The Human Animal Bond

Snowy and Trish

Today on October 16th, 2015. Snowy went onto Rainbow Bridge, her wings opened and she took off to start her next journey, she will wait patiently to meet Trish and all her friends there at the Bridge, she will be missed. Our hearts are heavy but it is the memories that will lift them all to new heights. Forever young, forever white, she will always be Trish’s shining light at night. Snowy will be missed and never forgotten. Goodbye our Dear Friend.

I have always been blessed with the most incredible relationships with the animals in my life. As a group, they taught me myriad truths. Individually, each showed me something special about the traits I possessed, but could not bring to the surface without their help. This is true of all of the wonderful animals I’ve had the privilege of working with – but particularly true of those with whom I shared my life and my home.

In honor of that special relationship shared by a human and companion animal, in this section I will introduce you to some remarkable people with whom I had the pleasure of working, as they sought to improve and enhance their relationships with their own dog partners…

Last year, I received a phone call from an older woman, named Trish, living in the Catskill Mountains. Trish was 78 years young, unable to drive, and had limitations with walking and using her hands. Her American Eskimo, Snowy, had been by her side since three months of age; and was having problems with submissive peeing and fearfulness. We spoke on the telephone and scheduled an appointment; and that’s when our journey began.

Once I was introduced to Snowy and Trish in person, and saw their home-bound world, I made my assessment: Snowy suffers from fear
aggression; Trish has physical and mobility restrictions, uses a walker-chair, has braces on her legs, and terribly arthritic hands. From that first meeting, the goal was to develop behavioral modification for Snowy’s entire way of life, while incorporating familiarity with all of Trish’s medical equipment and limitations. As we progressed, we began to reintroduce Snowy back into a world that was safe, and to increase and build Snowy’s confidence in herself.

Confidence is very hard to build in dogs who suffer from fear, so we wanted to find something that Snowy naturally does on her own, and then build on that talent. While talking with Trish at her table one day, we noticed Snowy was spinning on her hind legs in the air. I realized that this was it! Freestyle Dancing…

We knew that we had a tough road ahead of us. It would involve Snowy’s ability to overcome all her fears of change, noise, new equipment; but from the very beginning, I could tell that Trish and Snowy were determined to become partners; in life and in dance.

That was a year ago. We are still working with Snowy; but many things have already changed for her. The submissive peeing has stopped; Snowy is allowing others into her world and surroundings at home; and she has made new friends among humans, and other dogs. We have
steadily been bringing both Trish and Snowy out and about, away from their house. And while we still have a long way to go, I firmly believe that the power of the Human-Animal Bond will heal all in time.