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| Hpathy Ezine - Feb., 2005 | |||||
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Edward De Beukelaer, DVM<-- Interviewed by Elaine Lewis |
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| If we can possibly return to the exciting topic of my dear son, Prince Larry, I think you hit the nail on the head when you said, "German Shepherds are bred to control and keep order." That is exactly what he was doing! It makes so much sense now that you've explained it! And speaking of Larry, I can happily tell you a few other things about him if you insist...
???
OK! He was terrified of thunderstorms! Everytime the thunder or lightning would start, I had to open the closet door for him so he could go in--poor thing! He also had a really bad case of eczema, his skin near his tail on his back would be so red; he would bite it from the itching, he also had fleas there, which may have been causing the whole thing. The vet probably controlled it with something we wouldn't approve of, but I didn't know any better! Everyone loved him, he made everyone feel so important (I know that sounds ridiculous!) I think he must have been a phosphorus--so full of joy, so optimistic. Even at the end of his life, when he had that hind-leg paralysis that big dogs often get, he was still full of spunk, still enjoying life....People would see him hobbling down the street and they'd yell at me to have him put to sleep! Total strangers! They didn't realize how happy he was! Of course, I did finally have to have him put to sleep, and I'm sure I waited much too long--it was an impossible decision!
Terrified of thunderstorm, fleas, itching on the back, lameness in hindquarters... all common symptoms. Full of spunk when was going down with hip pain goes somewhat against nux v. I still believe he was overdoing it when he was stopping you/others from slapping each others shoulders. We need to be more specific on his exact attitude towards this over-zealous activity. 'He made everyone feel so important' .... another thing to deepen out. The over-all impression is indeed phosphorus which may very well have served him as a remedy but I have so many times found that this remedy only serves temporarly. This means for me that the remedy is not homeopathic enough to the patient. He will need to take it in repeatedly and its effect often soons burns out. My feeling about phosphorus is that he makes others feel important to fuel its own energy. He also needs to eat to fuel its energy and at the same time he burns up very quickly. I feel like a selfish need in phosphorus and a anxiety of not being able to exist if these 'fuels' are not provided. Back to Larry: If it appears that he NEVER complained, we could use the rubric of Mind, Positiveness (again debatable but the rubric breathes the sense of what we are looking for). One question I would like to ask is what did he think about you? Did he relate differently to you then to other people? Other possible rubric: Mind, too generous Olib-sac? Sulfur? and Cere-b!? (up to now I may go for Cere-b) Homeopathy is dynamic. Anthing else, anything curious about him? Physical, food, other fears, funny habits, cold and warm, seasons? What about other dogs?
Funny habits: Every time Larry heard a siren, he would run to the window and "sing" along with it! "Woooooooooo--waa-waa." It was the funniest thing!
The seasons--he loved the snow! He would roll around in it; I think he was a very warm dog. Other dogs? Oh my God! I dreaded walking him! I had to walk him on a leash just to keep him from killing another male dog; oh, the fights he got into! Very scary! I don't think male dogs get along! They apparently think they own the neighborhood!
This fits in with his dominant behaviour although it can also be caused by a lack of socialising when he was younger.
He loved children, though; he'd walk right up to them and put his head in their chests!
It is not unusual for a German shepherd to like and take care of children. They were bred to take care of the sheep and lambs and these qualities are often very successfully transmitted towards their family attitude. In this case we have to bear in mind that he has a very dominant character but does not shy away from being very close to children. This may be a sign of him not being dominant-proud but rather dominat-efficient, as you said he gave so much towards others. That is why I cited the rubric 'Mind, generous, too' for possible use (containing amongst others Nux v, reference, Gallavin Pierre). His extreme kindness and closeness to children somewhat contrast his very 'strict' character. Such contrasts are important in finding an appropriate remedy.
I can't say that Larry ever was a complainer; he had a very positive outlook. I think he had a lot of pride, which is why he wouldn't let you order him about. If you said, "Larry, go lie down," he'd walk around first, as if to say, "I am now going to lie down; but not because you told me to, but because I just suddenly decided to on my own!"
