Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Denial is a Powerful Force

A friend of mine (Shaya with All-American Tom) lent me Brenda Aloff's new book, Canine Body Language, A Photographic Guide. I shouldn't say "new" since it came out last year I think, but I haven't had a chance to pick it up yet.

Regardless of my excuses, I am currently devouring it. I actually can't believe Shaya lent it to me, it is so great. But on to the title of this post....

Many pictures in the Anxiety and Fear section look VERY familiar to me. Poor Ike, I see many of these faces while we are visiting at the Rehab. Having said that, having realized the truth I have been skirting around for a few weeks now, it is with great sadness that I will be contacting Tower Hill Center and informing them that Ike will no longer be visiting. The sadness is for the patients, but also for Ike. I feel badly that it took me so long to recognize the signals my dog has been sending me. And truthfully, I would recognize them if they were coming from any dog other than my own. I have put my desires before Ike's.

I know Aileen (the animal communicator) suggested that Ike views the rehab as his work, but I have decided that right now, and for the foreseeable future, Ike has a more important job. Katrin recently asked me what my life goals for Ike are and truthfully I just want him to be comfortable; so often Ike seems overwhelmed. I think it is safe to say that Ike would like to have the coping skills to be comfortable most of the time - the rest of the time he'd like to be on the couch. So helping Ike develop better coping skills is our new job.

3 comments:

Katrin said...

That's great that you can recognize and do what is best for Ike, not just Julie. So many people put them 1st, dog 2nd. Not fair to dog. But we've talked about that. Ike has made amazing progress in the short time I've known you 2. That's great.

Jules said...

Thanks, Katrin. I need to be more Ike-centered in the future. He puts up with a dense mum!

Shelly said...

Well, good for you for now recognizing what works for Ike! Don't be so hard on yourself, unless you give him the opportunities for things like that, you never know if he will like it. So, his new job is working to be the best Ike he can be! (should be all of our jobs!)