Canes Anhang

 

[Ghanshyam Kalathia, Marina Miteva]

Canidae are pack animals, except the solitary fox. They hunt in a pack because they are small and cannot hunt efficiently alone. They have strict social hierarchies.

Within the group there is one dominant position; below it, the animals submit to the animal above and dominate their subordinates. Although there is a lot of competition, challenging and confrontation within the pack, there is also sharing and accepting dominance for the welfare of the pack. They are more adapted for endurance than speed. Cunningness is seen in all the Canidae but in varying degrees.

General themes

Strict social hierarchy

In patients, this is seen as an issue of 'superiority and inferiority'. For example, they perceive a boss or a dominant person to be superior and themselves to be inferior with

a feeling of being looked down on and despised. Conversely, there would be an intense desire to be superior or to maintain one's dominant position by not allowing anyone

to “boss” them. We also see expressions in patients like wanting to achieve higher position, greater rank in an office or organization etc.

Competition and hierarchy are key features in Canidae, while independence and freedom are key in Felidae. Hierarchy is so strong in Canidae that nobody dares to go against the “Alpha”; you have to be submissive and never disobey the leader. Because of this quality, it looks as though they are very loyal but when we examine this in depth, we often find resentment: “Abuse by the master” or “Varying degree of grudges against the dominant one” can be there.

Team work or group effort

A very strong theme in Canidae (wolf). These individuals know that they are incapable of attaining their desired goal all by themselves. In order to achieve their goal, they need a united team: sports such as cricket, football, hockey, relay race would be good examples to understand this theme.

This is a positive quality of the Canidae: they are totally dedicated to the group and they believe in team spirit. It is because of this quality of dedication that wolves, after being domesticated, turn out to be the best pet and human friend. In the team, they are also competitive, so Canidae patients tend to compare themselves with others.

Intelligent and cunningness

In patients, this is seen as an intelligent way of planning and adopting strategies to fulfill a task. Cunningness is also seen in snakes and spiders. In Snake remedies, it will

be expressed as having two facades. What they present on the outside will be completely different from inside; they have two sides, nice on the surface but poison inside.

In Spider remedies, cunningness is seen in the form of feigning, deceit, tricking and trapping others in order to know the weakness of the person and then attack.

Cunningness is there in varying degree among Canidae and is mostly expressed as an opportunistic quality; they find the weakness of the opponent and attack the weak point.

Endurance, not given up easily

Canidae do not have the power or strength of the Felidae but they have endurance. After starting the chase, they do not give up till they hunt the prey down and for that they plan cleverly and distribute work amongst the group. Group effort and endurance makes them the best predator with a low failure rate. In patients, we can observe this quality expressed as: once he decides he does not give up until he achieves his goal. In short, Canidae are tough.

Expression Words: Group, Team, Combined effort, Hierarchy, High rank, Low rank, Top level, Low level, High level, Low class, Superior, Inferior, Boss, Planning, Plotting, Cunning, Deceit, Endurance, Sharing, Submissive, Obedience, Faithful, Loyalty

 

Provings: Swan and Berridge

Lac caninum

Loyalty and submissiveness

The most important and apt word for Lac caninum is 'loyal'. In spite of being harassed and tortured by one’s superior, these individuals bear all the suffering and remain faithful and loyal towards their boss or master. They work hard and fulfill their master's expectations to keep them happy. An example would be of a partner who is able

to take a lot of abuse and yet remain loyal to the spouse. This is the survival mechanism during domestication from wolves to dogs; even wolves need dedication to and acceptance of the ‘Alpha’ in the pack.

Pleasing to be part in the group

It is dependent on its master for food and so it is out to please him. Survival depends upon keeping its master happy by its performance, its affection, etc. It has to perform

or it will not be wanted anymore and its master will kick it out. Lac caninum people try hard to please, to be liked, cared for and accepted because they feel left out and rejected. This pleasing quality can be observed in other Canidae but it is in dogs that we see the highest level of pleasing because they have to suppress their aggressive part

and submit completely to the master. Suppression of emotions (anger or sexual instincts) is most prominent in Lac caninum.

Low self-esteem

People develop a feeling of low self-worth: “I am not good enough.”; “I don’t know anything.”; “Others are better than me.”; “I’m lower than others.”; “I do not have enough confidence.”; “I am not able to do this.”; “I’m not good at this.”. So, superficially, the person looks like Calc. or Mag-c. because of low self-esteem.

