It's an unfortunate fact that many dogs suffer at the hands of unsuitable, often cruel owners. They can be psychologically marked for life, much like people, after periods of mistreatment. Many dogs that are rescued after being abandoned may have spent time in puppy farms or other terrible environments, or may have spent a long time wandering about in fear, possibly in pain. Other dogs may have been severely beaten in their lives and flinch whenever you stand up or raise a hand.
Before you can earn such a dog's love and companionship, you have to enable him to overcome whatever traumas lie in the past. This will often have to be done before you can even think about starting any kind of training programme with the dog. Flower essences can be a remarkable aid in this healing.
If you've never used the flower remedies before and it seems daunting -- relax. Even if you choose entirely the wrong ones and give those to your dog, you cannot possibly cause any negative effect. A wrong remedy just "bounces off"; the system will only respond to a remedy that it needs.
While many humans take remedies themselves straight from the bottle (either stock or a diluted treatment [dosage] bottle) onto the tongue, there is the concern that an animal may bite off and swallow the glass dropper tube, which could be fatal. In our opinion it is always better with animals to use either water or food as a carrier for the remedy.
 Jessie, a Dalmatian, had been used as a breeding bitch in a puppy farm in North Wales. She had been beaten and half-starved and was in a terrible condition when the puppy farm was uncovered and the owners prosecuted.
Jessie wound up in a dog sanctuary. After her sores healed and she had filled out a bit, her looks were so stunning that many visitors to the sanctuary wanted to adopt her. The only problem was that when anyone tried to approach her, she would cower at the back of her kennel and tremble all over. She was completely submissive, and there was no hint of aggression -- but prospective foster-owners were put off by her behavior. They didn't see how they could cope with such a fearful dog.
Jessie didn't relax with anyone, not even the members of staff who cared for her each day. Before we saw her, she had been in the sanctuary for nearly two months and there had been no trace of improvement in her behaviour.
A vet whom the sanctuary dealt with knew us, and suggested that perhaps Jessie's problems could be helped. We visited the place and saw for ourselves that the Dalmatian really did have a serious trauma problem. We wanted to do a really through job with her, which might take time, and asked the manager of the sanctuary how long they thought Jessie would be there. "At least three more months, if not longer," the manager replied, "in the state she's in."
 We immediately prepared a 30 ml treatment bottle containing Star of Bethlehem (Bach, Healing Herbs) for the effects of trauma, Grey Spider Flower (Austrailan Bush) for extreme fear bordering on terror. We left instructions with staff on how the drops should be given and told the manager we'd be in touch in one week to check on Jessie's progress.
We phoned back as promised, and to our amazement we were told that Jessie had been rehomed two days earlier. A nice family had come and taken her away. When we asked why the dog had been taken away so much sooner than expected, the manager told us that within two days of starting remedies, Jessie had calmed down and stopped exhibiting fearful symptoms. She had started coming forward to the front of the kennel, sniffing at people when they approached, and after a further two days was licking people affectionately. The girls who cleaned the kennel and fed her could hardly believe it was the same dog.
We contacted the new owners to ask them if they would kindly continue with the flower remedies until the bottle was finished. A few weeks later they phoned back that Jessie was showing no sign of fear or anxiety whatsoever -- in fact they have only ever known this previously terrified and tramatised animal as a calm, relaxed and affectionate ideal pet.
 You will be pleased to know that dogs are generally easier to give flower remedies to than other animals. Some horses can get very suspicious of treats that you may have doctored and spit them out in your face. Cats may suddenly decide they don't like smoked salmon after all when it has a couple of drops of Holly on it.
Our method is to put some drops onto a small piece of bread, call the dog over and make a big fuss as through he were getting something really special. And then pop it in his mouth. They nearly always gulp it down greedily. Alternately, drop the drops into drinking water. If you're really stuck, instead of giving four drops four times a day -- which we generally recommend -- give eight drops twice.
 EDITOR'S NOTE: This article is an excerpt from their book Dogs Misbehaving (Kenilworth Press, 2001) and is published with their kind permission.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Martin J. Scott and Gael Mariani specialize in flower and crystal essences and animal behaviour. They are tutors in complementary therapies for the Animal Care College in Bascot, Berkshire, England. They write their own holistic column in the magazine Dogs Monthly. They are founders of SAFER, the international Society for Animal Flower Essence Research. They are actively involved in animal rescue and rehabilitation.
They can be reached by email.
The World Wide Essence Society does not mean to imply any recommendation of nor give certification to any individuals or companies above. This article is provided purely for informational purposes. We ask consumers to make their own determination as to quality of the services and products offered above. This article is not meant to be advice, and the information is not meant to replace medical or psychological treatment.
  
Vibration Magazine/The World Wide Essence Society
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