Tapping for Shasta the Beagle
By Agatha Gelderloos
www.tapintolife.net
I work with children in treatment foster care and bring my trained therapy dog Shasta (a Beagle) to work for comfort and connection for the children who have often experienced extreme trauma. I do EFT with the children also, but this story is about Shasta! Shasta has been the “love of the office” both for the children as well as the staff. She does a great service!
However, Shasta was diagnosed with heart worm shortly after my son, a professional dog trainer, found her in February, 2008. She was treated for it with hard core heart worm treatment, which is very difficult on a dog’s system. After the initial treatment she was put on regular prevention heart worm medication, which was supposed to take care of any residual baby heart worm.
The first treatment took care of the adult heart worm, but she continued to have problems with the baby heart worms, that stayed and circulated in her system, to great wonderment of the veterinarians and laboratory personnel. Her vet even called the disease control in Texas to discuss the case, and they were also puzzled as of why she would not respond to the treatment. They reported they had never seen a dog not respond to this treatment. She has been struggling with this condition for a year and a half.
The beginning of August, 2009, I attended a workshop with Rue Hass and Gwyneth Moss in Colorado, and one day we were surrogate tapping on animals. Most tapping was around dogs in people’s neighborhoods that barked excessively. Although I have successfully used EFT on Shasta in the past when she feels sick, it somehow never occurred to me to tap on the heart worm situation.
I asked Gwyneth, who was facilitating the session, if it would be possible to tap on Shasta’s heartworm condition and we did. Shasta was there in the room sitting on her bed while the whole group tapped surrogately for her. Even though I had no idea what she had experienced before the time my son found her, I imagined to be Shasta, and really started to feel what she must have gone through in the time she was lost in the big city.
Shasta got Lost
The group surrogate tapped on what came up for me intuitively as her fear when she got lost in St. Louis (where my son found her) and how scared she was of the cars and the larger dogs. How she got lost because of her curiosity and could not find the way home. That she was on the streets for a long time before she was found. The strongest feeling was the sense of “being lost” When I mentioned that now she has a chip in her neck, so she would always be found back, she sat up from her bed and with a puzzled look on her face looked straight at me in front of the room, as if to say: “You must be kidding me?? I can’t get lost again??
Then Gwyneth, who facilitated the session asked me: “Why do you need to hold on to the baby heart worms? There was a strong intuitive feeling that she needed to hold on to the baby heart worms in order to prevent her from becoming too curious and energetic so she would again let this curiosity get the best of her, and cause her again to get lost. (Never realized that even dogs deal with secondary benefitsJ) We tapped for her to let her heart heal and release the baby heart worms, and that she would not be able to get lost again because she now has a chip in her neck that would tell any vet who her owner is.
The Outcome
This morning September 24th,2009, we visited the vet for Shasta’s half yearly heart worm check, and guess what?? She is free from the nasty little heart worms!!
Big Thanks to EFT, Gary, the wonderful group that tapped for her and especially Gwyneth who facilitated the session, my eternal gratitude! (and Shasta’s!)
Little Wiener Barks
In the same seminar Kathy tapped for the little dog across the street who annoyed her by always barking. She did not even know his name so called him ‘Little Weiner’
Kathy Writes:
I thought I would give you the update on the saga of Little Weiner. He and his family
were on vacation when I arrived home so I had to wait for their return. They have been back
for over a week now and here’s the scoop:
Little Weiner before tapping:
Barked at every living thing including leaves, went ballistic everytime a person or person with
a dog went by (on both sides of the street). I would wake up to his barking around 11 pm
and again about 6 AM. If he was a mini movie I would have titled him “Total Insanity!!”
Little Weiner after tapping:
Sits quietly on his front lawn attentive to everything, he sees all. Last Monday evening
they had a lot of trash/junk at the curb. A man with a truck stopped across the street,
went through the trash looking for something of value, while Little Weiner sat at attention
on the lawn, he let out a few barks just to let him know he was there. I couldn’t believe it.
He does still react to people with dogs with his old crazy ways. But now I would title his
mini movie “Occasional Temporary Insanity”. Best of all he hasn’t disturbed my sleep in over
a week. Thanks Gwyneth!
If I were to put words in Little Weiners mouth it would be:
“Life is Good and Kathy across the street really loves me!” Ha, ha!
Love,
Kathy (AKA Little Weiner)
P.S. Agatha, thanks for the great news on Shasta!