Looked down upon; self disgust and self critical

Feeling looked down upon or self-disgust is the consequence of low self-esteem. The self-esteem is so low that they feel dirty or have disgust for themselves. They are embarrassed to sit near you; they feel ashamed and cannot talk comfortably with anybody. They are embarrassed to start a conversation. Even during case taking, we can observe that the person is talking about some part of their body as though it is very dirty or disgusting: “My skin is dirty; my face looks very disgusting with pimples on it.”

Other symptoms

    They can be irritable and ferocious but if someone is more irritable and ferocious, they give up, they submit.

    They suffer because they compare themselves with others.

    Alternating sides

    Sensation of floating or flying in dreams, as well as in vertigo

    Sensitive to smell, to noise

    Sycotic miasm

 

Proving: Constantine Hering

Lyssinum

The nosode made from rabid dog; the raw material for the mother tincture is collected from the saliva of a rabid dog. It contains the rabies virus, Lyssa, meaning rage or madness. The rabies virus lives as a parasite, depending on its host for life. It attacks the central nervous system suddenly and rapidly, causing great rage, biting, and violence.

Themes

Feeling of torture by someone you are dependent on

This remedy resonates with a state where the person feels horribly ridiculed or tormented. Often, there is a history of serious family abuse. Such mistreatment arouses phobic type of behavior, so we see a lot of fears in this remedy. Accordingly, there is a conflict between their dependence and their need to revolt against this constant torment.

The main feeling is of having suffered wrong, being tormented, especially by one whom he has served, been faithful to and is dependent on, thus creating an intense feeling

of anger and rage, in which the person can bite, strike, and even violently mutilate.

Violent anger/ rage leading to craziness

One can imagine that in such a fearful person, there could be a lot of rage, which is a strange mixture of emotions. On the one hand, fearful and the other hand, violent rage;

so in a sense, rage is a defensive mechanism to cope with the threats from outside. They become very angry but the anger is followed by quick repentance or remorse.

Because the rage comes on suddenly and almost impulsively, they are left with an incredible sense of guilt or repentance afterwards. In a way, this guilt is a protection, as they are usually dependent on the person who is abusing them and therefore to continue to lash out would not be in their best interest

Deeply phobic; profound intense fear leading to craziness

We can observe very intense fear in Lyssinum cases. Lyssinum’s fear is ‘fear of insanity’: “Am I going mad?” The intensity of fear is so high that everything goes out of control. Everything is so intense and profound that it can lead to craziness. They have all sorts of fears but prominent fears are:  fear from water, from glittering objects/ mirrors/reflected lights/sun light, fear of dogs, of madness, of all animals, of choking.

Sudden, violent and acute effect or action

Lyssinum people are highly impulsive and during case taking, it is difficult to find out the correct or accurate focus of the case. What we can observe is sudden, violent and acute effect or action. Hectic and rash in talking, which makes it difficult to follow them and we cannot sort out anything except intense sensitivity (morbidly sensitive).

Other symptoms

    <: heat of sun/glistening objects/running water (water in any form)/copper in any form;

    Physical general – CNS irritability; wild look, staring, rolling movement of eyeballs; ropy, viscid, frothy saliva, constant spitting; acute sense of smell and hearing; sneezing from dust or bright light (DD.: Lac-m)

    History of rabies vaccines or animal bite

    Easily choking, difficulty swallowing

    Convulsions, worse from light, from liquids, from trying to swallow, from running water

    Choking at the sound or sight of water

 

Proving: Hans Eberle and Friedrich Ritzer

Excrementum caninum (dog’s excrement)

Themes

Domination and extreme abuse

Domination and abuse is obvious in Canidae but here, the domination and abuse is so intense that they lead to total suppression of oneself. In Lac caninum, domination

is acceptable, they do not complain much about it but here, it is so intense that  the person develops intense hatred towards  the dominant person, as though they are being tortured.

Mind; hatred; mother, of/ persons of)

Mind; domination by others agg/ father by/ mother by/ women suppressed by men

Suppression of anger with hatred

The intensity of the suppressed emotions produces other emotional, mental and physical symptoms: suicidal thoughts, aversion to company, panic attacks with lot of anxiety, low self confidence, arrested mental development, heart palpitations with anxiety, indisposed to talk, aversion to work, compulsive disorder of work, etc.

