In late March, I was contacted by Caroline to do Reiki1 with her precious senior Chihuahua, Mr. Chubbs. She was referred to me by Sue Pike, who is a wonderful animal communicator, healer and a kind, compassionate person - check her out!
Caroline had two other dogs when I first started working with him (she adopted a fourth dog a couple of months later), both senior dogs with health issues. I love that Caroline opens her heart to dogs who are harder to adopt.
The newest addition to the gang is a young dog named Piper, who had been through a lot of trauma before she landed with Caroline.
Mr. Chubbs has IVDD2, which can cause him a great deal of discomfort and difficulty walking. I wanted to see if I could bring him some comfort.
In my first session with Mr. Chubbs, he was nestled on a cozy big cushion on the floor. I sat down near him, and he put his face right into my hands. This was surprising, especially as Caroline had said he was very sensitive about being touched on the face.
He moved a few times during the session so that my hands would be where he wanted them to be. I mostly did Reiki with him, but also did some very subtle lifts from Mary Debono’s modality Debono Moves3. He got so peaceful and completely settled into the work. Instead of being curled up, his body was stretched out and he looked twice as long as he did in the beginning of the session!
In the next sessions, I began to see that at times he had trouble getting comfortable, so he might pace around before he settled down. Caroline said that at the end of the night, he would often pace for half an hour or so before settling.
As I continued the sessions, he got comfortable more quickly, doing less of the pacing. We also realized that he was likely to be more relaxed in the afternoon than the morning, so we decided to only do sessions in the afternoon.
Over time, Caroline said that Chubb’s pacing at night was getting less and less. Instead of a half hour, he paces just a little and then settles down. It also looks easier for him to get comfortable for our sessions. Before, I had heard a lot of little sounds, sort of like small groans, as he was trying to settle in and I rarely see that now.
I taught Caroline some basic TTouches4 that she could try with Mr. Chubbs. Mr. Chubbs is very sensitive, and doesn’t always want to be touched, so I demonstrated some of the TTouches with a stuffed dog. Here is Mr. Chubbs checking the stuffed dog out!
He doesn’t always want me touching him, but there are times when he is receptive and I have been about to touch him around his head and face, which had been something that he had been afraid of in the past. Ear TTouch can be helpful for any animal if they are open to it, and can be very soothing to a dog with IVDD. There are acupressure points in the ear that correspond to digestion, respiratory and other processes, so Ear TTouch can help bring comfort physically and emotionally. As Chubbs can be hesitant to be touched on his ears, that could be a bit of a process to work up to it. The button below links to a demo of Ear TTouch:
Something beautiful that has happened during the sessions is that Caroline’s other dogs have become more relaxed, and often come closer to where we are working, even though they normally keep their distance from Chubbs. Reiki energy will go where it is needed. I think Caroline often receives relaxation from the sessions as well.
Both Penny and Birdie often come closer, and are stretched completely out by the end of the session. Sometimes I do a bit of TTouch with them as well. Penny is blind, so one of the TTouches I recommended trying with her is hair slides. Below you will see me doing a demo.
For a more elaborate demo of TTouch Hair Slides click the button below:
Piper, who is an energetic young dog, is not always present for the sessions, but when she is, by the end of the session she is most often stretched out in a patch of sun or snuggled into some cozy bedding.
Each session with Mr. Chubbs is a bit different, and I go with whatever is most comfortable with. In our most recent sessions, he has been more comfortable with my hands off rather than on, which is fine. Reiki and the other modalities I use can all be done either on or off the body, and it’s always best to adjust according to what the animal is comfortable with. Energy work knows no bounds, and can have an effect whether it is done hands on, hands off, or even at a far distance. I believe that intention is very powerful as well. When I share TTouch or Debono Moves off the body, I visualize that I am making contact with the animal’s body. Because I actually am - although it is energetically, rather than physically.
Recently Caroline had another session with Sue Pike so she could connect with Chubbs again and see how he was doing.
I was so glad to get confirmation that the work I was doing with him was helping him. A few things that Mr. Chubbs said: “Sarah is a love. She has a big heart. All the animals know this.” He also said that when he receives energy from me, he feels safe, and he wants to make sure that others care for me, since I do so much for others. So sweet! And of course he adores his humans Caroline and her husband Paul. And one of the details he said to her was that she should drink more water. She also advised that Paul “should try stretching”. So interesting to hear all the character and humor and insight that I would imagine that he has, come through in his communication. So grateful for Sue!
