by Judy Aizuss, MS

Quite often, people think an animal is fearful, when actually it is hypersensitive. This is a natural mistake, since in both cases, the animal's behavior will be the same: attempts to avoid or flee from the offending stimulus. But the cause of the avoidance behavior is quite different, and calls for different treatment. With fear, the animal is truly afraid or anxious about the stimulus--such as a dog who was hit during training and hence demonstrates fear when a person raises an arm or approaches the animal. Fear, anxiety and terror can often be addressed by the Bach essences Aspen, Mimulus and Rock Rose.

However, if you use the above essences and get no positive change, you might suspect that hypersensitivity is part of the problem. Hypersensitivity seems to occur when the integrity of an animal's energy field has been compromised in some way. This makes it impossible for the animal to protect itself against unwanted stimuli, so that he becomes easily overwhelmed. Such an animal may try to avoid being touched or having other physical contact with others; hide or retreat; and appear nervous, irritable and tense.

An extreme example of hypersensitivity is a 13-year-old pit bull I treated, whom I'll call Sally. Sally's owners felt that she was irrationally afraid of many sounds, including the sound of computer typing and wind chimes. These owners called me after Sally had literally eaten through a wall and climbed a tree (!) in apparent attempts to escape from offending noises. But my energetic testing of Sally for essences revealed that she was not "afraid" of the sounds. Rather, she was hypersensitive. For a sense of how Sally felt, imagine for a moment that your nerve endings grew out above your skin, unprotected. In that instance, the slightest stimulus would distract you, or even hurt.

Fortunately there are a number of flower essences which can successfully treat hypersensitivity and result in some remarkable changes in an animal's emotional state and behaviors. Please note, however, that when assessing problems with dogs, I always look at whether appropriate training and boundaries are in place. No essence can make up for the lack of, or for harsh, training methods.

Some of the essences I use the most frequently are as follows (descriptions taken from the companies' catalogs):

Living Essences of Australia
Pink Fairy Orchid - hypersensitivity to noise and emotionally-charged environments
Rose Cone Flower - peace, despite external distractions
Purple Flag Flower - rising tension; on the edge of a breakdown
Hops Bush - scattered, frenetic energy; unable to relax

Alaskan Flower Essence Project
Covellite - feeling unprotected and vulnerable; too easily stimulated by the energies of others (Covellite is a gem essence rather than a flower)
Yarrow - oversensitive to environmental influences; tendency to absorb energy of others
Monkshood - difficulty being in close proximity to others; avoidance of deep emotional contact with others

Flower Essence Society
Pink Yarrow - tendency to absorb the emotions of others (e.g., a dog who becomes fearful because the owner is fearful)
Yarrow - extreme vulnerability to others and to the environment; easily depleted

You may notice that these essences are all very similar. However, they each have a slightly different emphasis and vibrational energy. Your pet may respond to only one, or to several at the same time.

The more that I work with animals, the more I am impressed with the complexity and depth of their emotional processes. Using my background and knowledge as a family therapist, I view my animal clients in much the same way that I view a troubled child in a family. As I have released any preconceived notions about what animals can and cannot feel, I am free to tune in to what I see is going on in the "family dynamics," and to more accurately assess how that individual animal is responding to its past and present situation. This allows me to utilize a much greater variety of essences and to achieve a high degree of success.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Judy Aizuss, M.S., is a Flower Essence Practitioner in Marin County, California, where she specializes in animal behavior problems. She is also a certified Meisterfeld Dog Trainer and a licensed psychotherapist. Judy is available for in-person or phone consultations. She can be reached at (415) 459-2383 or via email at petheal@aol.com.

DESIGN CREDITS: All these great doggie images are by Jumbles.

The World Wide Essence Society does not mean to imply any recommendation of nor give certification to any individuals or companies above. This article is provided purely for informational purposes. We ask consumers to make their own determination as to the quality of the services and products offered above. This article is not meant to be advice, and the information is not meant to replace medical or psychological treatment.

previous page  top  next page
Current Issue Back Issues Resources FAQ
Contact Us Search Books Submit an Article Subscribe

©1998 Vibration Magazine/The World Wide Essence Society
PO Box 285  Concord, MA 01742  978 369-8454
webmaster@essences.com