Touchy Changes -- May 9, 2008

 

OMG, as we say online! On Monday, I took Acacia and Bing to Dr. Donna Gigliotti for chiropractic adjustments. Acacia has been going to Dr. Donna for years, but this was only Bing’s third visit. As I pulled into the parking lot, I saw trainer/friend Renee Hall walking into the building. I followed her in with my fur balls, with Bing sporting his orange Gentle Leader. He wasn’t real happy to be there (anxious, of course, and doesn’t particularly care for the GL) and was looking hopefully at the door. As I stood there saying hello to Renee, Bing approached her, leaned against her, and accepted her petting as she squatted down to pet his side and his shoulder for what must have been 30 seconds! He looked at her with an open smiley mouth and relaxed body posture. We looked at each other and exclaimed disbelief about this situation! I was sure that his willingness to be petted was at least partly due to his being distracted by the GL and his desire to leave. This was the first time since Bing was 5 months old that I’ve seen him do this!!!!!

He then moved away and about a minute later, reapproached her. Renee offered him a treat for petting, and he looked at her as if to say, “I don’t know you”. He closed his mouth, but reopened it briefly for another attempt at soliciting petting. Then he offered her a trick…he offered her his chin to put in her hand…for a treat! Way to go, Bing, for thinking through anxiety! It was very brief but nice to see a continuation of the first event. It was then our turn to go in to see Dr. Donna so we said goodbye, still in a state of shock.

I told Dr. Donna what had just transpired and she was stunned, as well. Even more surprising, I had forgotten to give Bing his Xanax prior to coming to the clinic. However, I did have a potential explanation. During Bing’s first visit with her, Donna was unable to work on him at all (she didn’t want to use a muzzle), and asked me to do some JMT on Bing (JMT is a type of energy healing (http://www.jmttechnique.com/). The first time I did JMT on him, we were in a motel room the night before a rally trial. He had just freaked out over the elevator and was hiding under the desk in the room. He had been on his Prozac for 3 days. I was able to get through the entire protocol, but on subsequent occasions he wouldn’t let me do it. It requires that I be on the floor with him (difficult for me right now) and takes about 20 minutes to get through. He would get up and walk away. On our second visit, we muzzled Bing and she was able to adjust his Atlas and one or two other things. She modified the JMT protocol for me to one which was much shorter. This week, I was prepared to be embarrassed to admit that I had only managed to do it once, last Thursday night. Apparently that one session had a marked effect on him!

When we first walked into the room on Monday, Acacia was jumping all over me with the panicked look of, “Oh no, don’t let her stick me with a needle!” I took off her leash and asked her to calm down. She went and laid down in front of the door, clearly realizing that it was ‘only’ Donna…Acacia would have rolled over onto her back, given the opportunity! Once Acacia was adjusted and given a chance to stretch out, it was Bing’s turn. I gently lifted the chair off from over him (under which he had been hiding), put on his muzzle, and hoped for the best. Bing has become quite accepting of the concept that once the muzzle is on, he can make some noises but he might as well concede. He stood still while Donna adjusted his Atlas again, went down his entire back, did a few adjustments....his eyes were soft and he made no attempt to turn around and give her the hairy eyeball. Donna was shocked. She then stood up and leaned over him, placing one hand on his belly and one on his back…a VERY confrontational, pushy posture from his perspective…and his body language didn’t change. Wow!

Donna decided to stop while she was ahead, and we took off his muzzle and let him shake off. What a success! Perhaps some day Bing will realize that hands aren’t so bad! I look forward to doing more adjustments with Bing. I know they’re good for him physically, but I also know that this is important learning stuff for him, too.

Today, I took Bing for a second visit to his new groomer, Cheryl Wiegand. We had gone two weeks ago and Bing was extremely anxious, panting heavily in his muzzle for over an hour.  Cheryl worked mostly on his back end, which had become badly matted. Today’s visit was to allow her to work on the rest of him. On both occasions, he did receive his Xanax and did wear his muzzle. Today, he was much, much more calm and accepting of the work being done on him. He tolerated 2 ½ hours of work like a real champ. I sat or stood in front of him the entire time, monitoring his breathing and anxiety level. Even though today was a warmer day, at no time was I concerned about him overheating. He did become extremely angry with Cheryl on two occasions, both involving work on his left flank. In the end, we agreed that shaving would be a humane solution to some horrible mats very close to the skin. We need to get his undercoat under control before we can expect to maintain it.

We were both extremely pleased with Bing’s behavior today. It wasn’t perfect, but he was much calmer than last time. And yes, I DID do some JMT this morning before we went! My little boy (who just turned 3 last Friday) is learning some very important lessons lately. Slow and steady, with many repetitions, and I’m right there with him the entire time. We work together as a team. And he’s making progress….yay for Bing!

Ali

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