Gibson Got Reiki'd

And what a difference it made!  In June, we hosted an ice cream social for the Northern VA Collie Club (the day after the puppy was born) and one of the demos was reiki by Mary Pat Corrigan of Higher Ground Bodywork.   Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress-reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is a hands-on technique that works the energy field within/surrounding all beings. The hands of Reiki practitioners have been shown to produce electro-magnetic pulses -- working with the patient's own electro-magnetic fields to restore balance, harmony and health.   We had wondered if reiki could help Gibson with his phobias, especially when it came to being in the show ring.  I felt that I had done all I could to help him and even though Gibson has shown vast improvement, we still needed a break through.  I think reiki will be it!  He will need more sessions of course, but even this brief demo showed that this is a good therapy for him.  The ice cream social had most everything that will stress Gibson--noise, strangers, men, change in his surroundings (we had tents in the back yard) and he reacted as I expected when I brought him over from the kennel.  He was tense, wanted to go back to his home and was rather jittery.  Gibson jumped right up on the grooming table that was set up for the demos (for some reason, he finds that comforting).  Within minutes of Mary Pat starting the reiki, he began to relax, his eyes softened and he started to look around at the crowd.  It even looked like he was smiling!  Even more telling, he began to release gas, a sign that Mary Pat said he was relaxed and responding to the therapy.  That part of reiki I'm not so happy about!  Since the reiki, Gibson has been more calm and centered, confident in himself instead of looking for ways to make me happy.  This makes me more relaxed when I'm with him, which I'm sure builds on the reiki results.  Today, I gave him a bath and it was actually fun!  I dried and brushed him outside and he was playful, wagging his tail, even mischievous as he stole the treat bag and finished it off.
We plan on Mary Pat becoming a regular visitor to our house--especially since I won a reiki gift certificate at the raffle!

  Wish I had some better pictures, but the best ones will hopefully be in the fall, when Gibson has those big rosette show pictures!