Well, I think nux vomica is there again (was also present in Generous, too generous). Nux vomica who leads and knows best.
You know how they tell you in the dog-training books to stop a dog from jumping up when they greet you? Raise your knee to his chest so that he goes down? Well, my sister did that to him after she entered the house once, as she had had dogs herself; and, he never spoke to her again! She said, "But I read it! That's what you're supposed to do!" I said, "Caroline, I think you hurt his feelings." After that he just wouldn't speak to her. Who knows when he finally got over it, months or years, I can't remember. First prescription would have been Nux v 30c one dose and reassess in four weeks. Nux v has to do with what is right and not right: he knows what is best for all. That is why it is a typical businessman's remedy: they are supposed to know what is best for everybody in order to make the company run properly. In these cases the remedy is not always a constitutional remedy but a situational remedy: pulled between the feeling to need to be right and the realisation that they cannot always be. The generousness, the excess with which he performs his tasks (even wanting to keep the burglars from coming through the phone...) his kindness to the people he looks after , he seems to 'give to them' more then he takes. Also, it looks as if it is his role is to look after all the people, that is why he was the same to you as anybody else? Nux is also present in ailments from mortification, allowing for his sensibility to your sister's intervention. Woooooo--waa-waa when the sirens are coming: that is his only way to interfere with them; he doesn't bark, he doesn't get angry with them, it is something else he wants (needs) to control. You see, quite a few reasons to use this remedy!
You are flattering me again. No way! I've never flattered anybody, ask Shirley! I hope that the message I can spread is that there is more to homeopathic remedies then the usual pictures. Homeopathy seems to be in fast growing-up years. We have to grow out our fixed ideas about homeopathy and allow for more dynamic views and habits ... but never forget that the basic rule of strange, unusual, curious, original, whether a symptom or combination of symptoms is what we have to look for. 'This person or animal cannot be that remedy' because something does not fit right to our habits is not the right attitude. In our canine case one could say that his 'warm' temperament did not fit in with nux vomica. That is not a reason not to prescribe the remedy. Would you like to tell our readers some of the common mistakes they're making with dogs and cats? I'm thinking about things like, should the animals be locked out of the bedroom at night? Should they be allowed to eat what people eat? Should cats be drinking milk? You must be a wealth of information on the mistakes we're making with our pets! The main mistake most people make is that they give conflicting information to their animals. With our good nature we want to assure that our pets have the best they can have. Some of us are over-attentious to them. This creates the feeling of being the centre of attention. In the animal (and human) kingdom this signifies importance. The house pet receives repetetive signals of his importance. At the same time he can become very aware that he has no power on decision at all. We want them to obey and we have attitudes as the dominant figure in the family pack. This is a contradictory situation. The pet feels like being a king or prince without any power. This can cause frustration expressed differently according to the personality of the pet. I have seen cases where pets slept in their owner's bed where this causes no trouble at all because the situation between owner and pet is clearcut. On food: Dogs have always eaten what people ate. If we eat badly then our dog eats badly as well. The progress in specialised foods has a series of advantages and in some cases can control chronic pathologies very efficiently. They are not always the bees knees but have a role to fill. Milk for cats... no. Most adults (human, dogs, cats) do not digest milk very well. Other problem with our modern milk is its digestibility. Certainly from a hygienic (bacteriological and cellular) point of view, the quality is impeccable. But high intensity farming and use of maize makes the milk tougher to digest. It is something I have come aware of over time when I intervened regularly in dairy herds. The calves of the common black and white milking cattle usually thrive better on milk reconstituted from powder then their mother's milk. This means that milk neede to be processed to increase its digestibility ... . Because this is not something we can measure easily it is not an issue that is researched very much. I have always reduced the milk intake in my children and I can tell they do not lack in calcium or anything else.
Edward, thank you for speaking to us and for solving a long-held mystery for me! We found Larry when he was a year old, he was a stray, we always thought he might have been abused because he wouldn't tolerate "rowdy" behavior, but, your explanation makes much better sense, in fact, it makes perfect sense! I hope you'll be back to visit us again soon--I can't wait to tell you about Snoopy and Creampuff! _____________________________________________________
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