The following is the response from Sharon Hanson to my Consultation with her dog Zeke.
It is re-printed here with the express written permission of Sharon Hanson.
A READING WITH ZEKE HANSON
| Sharon | Aileen, once again I am so amazed. I am reading and re-reading, just thrilled! |
| Aileen | Zeke was a little startled when I connected, almost as being ‘awoken’ from a deep sleep suddenly, and the first impression I got was a knee jerk response, ‘Do I have to go away?’I reminded him of who I was, that we had ‘connected’ before, I was just back to ask him how he was doing and absolutely no, I was not there to ‘take him away’… It was to tell him how MUCH he was loved by his family, how good he has been doing and to ask him how he was feeling. |
| Sharon | I bet the big guy was sleeping! Poor fellow, its so sad that his first reaction is that he thought he might have to leave 🙁 |
| Aileen | I got to your questions and as far as ‘how he feels now at home’ there is a HUGE difference in him from the last reading. He now feels like he is *part of the family* and while there is a leeetle bit of ‘reserve’ still left on his part, he is happy not to dwell on that…a small part of him still carries the fear of abandonment. But his heart is opening wider and wider, I get a sense of a *flower, he is blossoming*.. |
| Sharon | I suppose there might be a little part that never gets over it. I think Philo feels the same way. |
| Aileen | I asked him about the *play-date* and yes, I got a very *heightened state* of excitement, almost overwhelm…but more *happy excitement*. (almost like, I’ve got that great home and I get to play here too??!!?? WOW!) lots of excitement, lots going on… was there anything with a ‘Boston’ coloured male Dane there? I’m getting he was a little ‘not sure’ or something about a ‘Boston’…(or is there a Boston in his life somewhere else he’s not too sure of?) |
| Sharon | There WAS a Boston Dane there!He is about 18 months old and his name is S****. He is a wild, crazy puppy. At the play space we have two connected yards. I keep the calmer or shyer dogs in the top yard and the puppies and more rambunctious dogs in the bottom yard. It is chain link so they can see each other. I keep Zeke in the top yard because I have to be careful he doesn’t get hurt since he has wobblers. I can’t have a dog running into him or something. S**** is very bold and I saw Zeke watching him through the fence, I think a little intimidated! We let some of the bottom yard dogs up after a while, but we didn’t let S**** up because he’s too wild. Probably a good thing since he’s probably unsure of how to deal with such an energetic guy. |
| Aileen | Does he ever play ‘tug of war’… I get he likes this game, because he ‘wins’ 🙂 |
| Sharon | You are SOOOOO right on!! He loves that game! Because of his wobblers, we can’t really let him tug hard, so we pull a little and then let him win. He will play that over and over. |
| Aileen | He likes the car rides because it means he is ‘going & doing’… he likes that… Loves the ‘off leash’, the *freedom* of it… to stretch those long legs, but doesn’t want to stray too far away from ‘family’… |
| Sharon | Good Lord, this is just astonishing!!
When we go to the off leash area, they all like to wander and sniff and explore, but always I will see Zeke’s head above the bushes looking for me. If he can’t see me, he’ll come rushing out to find me. Then he can go off again and sniff some more, but he always needs me in view. |
| Aileen | I get that he finds much smaller dogs a a bit of a ‘worry’… I see him with some smaller dogs ‘buzzing’ around his legs and he’s not crazy about that…. (don’t know where this might have been) Did a smaller dog ever run up to him yapping like a fool?? |
| Sharon | YES!! Not more than a month ago when we were out for an evening walk on leash, a Jack Russell Terrier got out of his house or yard and came rushing up to us. Philo doesn’t react to that stuff, Bella rushed right back (scaring the little dog a bit!) but Zeke ducked right behind me. At his foster home he lived with corgis and they drove him to distraction. |
| Aileen | Favourite food? I did not get any one thing ‘more’ than another thing, he just enjoys EATING. And seems ‘curious’ about food and ‘what’s available’ all very interesting…(does he show great interest when you are unpacking food items or cooking dinner? I mean more than the other dogs?) |
| Sharon | I’m telling you, this is just amazing.I feed the dogs outside, so at mealtime I open the door and they rush out and wait on their beds.Except Zeke. Zeke comes to the kitchen counter with me and watches everything I do.If I am putting in the salmon oil or mixing in the veggies, he stands transfixed. The other two are waiting outdoors and Zeke is watching my every move. |
| Aileen | I tried to scan the neck and back, but the photo unfortunately was cut at a bad angle being so large it only printed up most of his head and part of his front legs (nothing past the ears) but I still feel he may need a chiro adjustment? Have you thought of this? |
| Sharon | The vet that did the gold bead implants requested that we do not have chiropractic adjustments, but we can have acupuncture. I can get that done. |
| Aileen | Actually, I know L*** used one often for N*****. Remember I am not a vet, nor claim to know anything medical… I just have a *feeling* something happened with his neck as in, did he use to be tied up outside and often ‘lunge’ at the end of the lead? Or jump out of a pick up truck or van and get his head *snapped* because his leash caught on something?I get he was *jerked* around ALOT attached to some sort of lead. This may have caused some misalignment?? I’m getting like a ‘misalignment’…In any case, again, I’m not a vet, and I couldn’t really get a ‘good’ scan (This I do with Reiki) but maybe some of this resonates with you? |
| Sharon | Yes. His foster mom had problems with him on leash. He wasn’t trained at all and she tugged and he pulled, it didn’t go well so she stopped taking him for walks. She told me that she used a choke chain and jerked up on it to try to control his pulling, until the vet told her that it was not good for his neck because of the wobblers.I don’t use a collar on him at all (except to hold his i.d. tag), I use a harness that goes around his body and puts no pressure on his neck area. For the first little while he did pull, but of course I didn’t jerk. I just stopped in my tracks and when he realized the walk would not continue unless the leash was loose, he complied. I lavished him with praise and treats and he almost always walks beautifully now. Except if he sees a rabbit 🙂 |
| Aileen | He LOVES ‘family activity’…. put him in a room with the *whole* family and he’s in 7th heaven! He is leaps and bounds more in *tune* with feeling he is part of this family. That he has his ‘place’ there. I am shown all of you together ‘vegging out’ and the look on his face is pure *contentment*. |
| Sharon | That’s Zeke! Sometimes Bella will go off by herself and nap in the bedroom. Zeke would never do that. He is always with us. We have such different schedules but at least one evening a week we all eat together and then hang out, and the dogs love being in the family room with us all there. |
| Aileen | I remembered you mentioned about his hand shyness and told him again how much he is loved and how you and Bill would never harm him. That he is very,very loved and this is his *forever home* he can relax! He was sooo *veklempt* 🙂 (head down, licky, licky-raise a paw) because he BELIEVES me now 🙂 Though he wants you to know sometimes out of the blue, he gets *triggered* and will react by fear response, nothing personal… this will take more time. |
| Sharon | Oh, my sweet big guy! I’m glad you were able to reassure him that we would never hurt him. |
| Aileen | Any favourite thing you can do? He feels *honoured* when he is taken out *alone* for a walk… this makes him feel very special (very much a part of the family who has earned private Mom & Dad time 🙂 |
| Sharon | I haven’t done that for a while. Bill and I will make a point of taking him for his own walk more often. I think all three of them would appreciate that! |
| Aileen | Anything he’d like to say to Mom & Dad? “THANK YOU” 🙂 |
| Sharon | Such a big sweetie. We are the ones grateful to have him in our lives.Thanks again, Aileen. It is so nice to know that he is feeling much more at home and happy here.I very much appreciate you taking the time to do this!!Sharon |