Mind; anger; family, toward/ parents/ mother/ mother in law

Mind; anger < ailments; suppressed

Low self-esteem with dependency

Similar to Lac caninum, low self-esteem and low self-confidence are associated with dependency and fear of failure. In Lac caninum, the situation is hopeful and acceptable, while in Excrementum caninum, there is intense fear of failure and inadequacy, which leads to complete helplessness

Mind; dependent; children, on / parents, on

Mind; confidence; want of self; failure, he is a/ inadequate, feels/ support, desires

Mind; delusions, failure, he is a

Mind; anticipation; examination, for

Mind; fear; examinations/ failure, of/ undertaking anything

Mind; helplessness; education of children, in / postponing everything to next day

Self-disgust

like Lac caninum, this remedy also has aversion to self and a low self image.

Mind; aversion; oneself, to

 

Co-relation with source

In this remedy, there are dreams/ thoughts of excrements and toilets, in contrast to Lac caninum and Lyssinum.

Mind; dreams; excrements/ dog’s excrements/ toilet; sitting on/ vomiting; excrements

Other symptoms

    Ailments from sexual abuse and rape

    Mind; colors; charmed by; golden/ colors; desires; golden

    Delusion or image that body parts/ arms/ legs are smaller, and shortened

    Dreams lascivious/ seduction/ necked people/ prostitution/ violent sex; Dreams; lascivious, voluptuous; partner, frequent change of/ voluptuous; perverse; girls, about little)

    Dreams of dogs/ cats, felines

    Fastidious; appearance, about; personal

    Music; desires; drums

 

Provings: Melissa Assilem, Nancy Herrick

Lac lupinum

Wolves live together in groups called packs. In the pack, there is one “alpha” position; below that, animals submit to the one above them and dominate their subordinates. There is also a 'beta' position, below the 'alpha', the lowest position is the 'omega'. Each wolf tries to find the  weakness in its competitor's social position so that it can gain dominance over its immediate superior and at the same time does not allow its subordinates to dominate it. It is very important for the pack to continue because wolves are small animals which cannot survive for long singly and need a collective effort of the pack while hunting. They are built for stamina, possessing features ideal for long-distance travel. Usually, they attack the sick, old or the young ones, as they can be easily killed. During hunting, the alpha male coordinates a few members for the initial chase and then, during the latter part of the chase, the rest of the team join to support the chasing group and allow it to rest. By doing this, the wolves have enough reserves for the chase and the prey gets exhausted. This is a very effective hunting technique and probably one of the reasons for their success rate in hunting being better than wild cats.

Themes

Hierarchy; highly sensitive to intrusion and highly conscious of her own space

The issue of hierarchy is pronounced in wolves. There is a lot of competition in wolves to gain dominance over their superior and at the same time not allowing their subordinates to dominate them. This is reflected in Lac lupinum as an issue of 'superiority and inferiority' (Dreams; inferiority, of social). These individuals are concerned about their position in the group/ family/ organization, etc. They are very hard on their inferiors and they like to please their superiors in order to hold onto their own position (Please others, desire to/ Dreams; pleasing superiors, of). They are extremely sensitive to loss of their own space or position, so they make an enormous effort to hold onto their position. They do not give up easily and they ready to fight to the death. They feel the constant threat that their position might be taken away and they might be thrown out,

so they try very hard to have total control over their position. (Delusions, invader, he is / Dreams; intruder, intruders; he is a/ Dreams; intruder, intruders; sees).

Although there is lot of competition, challenging and confrontation within the pack, eventually they reconcile and make friends, accepting the dominance of one over the other, so that the pack can survive. In patients, this is seen in team work or cooperative effort: they work as a unit, with one person heading or coordinating the entire team.

Belonging to group; need to be accepted

Belonging to the group is vital for wolves because the wolf cannot survive alone. On the one hand, they are dependent (Dependent; mercy of others, at) but basically, they are wild animals (Mind; violence, vehemence; desires to watch/ Dreams; violence) so they need total control over their emotions (Anger; suppressed, controlled). Though they struggle very hard to belong to the group, they have the feeling that they are treated as outsiders or they are under the constant threat to be thrown out (Delusions; family; does not belong to her own/ Delusions, imaginations; repudiated, is; relatives, by/ Dreams; alone, he is/ Dreams; bystander, he is a). The difference between Lac caninum and Lac lupinum  is that for the former ‘pleasing’ and ‘need to belong to a group’ is quite hopeful and positive, accepting the  group or master, while for the latter, the dominant feeling is that once they are thrown out, then there is no chance to be included again, so they struggle hard to maintain control over their  position.

