Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Catherine O’Driscoll Complementary Healthcare


Dogs clearly experience the same range of emotions as humans. They may not be as well hidden (if a dog is, for example, jealous he or she tends to express it more directly) but they are, in essence, identical. More than this it seems pretty clear to me that our own dogs pick up on our emotional state in the same way that another human might. But with one major difference. Companion dogs don’t have the same range of options that humans have. They are trapped. Where am I going with this? Well, if you agree with me then you may be interested in the work being done by Catherine O’Driscoll.

Catherine may be better known to you as the founder of the not-for-profit organisation Canine Health Concern which is particularly keen to get the message over that vaccines could be causing your dog considerably more harm than good.

However, she also practices as a canine complementary healthcare professional and she has lots to say about the way in which canine emotions and thus canine behaviour is strongly linked to our own emotions and behaviour. Put another way, your dog may be mirroring or reacting to you in a much more sophisticated and complicated way than you imagine.

He or she may also be suffering in ways you don’t realise.

Catherine believes that one solution to this whole problem is Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT. On her website she describes this as:

‘A fast-track tool for personal growth, bringing peace and harmony into our lives in direct proportion to the amount we use it. From personal experience of using EFT, I know that when we use EFT on ourselves, we are taking care of ourselves and the animals in our care. After all, we can’t give our dogs anything that we ourselves do not have.’

Sounds a bit airy-fairy? Well, it isn’t. This is a practical technique ‘similar to acupuncture, but instead of using needles, you stimulate energy points on your body by tapping them with your fingertips. The process is easy to memorise and you can do it anywhere.’

It involves telepathic communication. Only a fool would scoff at this. Many years ago I had some dealings with Yuri Geller and at one point he bent all my tea spoons by stroking them gently once or twice and it stopped me from ever doubting that people can have powers that science does not yet understand. There is ample evidence that human telepathy works so why shouldn’t it work with animals?

Incidentally, one side benefit of learning about EFT is that it may lead to you becoming happier and more fulfilled.

The other day Pippa Ducat (the really lovely animal behaviourist from Kent that we rather adore at Darling’s) was pointing out to me how all the training techniques she advocates for dealing with dogs work with people. Well, I gather the same is true of EFT.

Catherine has a great video on her site and lots and lots of additional information. If you are genuinely interested in dogs and their welfare then I can’t recommend strongly enough discovering more. The site is: http://odriscollhealthcare.weebly.com

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