Fearful Rescue Dog Beats Anxiety with Flower Essences

Owen is a Beagle, somewhere between 7 and 9 years old, loved and cared for by Janet Eyler of Texas (by way of Pennsylvania). Owen had – to put it mildly – a bit of a rocky start in life, and takes Aldaron Essences’ Very Scary Things formula for anxiety and fearfulness. Janet offered to share Owen’s story with us.

Aldaron Essences: Janet, I really appreciate you talking with me about sweet Owen. Let’s start with a little about Owen’s background.

Janet: Owen is a handsome little guy and he has such a humble soul. His three-year “Gotcha Day” is April 24th. Forever Home Beagle Rescue picked him up from a shelter in West Virginia. Someone found him in their yard. He has a pellet in him from being shot.

Owen was in foster for almost a year and a half. He spent the first five months in our bedroom. He would come out to eat and go outside to walk, come in and go back in our room. Outside any motorcycle can race past him and he’s fine. But we live where there are skeet shoots outside of city limits and we can hear them. He can shake off two bangs, but any more than that he shuts down and goes home if we are walking.

He is the sweetest, most loving dog. He loves all animals. My nephew brought his rabbits to visit when we lived in Pittsburgh and Owen loved them. He would follow them around.

He’s afraid of loud noises and sudden movements, but he’s 90% better from when we first adopted him. We are very lucky he came into our lives.

Aldaron Essences: He sounds like such a sweetie. Did you do any particular kind of training or take any special approach with him?

Janet: Yes I did. I took him to a training center that worked with him while I was at work. I did K9 Nosework classes with him and that is where he started to come out of his shell and find his confidence. He actually didn’t even bark until he did the K9 Nosework class. He LOVES enrichment games and kibble toss.

Aldaron Essences: That’s wonderful. Nosework can be such a confidence builder for dogs. So then you tried Aldaron Essences. Which formulas did you decide on?

Janet: Dog trainer Lisa Bartel bought me a gift certificate from you and that is when I got the Very Scary Things. Love this product! 

I recently started using your Over Attachment flower essence formula also.

Aldaron Essences: Those sound perfect for Owen. Can you describe the differences you’ve seen?

Janet: He’s so much better. He doesn’t run away all time anymore. I tell everyone, even his vet.

He still jumps at certain things, but he doesn’t run away when I drop the remote off the bed, or when the remote hits my cell phone. It’s the little things that it has made such a huge difference.

He actually walked out into the garage the other day following me. He has never ever attempted that before because he doesn’t like small areas. I was so proud of him. He still has a little trouble coming through a door, and has to eat his food in the open.

During storms, he used to pace and try to find a place to hide. Now he sits on the end of the couch or lays on the bed with me. He wants to be close, but not held.

Aldaron Essences: It’s amazing how little things like that can actually make a huge difference. Tellme, what was the most helpful training or lifestyle change you made?

Janet: The Nosework classes were a game-changer for him. He overcame so many fears with that class and then he started loving it. I did Adult 101 basic obedience with him too.

Aldaron Essences: Any words of advice to people experiencing similar issues with their dog?

Janet: I would just be patient and find any resource out there that can help work with a fearful furry. I had a fearful furry trainer come in and evaluate him. He is still work, he still has his quirks, I still work on him with boxes and grocery bags, but he is so worth the time. I am lucky that I had Lisa to give me pointers. She has been my sounding board.

Aldaron Essences: Thank you, Janet, for sharing Owen’s story! I know you and he will go far!

Aldaron Essences’ online store closed permanently on May 31, 2023. I no longer sell flower essence formulas directly to customers.

Instead, I’m focusing on developing the Aldaron Essences blog into a premier resource on flower essences for dogs and other animals. I’ll also be expanding my dog training website, Train2Behave.com, as well as my Etsy store of mostly dog training- and breed-related apparel and gifts.

In the coming weeks, you can expect new pages on this site that will detail some of my most popular flower essence formulas for dogs. These pages will replace the old links to those products on the store. Thanks for your patience during the transition!

Best,
julie