The Many Faces of June

June, Junie, Junia Petunia... my funny faced dog. Life dealt her some very bad hands early on, but she's been given a different life. She has a lot of fears, but she has a lot of joys too. We've come to an agreement that she can work on the days that she asks me to, but that I'll try not to ask her to give more than she really can. That's OK.

Photo by Robin French, by the way. At any rate, she'll never be much of a sheepdog, but I'm honored and blessed that she gives me what she can, particularly considering that when she came to live with me she wouldn't even give sheep a second look. She got me started with my passion for sheep, and for that I'm grateful. As far as sheepdogs go she is what she is. I love her.

She's coming up on her ninth birthday. It's hard to believe, though, because she's still quite the spunky gal. April the 2nd marked our fourth year together. She's all about some frisbees and balls, and anything that can be thrown.

One of the challenges she faces, though, is thunderphobia. Her blind panic has decreased, and overall she's doing quite a bit better, but early on it was bad... very bad. We had a consultation with Animal Communicator Coryelle Kramer http://www.coryellekramer.com/ last week (you can also find her blog via my blogroll), who is also certified as a Bach Flower Therapist. She gave me some Bach Flower suggestions for June, and June has surprised me with some new things. It was a very neat session. June generally runs blindly at the first sign of rain, thunder, or lightening. She initially ran harder, and more blindly, and AWAY from me. We've made progress in that department, and generally if something happens in the night to scare her she trots from my bedroom to the living room, and back (and the sound of her footfalls on the carpet wakes me). However, after one day on the Bach Flower that Coryelle suggested for us she did something different. The other night it started to lightening, and instead of trotting around the house she came and got in the bed with me and laid down. I woke to her licking my arm. That's pretty huge for June as she never sleeps with me.

Anyway, a dog working update will follow later, but I wanted to mention this while it was on my mind. Happy Fourth Year Junie.