A Path With Paws

My friend Rose DeDan is an amazing healer and reiki and shamanic practitioner. We often trade acupuncture and reiki session for our animal companions and she has done work on me as well. She also teaches Reiki classes and still has some openings in her level one class this weekend. If you have never taken a reiki class before I highly recommend it.

Reiki energy healing restores the balance between the physical, emotional, spiritual and mental levels for all living beings, enabling the body to do what it does best, heal itself. It can also affect reconnection between spiritual beings and the universe around us (if you thought animals liked you before wait ’til you experience their response to Reiki!).

Reiki training offers important benefits for self-healing and as well as for healing for people, animals, trees and plants.

A Reiki Level 1 training incorporates a series of attunements and hands-on training. The attunements open energy channels enabling the student to connect with the Reiki healing energy. This is an important aspect of Reiki—energy comes through the person, not from them—making this form of healing a safe one.

For more information or to register for this class check out Wild Reiki and Shamanic Healing’s Level 1 Reiki class.

It always makes me feel special when animals love to come to my treatment room. Lark always impresses me in that she also can jump up on the couch and sit in a way that I can place all her acupuncture needles and she always has an awareness of where they are, never knocking them out.

Lark is one of those animals who is very emotionally sensitive. She likes to connect to those she cares about. I appreciate that I am one of Lark’s people.

Today she set her head gently on my hand and so I moved it thinking that she actually wanted to put her head on the couch.

When I moved it out of the way she said,” no I meant to do that” and not only placed her head over my hand but also her paw. She wanted to hold hands while she had her acupuncture treatment. It’s small things like this that warm my heart.

While I love during acupuncture on the sweet older dogs, I realize that not everyone can find an acupuncturist in their area or that the cost is just too much for some.

Herbals can also be a very good option. I’ve been selling a very safe and supportive herbal, called Senior Dog Support through my shop Kingdom of Basil.

Senior Dog Support contains herbs that help promote blood circulation, help ease arthritis pain and support the endocrine and organ functions of old dogs. It is also safe for cats although requires some creativity in administration, usually this involves making a tea.

This herbal is made up of a few herbs that help promote blood flow in the body. These herbs help support the bone marrow and help with the aches and pains that come with old age. In China these herbs are often added to chicken soup in the winter to help keep older people healthy.

• Chinese Angelica root
• Peony Root



• Rehmannia Root which also supports the kidneys
• Chinese lovage root

The next two herbs are used for arthritis. They also help reduce pain and are said to release wind and damp that are stuck in the joints.

• Cinnamon twig
• Gentiana root

In addition Senior dog support contains

• Safflower which helps to invigorate the blood and add more lightness to the step
• Corydalis, a powerful pain herb

and

• Devil’s Club Root -a northwest native adaptogen herbal which helps support the endocrine systems of the body and also has an effect on arthritis inflammation. I have been in love with this herb for older dogs as I feel like it gives them more vitality as they age.

I have had had many people comment that their older dogs do much better on this herbal formula. It can safely be used with glucosamine, steroids, Tramadol, and/or the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like Rimadyl.

Also check out my article Infrared Light Therapy for another safe and easy why to support your older dog or cat through the winter.