Reiki Dog

Was it a coincidence that the very same day that I was reading a book chapter about treating dogs with Reiki, was the day when my dog Dubi had indigestion? “If I had Reiki, I could help him!” I thought, and soon after that day, I went to be trained and initiated in the Japanese healing art, and I became a practitioner.

When I read the chapter about Reiki Mastery, I felt my chest open and lift up, as I imagined what it would be like to have this power of touching people and turning them into Reiki healers!

Hands treating dog with Reiki, from the book Bodo J. Baginski and Shalila Sharamon

December 1999: Following a few months of apprenticeship with my teacher Omri Blan, I officially became a Reiki Teaching Master, and went on to teach everyone that I could literally lay my hands on: my dad and my stepmom, my friends, my cousins, my cousin’s wife, my cousin’s wife mother, and of course, my dogs!

By the time I adopted Kinook, my adorable Akita-Chow girl, I was already well established as a Reiki teacher and professional healer, and the first thing I did was to squat near my dog and lay my hands on her. The first thing she did was to say: “No way, woman!” and move three meters away.

Akitas are independent dogs, a bit aloof, like cats, and given my super warm, sensual affectionate way of being, we had a bit of a personality clash – or was it cultural, Japan’s coolness versus the Balcanic / Middle-Eastern fire? If I massaged her, she would stay; if my hands stopped and beamed the heat typical to Reiki hands, she’d move away.

The years have passed, and I managed to attune Kinook to the first two levels of Reiki, using a plush toy for surrogate. I don’t have a way to know what this did for her, because she couldn’t tell me of any sensations that she felt or mental images she saw. I know that distance Reiki attunement works, based on my experience with people. One time I attuned from a distance an anorexic six-year old boy who was on his way out to the hospital: his mom, who was my student, put him in a chair for twenty minutes at our pre-agreed time, while I was in my home, using my teddy bear to represent the child. The boy told his mother of a great heat that he felt during the process; later, at the hospital, his spirits were unusually high, and he ate a great deal of food that he then kept! The doctors released him home.

In the years towards the end of her long life, Kinook had chronic pain, a knee that kept getting in and out of her joint, throwing her structure off balance, as she compensated for that leg; and she had back and hip pain, difficulty sitting down and coming up off the floor. And just like that, one day Kinook accepted my Reiki hands on her; at first her head was up and her ears were perked as if she was listening to the sensations in her body under the warm touch of my hands; then later, towards the end, when she was sixteen, she’d fall asleep under my hands. I did all sorts of things to manage her pain, mostly diet and supplements, but that was not enough. When pain kept her up and panting, I’d put my hands on Kinook’s back, feeling her body’s response to my touch; soon her breathing would slow down, and she’d lie on her side and sleep peacefully.

Reiki was good for her, and when she really needed it, she accepted the treatment. And it was good for me, because nothing is worse than helplessly watching a loved one suffer, feeling unable to help. Instead of helpless I was helpful, and at the wee hours of the night or in weekends, when there was no-one to call for help, Reiki kept saving the day for both of us.