Working with
a rescue dog is notably heart-warming.
Their new carer often doesn’t know all of their history. What we do know is that they are now able to
live their best life. But for someone
new, like me, getting their trust is very special. And Bobby was very special.
He is an
almost 5 year Romanian rescue – a bit of Collie, Labrador and Hound. But the eyes are all Bobby. When he was first adopted in 2017, he had
separation issues and was anxious about many things. But with calming consistent work from his
carers, he has blossomed into a wonderful family dog.
Recently he
started to show signs of apprehension again.
It was thought that maybe he was in discomfort, especially from his rear
end which he displayed by a “don’t come too near me please” behaviour.
Imagine if
you have a constant back ache. You don’t
particularly want random cuddles or people in your face. Dogs are no different. But they can’t just phone up a therapist or
pop some pills. Luckily, Bobby’s Mum was
able to call a therapist for him and along he came.
He was
oh-so-sweet as he walked in. Looking
round surveying the room but within a minute saw the massage mat in the middle
and plonked himself down. My brightly
coloured dog sized massage mat has seen that behaviour so often. “Not sure what to do? I know….I’ll plonk myself on that lovely
colourful place. It looks safe and me
sized.”
He allowed
me, and sometimes helped me, find where his issues were. He had a stiff neck which was probably due to
anxious shoulder raising. But his main
tightness was in his lower back. He had
clearly been holding himself quite rigid which would, understandably, be giving
him anxiety.
It took a
while for him to trust me to work there.
We were helped by treat distractions……good old Primula Cheese tubes, the
best solution for any distraction.
After about
40 minutes he looked as though he needed a stretch and went for a walk round
our garden. This has a double use. The dog can have a well-deserved pee and it
means for the next few days our Sam can patrol ‘his’ garden sniffing out the
new pee smells. Win, win.
When Bobby
came back it was like he was a new boy.
The old anxious Bobby had shaken himself off in the garden and Mr
Relaxed Bobby came back in. He simply
lay down and allowed his Mum and me to work wherever we, or he, liked. It was a very special moment. Trust established. Back pain eased. Bobby returns.
We ran
through some appropriate exercises and I prepared his workbook for his
Mum. She replied “Bobby has literally
been a different dog yesterday afternoon he has been smiling and generally
seems so much more comfortable. It really was amazing to see the shift in the
room. Thank you so much 💓”. You’re more than welcome Bobby. You are a special boy.
