Job done

I hadn’t seen handsome collie Bob for a couple of years. Recently he had an operation with some uncomfortable post-surgical complications requiring restriction of his mobility and wearing a collar so he couldn’t get to the wound site. 

All this made Bob an unhappy boy. His Mum rightly asked if I could go over to give him a check over before he resumes normal Bob Duties. 

When I last visited, Bob kept his toy ball in his mouth throughout. This time it was a deer antler. Things don’t change – just the comforter. At the first session, he was a textbook dog to work with. At that time, I imagined the conversation in his collie head going something like : 

“Ok…that was lovely but I’ll just go for a walk round the sofa” 

“And hello I’m back” 

“Ok…I’ll go for a walk again” 

“And bring back my toy to hold” 

“Ok…I’ll go and sit by Mum and rest against the sofa” 

“Oh this is nice, I’ll just close my eyes” 

“Hmm…I’m sliding down onto the floor” 

“Ok, I’ll just stay here and sleep” 

“I feel like a stretch….oooooo… l-o-n-g stretch” 

“And I’ll do another one – ‘coz I can now” 

Still nothing changes. The script was exactly the same except we were in a different room and he couldn’t get round the sofa. Otherwise it was lots of “oohs and ahhs” interspersed with “I have to walk away for a moment – but I’ll be back”. It was as if he had speech bubbles coming out of his mouth his reactions were so clear. 

And he slid down on the floor in front of the sofa – just as I told his Mum he would. Which is where he stayed. 

His lack of activity plus discomfort had scrunched him up – tight neck and back. Just touching them started to make him longer and release the heat from the restricted fascia. I could see how long he was getting by the space he was taking up in front of the sofa. 

At the end, he got up, did an enormous Dog Yoga stretch one way and then the other. Big shake. And dropped the antler as though it were a Mic Drop! Very dramatic Bob. 

I think that was a Job Done moment.