Sometimes visualizations appear in the course of the session. In my June 19 session, I had a visualization of Chubbs running freely through the grass. Such a beautiful feeling to see him running with such abandon.
The above video was taken a while back, when Chubbs would often get the zoomies after their last walk of the day
At the end of the session, I tried stroking him off his body, really feeling the energy between my hand and his body, and it was clearly soothing him. His eyes started to relax, blinking, and his body really settled into it.
When I arrived for our session the following week, Caroline told me she had taken Chubbs to a vet who was a specialist in PRP, a type of platelet-spinning procedure used to treat arthritis. Caroline wanted to see if the injections could help to ease Chubbs’ pain. The vet said that Chubbs actually wasn’t a good candidate for that type of injection, as he had no discernible arthritis in his knees, hips or spine - that the major issue was in the cervical spine area. The vet said that despite Chubbs’ IVDD, which seems to be concentrated in his cervical spine, that Chubbs was in remarkably good orthopedic condition for a dog almost 14 years old:) The vet was glad to hear that he was receiving Reiki treatments, and he thought the Reiki must be helping him.
Again, in this session I was working with hands off, but felt a very strong connection with Chubbs. He had been in a deep sleep when I arrived, so I just sat down very quietly, and gradually moved closer to him as I worked. A few times he lifted up his head and I thought perhaps he would get up and move around, so I started stroking him again off his body, and he settled right back down, stretching out.
I shared both Reiki and Craniosacral Therapy5 with him in that session. At one point I had one hand over his shoulder area and one over his lower back and pelvis, and I had a visualization that my hands were moving apart from each other - a movement not really visible to the eye, but an energy I was feeling. I visualized that his spine was lengthening and getting straighter as I worked. It did seem like his back looked longer by the end. I have had this sensation a number of times. I am not consciously “doing” anything, but the sensation of this movement is a very tangible sensation.
He is teaching me so much in these sessions. I try to quiet my own mind so that I can really hear what he is telling me with his energy and body language.
Mr. Chubbs has such a delightful spirit, and I feel so very close to him. I designed a tshirt of him, and if you would like to get one, please click on one of the link below (it comes in two different color schemes, and all sizes). Below is a lovely photograph of Caroline and her assistant John holding Chubbs and wearing the shirt.
Green/Yellow/Red Mr. Chubbs Tee
I look forward to my sessions with Mr. Chubbs every week, and will share more about him as we move along.
Let me know in the comments if you have senior animals, and if you’d like to share any stories about them. And of course you are welcome to share any thoughts about this story.
Thanks for reading Notes From An Uncaged Warrior Parakeet! This post is public so feel free to share it. Please have a look at my site on my work with animals, my art site, and my etsy shop.
My substack is free but if you’d like to give me a tip to buy more treats for the rescue cats I work with (or a treat or cuppa for me!) click here or on the kitty picture below.
Reiki is a Japanese energy healing modality. It works with all beings. With animals, I generally share it with my hands off the body unless the animal shows me that they want my hands on their body. As energy knows no bounds, Reiki can work from any distance, including remotely.
IVDD (Intervertebral Disc Disease) in dogs is a spinal condition in which the cushioning discs between the vertebrae bulge or burst, pressing on the spinal cord. It is often called a "slipped" or "ruptured" disc, and causes everything from mild neck and back pain to severe nerve damage and paralysis.
Debono Moves is a modality invented and developed by Mary Debono. Its roots are in the Feldenkrais method (that is the case for TTouch as well). The work is very subtle, but so powerful, and like TTouch, it influences the nervous system. Mary’s specialty is in working with animals with mobility issues but she helps animals with a wide range of issues.
TTouch is a gentle, yet powerful modality invented and developed by Linda Tellington-Jones. It influences the nervous system, so can help physically, emotionally, behaviorally. It helps to reduce stress and foster a connection of trust.
Developed by John Upledger, Craniosacral Therapy is a light-touch therapy that helps address restrictions in the craniosacral system. As it impacts the central nervous system, it addresses many types of imbalances, which can help the animal emotionally as well as physically, so it can help a wide spectrum of issues as Reiki and Touch do.
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