Constant sense of danger ; need of protection and safety

Being wild animals, wolves are in constant danger of bigger predators, so they live under a constant threat, for themselves for the family and  for the pack (Delusions; danger, of/ Delusions; die; about to/ Dreams; attacked, of being/ Dreams; danger; death, of/ Dreams; danger; impending/ Dreams; murdered, of being/ Dreams; shooting; shot, of being). Either they need to escape or hide in a safe place and protect their young and others. (Dreams; children; danger, in/ Dreams; child, children; protecting them/ Dreams; hiding; danger, from/ Dreams; danger; escaping from a/ Dreams; protection, about/ Dreams; saving others; trying to save, to help/ Help; others, wants to). The mother wolf fiercely protects her young. 

Acute senses; alert and active

Wolves live in a wild and dangerous world, so they need to keep their eyes on every possible activity around them. They need to be alert, with their senses acute and active (Senses; acute/ Sensitive, oversensitive; noise, to). They need to be in total control of the environment and situation because if they lose control, then they might die at any moment (Anxiety; control over senses is lost, as if). They also need powerful senses and total control of the situation when they are hunting.

Other symptoms

    Over-sensitive to criticism

    Suspicious – sensitive to be betrayal/ deceit

    Fear of acid attacks or attacked by poisonous dangerous liquids

    Sensation as if holes in legs

    Very hardworking, very active + highly effective in working with high responsibility

    Cancer miasm – Nancy Herrick

    Highly sensitive to apples… Dislike

    Claustrophobic; trapped – Patricia Hatherly

    Restless; desires to run – Patricia Hatherly

    Fire is a major theme,  there may be fear of fire

    Affinity for the colors  red and black – Patricia Hatherly

 

No proving is available; this understanding is from natural history.

Canis latrans

The coyote is smaller than the grey wolf. The ancestors of the coyote diverged from those of the grey wolf. Its social organization is highly flexible, living either in nuclear families or in loosely knit packs of unrelated individuals. The coyote has been described as "the most vocal of North American wild mammals"; the name Canis latrans means “barking dog”.  Coyotes are very elusive and secretive animals. The basic social unit of a coyote pack is a nuclear family centered around a reproductive female. Unlike the wolf, which has been known to practice both monogamous and bigamous mating, the coyote is strictly monogamous, even in areas with high coyote densities and abundant food. The male plays an active role in feeding, grooming, and guarding the pups and even hunts for the females during pregnancy. However, unrelated coyotes may join forces for companionship, or to bring down prey too large to attack singly. Such nonfamily packs are only temporary, and may consist of bachelor males, non-reproductive females and sub-adult young. A coyote captures small prey by pouncing upon it with its paws, but usually kills larger prey by rushing at it from the front and slashing its throat, killing it with the canine teeth.

Themes

Adjustable, flexible, adaptable

The coyote is a highly adaptable and versatile carnivore. It can change its diet, breeding habits, and social behavior, and can survive in a changing environment. This quality

is expressed in patients as ‘flexible and able to adjust to any situation’; this is how they succeed in life.

Another reason for the coyote’s flexibility is that it is not a specialized hunter of large prey as the wolf is; they do not have the need to create the strength which comes from the group, so they stay united either in a nuclear family or they remain single. In Lac lupinum, they need aggression and control to protect their own space because they have

a strict hierarchy, while in Canis latrans, they are flexible and have less need to fiercely protect their own space from intruders.

Less aggressive than wolves

Coyote pups are born in dens or hollows and the coyote generally does not defend its territory outside the denning season.

Clever, trickster

The coyote is a prominent character in Native American folklore as Trickster. In humans, it is expressed as intelligent or as having the capacity to turn any situation in your favor. They have the intellectual capacity to take advantage of any adverse condition.

 

No proving is available; this understanding is from natural history.

