Recently I wrote a post on how my husband and I have been working to help our very noise/vibrations reactive, young Carolina Dog, Ezra. That post is Dances With Dogs
Ezra’s noise/vibration reactivity has been one of the hardest things I’ve had to deal with in one of my own dogs. I say one of the hardest because my former Great Dane Meshach’s challenges were THE hardest. I also have a page linked there at the bottom of the page with resources for you if your own dog is experiencing some of what Meshach went through.
Ezra’s is a close second though. You see these “invisible” type of challenges make things all the harder. I know that is often the case with any type of illness but often we can get to the root cause through some good Q&A, and even see some manifestations of that illness on the body (aside from medical diagnostics which I only utilize as a last resort for a lot reasons I won’t go into in this post).
However, with something such as noise/vibration reactivity you simply learn to deal with it as it acutely happens – meaning suddenly. Ezra didn’t have any of these reactions initially – at least we didn’t think he did when he was little. – I think now he’s had this issue all along and explains a lot to me about him. We just thought he had extrasensory hearing to compensate for his lacking eyesight, which I believe was a mineral deficiency which has since proven out due to greatly improved eyesight. I have extra sensitive hearing also with impaired eyesight too. So this dog is definitely teaching me some things I’ve needed to learn.
He’s now almost 16 months old at the time of this writing. Once his “teenager” phase hit is when we began to notice the escalation in him towards noise (which I’ve since come to believe is more the vibrations than the sounds since not all loud sounds bother him).
Lately we’ve had a lot of helicopters flying over our home in the middle of the night – hmmm (often military, which makes our whole house vibrate when they fly over). Not sure why or what that’s about but I’ve never had a dog be reactive to that, until now. Ezra is absolutely terrified of the noise and vibrations of the low flying helicopters. He’s similar with the vibrations that come from our dishwasher (which is not a noisy machine at all – it’s very quiet in fact) which we thankfully only use once in a while as I prefer to hand wash dishes.
My husband has almost always been the one who figures out the causes with our dog health challenges and then I am left to try and figure out the solution. We make a great team I think! He’s the one who figured out what Ezra was reacting to – as I sure could not understand his sudden howling and barking at all hours of the night. Not a fun thing I can assure you as he can sure yodel! We had figured out as was stated on the Dances With Dogs post, his thunder and lightening reactivity and what I believe is the cause behind ALL of this. He also freaks out over SOME engines, leaf blowers, etc. but not ALL. So this has shown me it’s not always the noise but the vibrations or the combination.
The first questions to ask is why is a naturally reared dog having these issues? Wasn’t Meshach also naturally reared (NR)? Yes both were/are naturally reared. The simple answer is EPIGENETIC. The next question is, then why bother with natural rearing? Because we must start somewhere. Dogs are not getting healthier and they are not living longer due to conventional care. However, I do know of those who have naturally reared their breeds for generations and their dogs are now very healthy. Keep in mind Meshach was only first generation NR, same with Ezra.
So what are we doing to help him? Once again I am using sound to harmonize sound. Put a better way, we are using good vibrations (frequencies) to harmonize the bad vibrations. I’m still using essential oils. What we are using now at night (which has helped ALL of us to sleep well) is the WholeTones 2Sleep unit.
I’m also still using homeopathy with him each morning (this newest remedy seems to be helping him the most – and this one I had figured out and concurred on with my homeopath/friend Sarah). The reason I don’t share the remedies is simply because I think homeopathy is an art best dealt with according to your dog’s unique needs through guided help.
The WholeTones 2Sleep unit helped Ezra before with the thunder and now it is helping us all sleep better through the night. You see it is based on frequencies. As stated on their website, “2Sleep has been re-engineered to deliver our most calming frequencies specifically for sleep.” I’m really grateful we have the blessing of using this to help Ezra. Nothing else calms him better which tells me this is all vibrational. Manmade vibrations are not good for the health and well being of any of us, never mind those who are both noise and vibrational sensitive as both Ezra and I am. I am an affiliate of WholeTones so I do earn a commission.
I’ve dubbed Ezra my vibrational learning dog because I’m having to go further and deeper with him than any dog before. He challenges me to my core and has even caused me to question at times my true commitment to animals/dogs in general as he tends to brings up the worst in me. I’ve asked God to pluck all and anything in me that isn’t like Him so then along came Ezra as the answer to my prayers. It’s hard because we can often be selfish in our pursuit of life, liberty, happiness and comfort. However, it is through adversity that we grow – everything on this planet grows through adversity and challenges. So I stay the course even when I often don’t want to as that would be the easy way out.
I love Ezra and he loves me, so we push on – it’s not always easy for my sweet, sensitive American Bully King either. He’s the peacekeeper so we are cognizant of his needs as well .
A sweet friend of mine, and also one of the graduates of our former school in animal naturopathy (Carole Baldwin) said to me recently regarding Ezra, “We all have lessons we need to learn, and he chose you to teach those lessons. Enjoy all the good, the bad, and the ugly – they are lessons we need to learn!” I’m very grateful for her wisdom. I hope this post helps you in some way.
One last resource for you, check out the book Through a Dog’s Ear. We had the pleasure of interviewing co-author, Dr. Susan Wagner on our former podcast about this book years ago. There is also music created to help dogs with a variety of issues. Music is the healing of the future!
Until next time…
Have a PAWSitively, tail waggin’, NATUROPATHICALLY healthy day!
Kim Bloomer, V.N.D., N.D. is an animal naturopath as well as being certified in small animal nutrition, with years of experience in animal wellness. Dr. Kim is a published author, writer, and blogger. Subscribe to her DOGgone Newsletter for updates or to her blog via email. Copyright ©2005-2024 Aspenbloom Pet Care, Dr. Kim Bloomer, All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced in any form without the written consent of the Author/Publisher. This article is intended to be educational. However, it is not intended to be a substitute for diagnosis or treatment from a qualified animal health professional. Dr. Kim Bloomer and Aspenbloom Pet Care, do not assume any legal responsibility for misuse of the products discussed in this article. The only essential oils referenced on this website are Young Living.
