FAQ
How long do the remedies take to work?
In most cases of Bach flower therapy, assuming that the problem
is a case for flower remedies in the first place, and that the right
remedies have been selected and properly administered, results are
usually seen within two to three weeks, and sometimes much
sooner than that. Naturally, results depend on the individual dog
and the nature and severity of the problem for which he's being
treated.
Interestingly, practice has shown that milder types of problems,
such as everyday fears and anxiety, can take a little longer, perhaps
two weeks or so, to be helped. Meanwhile, more severe and acute
problems such as shock, strong fears and the severe anxiety of
rescue dogs with a history of being beaten and maltreated, can
often take much less time to react to the flower remedies.
Therapists
and owners have often seen very frightened, nervous or fearfully
aggressive dogs become calmer within just a few minutes, as few
as 4 or 5 minutes. Remedies such as Star of Bethlehem and Rock
Rose seem to be very important for gaining these fast and
spectacular results. Remedies like Mimulus, which are for milder
types of fear, generally do not work as fast. So, strangely enough,
we can often predict that the highly traumatised, battered and
abused rescue dog will show positive responses to the remedies
sooner and more obviously than the relatively less stressed family
pet. The same curious effect seems to apply to human flower
therapy: often, the worse the problem, the faster and better the
effect of the remedies. A person suffering from terrible grief or
despair can often respond sooner than a person with mild anxiety.
What are the practicalities of giving Flower Remedies to Dogs?
Flower rernedies are easy to give to animals - and of all the animals that people keep as pets or companions, dogs are probably the easiest to give remedies to. Whilst cats tend to be a
bit more discriminating about what they're offered to eat, domestic dogs with their scavenger origins will happily gobble up anything that's offered them without asking any questions. Their lack of fussiness makes our iob of giving them remedies that bit easier!
A word of caution:
Flower remedies come in small bottles with glass pipettes from which the drops are dispensed. Never give drops direct from the dropper into a dog's mouth. This is simply due to the fact that the dropper tube is made of
thin glass and could cause serious harm if bitten off and swallowed. Dogs can move very fast, and may snap at the dropper if they think it's something to eat.
WHAT ABOUT THE ALCOHOL IN THE FORMULA?
Alcohol
is used as a preservative in flower essences. If you find that your animal
friend is averse to the smell, we usually recommend just opening the bottle and
letting it air for about 10 minutes before use. While that helps, there will
definitely be residual smell. if your animal friend is very sensitive, here's another
tip:
•
Take your pets' dishes and run them under hot water for about 45 seconds.
•
Empty the water out, leaving a hot bowl.
•
Put your normal dosage in the dish (3-5 drops).
•
Wait another minute, then add cold water to the water bowl and wet food to the
food dish.
This
will speed up the evaporation process drastically and also keep everything safe
since we're only removing alcohol one serving at a time.
WHAT IF THE DROPPER TOUCHES MY DOG'S MOUTH?
If
the dropper contacts anything outside the bottle, simply rinse the dropper in
hot running water for about 30 seconds before replacing it in the bottle.
WHAT IF THERE ARE OTHER ANIMALS IN THE HOME DRINKING FROM THE SAME WATER SOURCE?
If
you are treating only one animal in a multi-animal household, it is perfectly
all right to put the remedy in the common drinking water. It will not adversely
affect the other animals, and may even be beneficial if those particular
essences are also appropriate for them.
COULD OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS BE INVOLVED IN THE TREATMENT?
Sometimes
our animal companions express emotions or behaviors that reflect other
influences in the environment. They often mirror stresses occurring in their
human companions' lives or relationships, which the humans may not even be
aware of.
It
is thought that animals may even take on such stresses in order to shield us
from them. It may be of benefit, in such cases, to consider essence therapy for
the human members of the family. At the least, using flower in spray form
throughout the house can only benefit the entire family.