Canis mesomelas

Jackals are more scavengers than predators. They live in packs. The basic unit of a pack is a mated pair that functions as a leader. This monogamous pair group defends its territory from other pairs by vigorously chasing intruding rivals. The pack is so oriented towards the lead of the parent-pair that if one of the parents dies, the pack itself may not survive. They have cooperative hunting and scavenging. Hunting in pairs or family groups increases their chances of a successful killing. They have a good ability to adapt to changing environment. They are clever and cunning, especially in the manner of obtaining food. The male and female display a high degree of synchronized activity and call each other when separated. They sometimes howl together, demonstrating to others the bond between them. Helpers play an important role in protecting and rearing the pups.

Themes

Loyal and faithful to the partner; ultimate bond

Jackals mate for life; they are loyal to each other and they have good synchronicity between each other. This quality is expressed in humans as strong bonding between partners. They trust each other more than themselves. They like to work together and need to do everything with the help of each other. There is no dependency or submissiveness but rather companionship and team work.

Dependent on partner; cannot survive without partner

Male and female mate for life and their bond is so strong that they are interdependent and if one partner dies, it becomes difficult for the other to manage. In humans, this quality is expressed as a deep depression after the death of a partner. I remember a colleague’s case where he successfully prescribed this remedy to a woman who became deeply depressed after the death of her husband.  

 

Sanguis vulpes

Proving by Nuala Eising

Foxes are intelligent creatures, as well as being cunning and clever; they hunt alone. They have a good climbing ability; they can attack unsuspecting prey by hanging from tree branches. They are swift and agile runners, and use many cunning hunting techniques, such as stealth and stalking. These animals have considerable endurance; they can run at a speed of up to 48 km per hour. All foxes seem to be monogamous and both parents care for the young. Their life span is about twelve years.

Themesfox

Cunning, deceitful and tricky

Foxes are the most deceitful among the Canidae. They are clever and intelligent; they carry out their work by attractive tricks. On the other hand, they have a fear that someone will steal their possessions by deceit or trickery. Expressions from the proving: “I don't trust anyone.”; “I keep thinking people will steal things from me.”;

“I realize how much I hide from myself, the truth, from lies.”

Solitary, loner, independent

Foxes are the only solitary Canidae; they like to stay on their own. This quality is expressed in humans by a dislike for domination and extreme sensitiveness to external disturbances. They do not like anybody controlling their lives. They like to live life freely and independently, they wish to make their own decisions. If anybody tries to

control them, then they become irritable or angry and try to escape from this situation. Their experience is of being controlled, “trapped and suffocated”.

Company; Aversion to; Sight of people, avoids the/ Company; Aversion to; Alone, when, amel/ Anger; Controlled, being/ Controlling; Control of his environment, need to be in, at all times/ Delusions; Control, people are attempting to control her / Freedom; Desire for; Authority, with total aversion to).

Felidae remedies are also independent and do not like domination but they have an air of command and extreme responsibility, with a show of power and strength. For foxes, independence means escaping from the control of others and wanting to live life according to their own wishes.

Constant alert and watchful

“All my senses seem more acute.”; “I am sleeping very lightly and wake with the slightest sound.”; “I felt really threatened by people sitting behind me and I had to keep an eye on them.”; “I chose to sit close to the door.” These expressions from the proving show the extreme alertness and hyper vigilance of foxes, because they have this fear of being pursued and attacked. They are always ready to escape and very suspicious of being deceived and being trapped. Foxes are the smallest of the wild Canidae and as are solitary; they do not have the strength of the group to fight back, so they need this hyper vigilance. They do not have any defense except running away or escaping away from confrontation and danger.

Alert; hyper vigilant, sleep, even during/ Sensitive noise, to; slightest noise, to the

Trapped; need to escape and hide

Foxes have the feeling of being pursued and being attacked, so they need to stay alert; their main defense is to escape and run away.

Escape; run away, to; hide, and, as she feels threatened/ Fear; behind him; when someone is/ Fear; danger, of impending; escape, with desire to/ Escape, attempts to/ Hiding himself; fear, on account of / Hiding himself; running away, and).

They do not trust anybody and are sensitive to being deceived and being trapped; they have a fear of narrow places

Fear; narrow place, in a

Other symptoms

    Sexual thoughts and fantasies

    Attracted/ Sensitive to the colour red

    Fastidious for CLEANING and ORDER

    Anger, impatience and irritability

    Get very nervous if any sharp metal is pointing in my direction.

    Dreams of robbery is very strong in proving

    Darkness; Desire for

    Wandering; Desire to wander

 

No proving available

Pulmo vulpes (fox’s lung tissue)

The uses of tissues and organs as remedies have thrown light on many curiosities of ancient medicine. As the fox is probably the longest-winded of all animals, the doctrine

of signatures pointed to his lungs as a likely remedy for shortness of breath.

