Lucky
This is the story of Lucky, since he was the dog that first got Christine Windham-Thomas interested in homeopathy.
We got Lucky when he was 2 years old from a sanctuary. He had two homes before us and each had taken him back within a month of having him, saying they couldn't cope with him. We needed another dog because Patch had gone to Rainbow Bridge and I was worried about leaving Pippin on her own when I was at work. So we took her to the Sanctuary to match her with another dog. The dog we had chosen showed no interest in her at all and neither did she with him. But in the field next door was Lucky and he was going absolutely balistic trying to get to Pippin. So we suggested seeing if they got on well together. Well, Lucky wouldn't leave Pippin alone; he was smitten with her and so we decided we would take him.
We didn't know then there were any problems with Lucky except we were told by the Sanctuary that when they found him he was in such a bad state they didn't think he would live, and that a carer used to stay at the Sanctuary during the night just to comfort him because he was so distressed.
Poor Lucky was such a traumatised dog that it took two years of him being with us before I actually started seeing a difference in him and knew that at last he was beginning to settle. He used to fear anything that moved, even a leaf; even little puppies that were no bigger than the palm of my hand that just wanted to play with him he wouldn't walk past them, I had to carry him, and if one did start coming towards him he'd run in the opposite direction with tail between legs and ears right back.
Everytime I came home from work he would look at me as if I was a total stranger. If I talked to him to try and reassure him, it would make him worse. In the end I found the best course of treatment was to ignore him totally and not even speak to him, but just go about my business as if he wasn't there. If I did that, he would be the first to come round me and lick me and rub into me to gain my attention. He was fine then but I had to let him come to me; not me go to him.
We had him vaccinated when we had him, because we didn't know about the vaccination issue, and within three months of doing that I suddenly found he had no fur on his leg. It was then that I took him to a homeopathic vet and within two weeks of just giving him three little tablets and monitoring progress, his fur had started to grow back. And it was around about that time that that World in Action programme was shown.
Lucky's the only dog I've ever known turn his nose up at a raw meaty bone. It's not that he can't eat them, because unbeknown to me he had managed to grab a cooked lamb bone from a dustbin I'd thrown out one Sunday lunch time, a big one at that, and my god he wouldn't let anyone go near him. He will eat raw tripe, but try putting down any other raw meat - forget it; he'd rather starve than eat it and I am not exaggerating.
Well, he's now 8 and is becoming more and more confident within himself every day. Since his leg problem we haven't had to take him to the vet for anything. He's not so fearful either. But we have to give him his cooked dinners and he's happy with that.
This is the story of Lucky, since he was the dog that first got Christine Windham-Thomas interested in homeopathy.
We got Lucky when he was 2 years old from a sanctuary. He had two homes before us and each had taken him back within a month of having him, saying they couldn't cope with him. We needed another dog because Patch had gone to Rainbow Bridge and I was worried about leaving Pippin on her own when I was at work. So we took her to the Sanctuary to match her with another dog. The dog we had chosen showed no interest in her at all and neither did she with him. But in the field next door was Lucky and he was going absolutely balistic trying to get to Pippin. So we suggested seeing if they got on well together. Well, Lucky wouldn't leave Pippin alone; he was smitten with her and so we decided we would take him.
We didn't know then there were any problems with Lucky except we were told by the Sanctuary that when they found him he was in such a bad state they didn't think he would live, and that a carer used to stay at the Sanctuary during the night just to comfort him because he was so distressed.
Poor Lucky was such a traumatised dog that it took two years of him being with us before I actually started seeing a difference in him and knew that at last he was beginning to settle. He used to fear anything that moved, even a leaf; even little puppies that were no bigger than the palm of my hand that just wanted to play with him he wouldn't walk past them, I had to carry him, and if one did start coming towards him he'd run in the opposite direction with tail between legs and ears right back.
Everytime I came home from work he would look at me as if I was a total stranger. If I talked to him to try and reassure him, it would make him worse. In the end I found the best course of treatment was to ignore him totally and not even speak to him, but just go about my business as if he wasn't there. If I did that, he would be the first to come round me and lick me and rub into me to gain my attention. He was fine then but I had to let him come to me; not me go to him.
We had him vaccinated when we had him, because we didn't know about the vaccination issue, and within three months of doing that I suddenly found he had no fur on his leg. It was then that I took him to a homeopathic vet and within two weeks of just giving him three little tablets and monitoring progress, his fur had started to grow back. And it was around about that time that that World in Action programme was shown.
Lucky's the only dog I've ever known turn his nose up at a raw meaty bone. It's not that he can't eat them, because unbeknown to me he had managed to grab a cooked lamb bone from a dustbin I'd thrown out one Sunday lunch time, a big one at that, and my god he wouldn't let anyone go near him. He will eat raw tripe, but try putting down any other raw meat - forget it; he'd rather starve than eat it and I am not exaggerating.
Well, he's now 8 and is becoming more and more confident within himself every day. Since his leg problem we haven't had to take him to the vet for anything. He's not so fearful either. But we have to give him his cooked dinners and he's happy with that.
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