The fact that our little girl was found running along the side of a back country road, dirty, skinny, and covered in her own poo breaks my heart. Where did you come from little lady? And who the F does that to an animal?
Don't you wish dogs could talk sometimes?
I know the "experts" say that a dog's brain doesn't function on the level that we think, that they can't feel like we think they feel, and that they don't remember the past enough to even have feelings about it, but I call total bull shit on that. This poor girl who came from nothing sure seems to have a lot of baggage.
For the first 6 months that we had her we didn't even know what her bark sounded like. She was so timid! She found her voice when someone came to visit one day and never stopped using it. She is VERY protective of me. If she is with me, she's game for whatever, whenever, but if I leave, the poor thing literally shakes. If she thinks someone is going to hurt me, she will freak the f out. and don't even think about going near her with a newspaper or a plastic bag.
We got over a lot of the issues with a lot of love and little training (for both her, and us), but anxiety seems to be something she can't seem to shake (which I totally get).
I am not going to let her (or the loser people who had her before and dumped her like trash) take all the blame. I am an anxious mess a lot of times, and it's crazy how she picks that up from me. If I am upset she will go hide in a corner and shake. If I'm having a bad gutsy girl day, she will come and literally lay right next to me and put her paw or chin on my stomach (how does she know right where it hurts?). The more anxious I got, and the more sick I got, the worse her separation anxiety became. It made me feel like such a bad dog mama!
The vet first suggested meds. I don't take meds for my anxiety, I don't take meds for my colitis, I don't take meds hardly ever. I didn't want her on them. I asked about alternatives. So next she suggested some pheromone diffuser thing.
Ummmm.... Diffuser! DUH!!!
It was one of those why-the-hell-didn't-I-think-of-that-before moments! I asked the vet if it was ok if I tried lavender oil first and she said that it was perfectly safe for pets.
Penny and I have such a connection I was sure that if lavender in my diffuser calmed me down then it would work for her too. And sure enough.... IT DID!!
I think that she associates the smell of lavender with me because I use it all the time to help calm myself down. She sits on my lap as I read or write with lavender diffusing next to us. Diffusing it in her room when we are away both reminds her of me, and just is generally calming.
I left once in a hurry and I didn't have a chance to get her diffuser filled and going and I regret it...Never again!
So yes, my dog not only has her own bedroom, she also has her own diffuser in that bedroom too! Like I always say, it's not called spoiled, it's called loved! :)
If your little, or big, four legged family members are having issues with anxiety give lavender a try! It worked for us!
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