Other symptoms

    Pulm-v. has persistent shortness of breath, causing a attack of asthma on the slightest motion. Strong, sonorous bubbling rales.

    FEAR: puppets hairy, of in children – Mangialavori

    RESPIRATION: ASTHMATIC: exertion, after – Mangialavori

    RESPIRATION: DIFFICULT: exertion, after – Mangialavori

 

 

[Elaine Lewis]

Are we killing our dogs just to keep a handful of lucrative businesses afloat?

Homeopath Elaine Lewis gets to the bottom of this with author and animal activist, Catherine O’Driscoll.

The lack of intelligent compassion, not to mention common sense, means we spend billions of dollars every year on profitable new drugs and vaccines when this same money, spent on ensuring that every person on earth has clean water and safe disposal of sewage, would have a far greater impact in terms of benefit to health.

The Tip Of The Needle, p. 9

Remember in May I wrote an article called, “Everything You Know About Pet Care Is Wrong”? First of all, that was very unexpected for me, because I had never written

about pet care before: But then, in the true spirit of synchronicity, Alan, our editor-in-chief, called and said, “Do you want to interview the author of “The Tip Of The Needle”, a book about veterinary vaccines?” and I thought, “This is amazing, I just wrote about that!”   So I said, “Yes, send me the book!!!!”

And here we are now with the book’s author, Catherine O’Driscoll!

 

Catherine, welcome to hpathy.com! We appreciate your willingness to answer our many questions about pet vaccines, pet food and pet care. I’m sure there are a lot of pet owners out there who want to steer clear of anything that could possibly harm their pets!

C. O’Driscoll: Hugs, and big thanks for your lovely energy and all your lovely questions, Elaine!

 

Let’s start with this one, because this quote from your book really stood out for me. You said on page-33: “I don’t think dog owners appreciate what’s in store for them

when they get their first dog. We get a puppy or an older rescue dog, and pretty soon, many of us are dealing with sickness and pain and vets and horrendous vet bills.”

(P.S., you could probably say the same about children–unfortunately!) I wonder if you would care to enlarge on that?

C. O’Driscoll The fantasy of dog ownership is perhaps different for different people. You’ve made me really think. What is it we want when we invite a dog into our lives?

I heard an interesting statistic some time ago; it said that the average length of dog ownership in America is five years.

 

OMG! (= Oh My God!)

C. O’Driscoll And I wonder what’s behind that? Does the dog die within five years, or get abandoned or shuffled off to another home? What are the stories behind that short number of years?

 

I know! It’s a startling statistic! It suggests that dog owners have bitten off more than they can chew. Either dogs get very sick (which should make us all look long and

hard at what we’re doing for them) or as dog parents, we’re really falling short and have a lot to learn; probably a little bit of both. But I tried to address both these areas

in “Everything You Know About Pet Care Is Wrong!” And believe it or not -and I don’t think anyone has taken my advice so far- if people would just get 2 puppies instead of one, a lot of bad puppy behavior–like chewing up the house–and bad consequences, could be eliminated!

Dogs are PACK ANIMALS, they are not meant to be alone; and in the wild, they are never alone! A dog alone either has to become neurotic, or make the human he’s living with into a fellow-dog, which means biting (that’s how dogs play) and otherwise making a pest out of himself. This often results in the dog being tied up in the back yard or put outside permanently. The dog barks non-stop, the neighbors complain, and finally the owners get rid of him–probably within the first year. But 2 dogs together entertain each other, they play hide and seek, keep each other busy, chase each other, and stay out of trouble. So, it bears repeating: buy two puppies, preferably litter mates, and your house will be filled with fun instead of anger, disappointment and frustration.

 

What influenced your decision to adopt a dog?

C. O’Driscoll: Hugs, I guess, for me, I was always looking for someone to love. I have never seen animals as ‘its’. They’ve always been people to me. Look into their eyes, and there’s a soul inside. So I guess many of us are looking for connection with another living being. Someone who we love and who loves us back. Someone we can have adventures with, go walking with; someone we can put our arms around and watch the sunset with.

