allow me to stroke his hindquarters, his whole body would go into a spasm. I started by stroking his body with long strokes, only his head and front quarters while making calming noises to relax him. The enzyme was so bad that he had sores all over his hindquarters, belly and tail. I must be honest I didn't even want to touch it, it looked so terrible but I just knew that if I really wanted to help him, I just had to. Firstly I disinfected the wounds. Then I worked very, very softly around the wounds, by stroking him (with the Herbal Mix) and making small circular movement with my fingers. I tried to cover every part of his body. His face, ears, body, legs and even under his paws, I then stroked him, again - long strokes to relax him completely. While I stroked him I told him that he is getting better and stronger every moment. I then applied Reiki.

After the treatment I covered him with a pink blanket and told him that we love him very, very much. I thanked the universe and our dog for the treatment.

The next day I repeated the whole treatment again. I skipped the following day and only did the next treatment on the fourth day. Already I could see a major difference. The wounds were clearing up.  He allowed me to touch his hindquarters, he was still getting small spasms but not nearly as bad as the first time that I did it. I did the whole treatment again, this time using long strokes over his whole body. I also concentrated on massaging his ears and tracing his meridians. Also, using visualisation,  I sent him one by one all the colours of the rainbow through his body. This time while I did the massage he was making "happy" sounds, as if he enjoyed it very, very deeply. He was also much more relaxed than the previous two sessions.

Again I skipped a day with the treatment. In that day he was more alive and showed some interest around him and in the other three dogs. Even my partner commented on the difference. The biggest difference was that his hair was starting to grow, yes, in just these couple of days. To us it was a miracle !

Today our dog's body is full of hair, without any trace of enzyme and he is still quiet but shows interest in everything around him and is more alert. He is even playing with the other three in the evenings when it is cooler on the grass in front of our house.

I have also started by giving the other dogs some massages and Reiki healing but they are so lively they just want to play and it takes a bit of calming down to do the treatment on them. I also regularly stoke their ears. The ear work is good for boosting their immune system because, they contain acupoints.

In the interim I also read the book: Natural Healing for Dogs and Cats by Diane Stein. What a wonderful book!!!! It is very much in detail and is covering all the aspects of dogs and cats from meridians, bone and muscle structures, aura's, herbal healing, Homeopathy, Acupuncture, Massage and a couple of other topics

One of the topics that really interests me was 'Tellington TTouch'.  I went into their website: www.ttouchsa.co.za which mentions a lady who treated a dog with skin problems with the 'TTouch' and how she found that a miracle had happened. The owner of the dog actually wanted her to do the treatment on herself as she also wanted to have the added energy that he dog suddenly had.

I would like to mention one of the techniques that Diane Stein described in her book that I found very useful with our dogs: "Take one, two or even all your fingers (depends on the area you wish to cover) and make a circle and a quarter, clockwise, starting at 6 o'clock. Move the skin, not slide over it. Do only one circle in a spot and then move on to another. Make sure you don't have any tension in your hands or fingers as you would carry it over to your dog. It really relaxes them and is very good for their circulation. You must also do it on their noses, head and ears." They even recommend doing it, in the mouth.

Another gem that I picked up in the TTouch articles is: "If your dog or even cat is in shock you must just calm him/her down and start gently rubbing the tip of his/her ear in a tiny circular movement as the shock pressure point is on the tip of the ear. Cover the body of your animal for the shock - normally you would do the same for a human that is in shock, so why not also for your animal?"

My belief is that we must not limit the use of our knowledge of the Holistic Healing Therapies to humans but also see how we can apply it to our animals. Why just heal your friends, family and clients, why not also heal your four footed companion/s?

My aim is to learn how to communicate better with all our animals to find out more about their feelings and their needs, to understand their bodies and to apply my current and future knowledge to give them a healthier life.

We also have Koi's and I still want to find ways to heal them. We just lost two of our most beautiful Koi's and it broke my heart. I want to find out what can I do to help and to heal them. I already use visualisation to surround them with white light and healing energies and try to communicate with them through meditation but I feel there is still so much more that I can do.

The above experience opened up a 'new world' to me and I hope that it has also triggered something in you all as healers, and that you will try to find ways to apply your knowledge to your non-human companions. All
creatures great and small are spiritual, we are all One!

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