Stressed puppy! What do I do?

Many of us that share our lives with performance dogs, experience start line nerves.  Either on the agility field, flyball lanes or standing at the post at a herding trial. For us humans, it manifests in many different ways: butterflies in the stomach, sweaty palms, inability to eat before your run, increased blood pressure and difficulty in focus - what is it that you're supposed to do?

Our poor pups feed off our energy - good or bad.  Their nervousness can show up looking like crossing over the lanes in flyball, "forgetting" to bring the ball back and the every popular, "wow, they are sooooo slow."  In agility, our stressed pups can break the start line stay, run around jumps, bark at the weaves poles and again "wow, they are soooo slow." My personal issue seems to be "wow, they are soooooo fast."  In herding it can show up with rushing the stock, their inability to "lie down!" and a general disregard to just about anything you are telling them. STREEEESSSS.

Many times, we walk to the line while being two of the most noodley individuals around.  Now how are we supposed to succeed when neither of us can think straight?

That's where flower essence can really help.  Many people have tried the popular "Rescue Remedy" with little or no success so they just figure, flower essences just don't work.  There are many different creators of flower essences, all with very different energies and Bach Flower Essences is just one of them. The blends from Green Hope Farm called "Show Cat" spiked with their "Anxiety" blend are two of my personal favorites for performance jitters. Using it is simple, starting several days before the trial, just add a few drops to the water or food and then put a couple of drops before each run (both to human and handler) to the tongue and it can have an amazing effect.  For me, I can walk to the line of any venue with a calm energy and my dogs that usually stress (mainly because their mommy is a bundle of nerves) look at me with excited eyes anticipating a great time versus look at me with the wild "yeeee, haaaaw" expression.

Where this blend is really good for performance issues, there are other ones great for general anxiety.  Separation anxiety, going to the vet anxiety and thunderstorm or loud noise anxiety.

I custom blend all my flower essences using stock from Green Hope Farm and energize them with the power of Reiki. To order a custom blend, contact me at tresa@tresalaferty.com

Yikes - I'm out of shape!

This past weekend I was reminded that I am indeed out of shape!  Neither me nor my dogs have run flyball (in a tournament) since December. Sure, we practice with the team and I keep the dogs in shape, but nothing like running several dogs in a tournament setting to remind you of your age.  I counted it up and between my 3 dogs, I, the human, ran in about 60 races.  So by the end of the day Saturday, I was hurting.  So when I got home, I pulled out my trusty "Ortho Sport" massage oil that is loaded with essential oils and started rubbing it in.  It has anti-inflammatory and pain-killing essential oils and is perfect for strained and swollen muscles or ligaments. That night, when my head hit the pillow at 9:30 pm, I slept like a baby.  Well, that could have been  because I got up at 4 am that morning for my 2 hour drive to Madison, but the true test would be the morning after.   For my pups, this particular blend is a bit strong, so I located one of my many bottles of "Ortho Ease" massage oil and gathered around the 3 flyball dogs.  Starting at the base of the tail, I tucked the bottle under the fur and squirted a long, thin strip of the massage oil directly on their skin. I then gently massaged this into their back and muscles.  My old guy Satch (he's going to be 11yrs soon) loved it!  Riff and Twang did too.  They kind of had a "skunk stripe" down their back but it was very soothing to them. Riff normally goes wild when I put essential oils on him but this time he just stood and almost fell asleep with the massaging along his back.

Call me crazy, but on Sunday, I was up and at 'em again but this time, I'm off to a herding fun day.  Not as early as the day before, but the alarm went off at 5am.  As I eased myself out of bed, yup, pretty stiff but not horrible, not like normal. Those of us who run a lot of flyball call this the "flyball hangover." Your body was pushed physically to the limit.   But I've got to pull it together for my yet another 2 hour drive south to work on sheep all day, in the 30 degree temps.  I applied the "Ortho Sport" massage oil again - almost over my entire body since everything was feeling a little tight.  One thing I didn't count on is that it has peppermint in it and since I applied it after a shower on a cold morning - I was now FREEZING!  Quick, put on my multi-layers for the outdoors. But my stiff neck and arm from tugging, aching knee from kneeling on the mats, and my tight back from loading/unloading crates and the general running of flyball, were all feeling a LOT better.  All without any other pain reliever!

And, I'm happy to report that even after hours outside and all the activity of working sheep for quite a long time, I was still feeling pretty good.  Monday morning rolled around and me and all the "working" pups were actually ready for another fun filled, active day. 

I'll have my Ortho Ease and Ortho Sport massage oils at my side for my months ahead as I get back into shape.  Lots of "over doing it" ahead but hopefully, a more fit body to follow.

If you'd like to order these massage oils, click here www.youngliving.org/tresalaferty

Ouch my aching head!

Our lives are filled with stress.  Stress can lead to head aches.  Wouldn't you love to have a natural, safe, effective way to relief an aching head. Well, if you have a few choice essential oils - you're in luck.  My favorite remedy for a simple headache is to rub a few drops of peppermint on my temples, back of neck and then inhale!  But occasionally these headaches are a bit more persistent. That's when I bring out the big guns.  Peppermint, lavender, idaho balsam fir and basil are all awesome at relieving the throbbing head.  Take a sniff and which ever one appeals to you - put a few drops on the back of your neck, behind your ears, on your temples and under your nose.  Just take care you are not around the eyes as the vapors from the oils can be irritating. 

After you've applied the oils, it also helps to put a damp cloth over your eyes and sit quietly for a few minutes.  Ahh, relief.

Be sure you are drinking enough water too.

If you're interested in ordering any of these oils, you can go to my site of www.youngliving.org/tresalaferty and order your headache kit!

Show me the money

Show me the money!  I love using crystals for health and healing but today's Tuesday Tip is getting us prepared for the ever popular Tax Day :( I thought I'd give you one of my own personal tips in order to increase spending money.  Citrine is called The Merchant Stone because it is a powerful stone to attract prosperity and success. Place citrine in your safe, cash register or money bag to increase business.  It not only attracts wealth, it helps one maintain it. As scary as it may seem, I recently misplaced my citrine stone and my little money bag was suffering.  Within a few days of finding it, clearing it, and placing it where I keep my money - my little money pile tripled in size - yay!!!  I also sprinkle a drop of Abundance essential oil in there too - just to be sure.

Tips like this and more will be covered as part of my class series "Speaking to the Earth."  For more information on the class series, click here.