But dogs live for a very short time. The average lifespan for a dog is 10 to 13 years. So if you have a dog, you are going to meet grief. And some die very suddenly, or you find yourself watching them suffer with skin problems, or they lose the use of their legs, or have digestive issues – or more serious conditions like cancer, autoimmunity or neurological problems. Sooner or later, if you have a dog, you have to watch them suffer.

When Oliver died, he was only four years old. And that rocked my world. In fact, I have another book out which was published a couple of weeks after “Tip of the Needle”.

It is called “The REAL Epidemic”, and it looks at the inflammatory diseases which are, in my opinion, literally the real epidemic in the modern dog.

 

Catherine, don’t look now, but, The Real Epidemic is reviewed in this very issue of Homeopathy For Everyone, click below:

C. O’Driscoll: Talk about coincidences and synchronicity… Many thanks to hpathy.com for this! So, as I was just saying, everyone seems to be concerned with preventing viral disease, but the price seems to be introducing chronic disease into our dogs. Most of this inflammation is man-made.

 

 

Yes, I know; I did an interview with Dr. Richard Moskowitz, the author of “Vaccines: A Reappraisal”, and he said exactly the same thing, that in our quest to rid the world of viral diseases -as if that were even possible!- we’ve reaped chronic disease in exchange:

 

 “…a considerable volume of research has documented [that] adults who acquired the measles, mumps, chicken pox and influenza naturally in childhood, rather than being vaccinated…[are the beneficiaries of] a significantly lower incidence of asthma, allergies, seizures and a variety of autoimmune disorders…later in life.” — “Vaccines: A Reappraisal”, p. 12.

 

C. O’Driscoll: I cannot imagine that our farming ancestors would have kept dogs if they needed propping up as the modern dog does. In fact, when my dogs started dying around me, I noticed that my neighbours who -compared to me- seemed to neglect their dogs, rarely visited the vet. Mine were at the vets every two weeks for one problem or another.

 

Yes, exactly; much as children are constantly at the pediatrician’s! Asthma, eczema, ear infections….

C. O’Driscoll: The neighbours’ ‘neglected’ dogs seemed so much healthier.

Vaccines are at the top of the list in terms of triggering inflammatory conditions. This includes allergies, auto-immune diseases, cancer, and neurological conditions.

 

Do you want to know what the cancer rate is among dogs? Hold on to your hat! 1 in 10? No. 1 in 5? No… 1 in 3??? No! It’s 1 in 1.65, according to the docu-series,

“The Truth About Pet Cancer”!

C. O’Driscoll: Most of the illnesses walking into a veterinary practice on four legs are, in my opinion, vaccine-induced. In fact, in 1996 and 1997, my organisation

-Canine Health Concern- conducted a survey to test the experience in practice of homeopathic vet, Christopher Day. His observations caused him to conclude that 80%

of all illnesses start within three months of a vaccine event.

 

Wow! You know, again, I’m drawn back to my interview with Dr. Richard Moskowitz

…who talked about the so-called vaccine “safety trials”. The trial supervisors never took into account illnesses that were reported after 14 days of the shot! And here, Christopher Day is saying that even 3 months later, you can still be impacted by your vaccination!

 

 “Limiting the observation period to three widely separated periods of 14 days each already casts serious doubt on the results, because a primary antibody response to an antigen encountered for the first time requires at least 14 days; and in my experience, it can easily take longer than that, weeks or even months, for serious chronic conditions to develop and manifest. The obvious and inevitable result, if not the intent, of limiting the study period to 14 days after each dose, is thus to exclude almost all chronic diseases from consideration….”

 Vaccines: A Reappraisal, p. 31

 

C. O’Driscoll: We tested Christopher Day’s observation by sending out questionnaires and had a very high response of around 3,800 completed questionnaires. We were able to conclude that a very high percentage of all illnesses in dogs start within three months of a vaccine event. We were even able to narrow it down to many specific illnesses. Frankly, we were incredulous at the results. The biggest finding confirmed that neurological and behavioural problems are mostly vaccine-induced.

 

Wow!

 

C. O’Driscoll: Other conditions such as cancer, allergies, skin problems, autoimmune diseases, and so on, can, with a very high level of statistical certainty, be related to vaccine adverse effects.

 

What a disaster! So, yes, modern day pet ownership: many trips to the vet, many hundreds of dollars spent on skin diseases like eczema, allergies…my friend’s dog has seizures, another friend’s dog is mean and vicious… which brings me to perhaps the most stunning quote of all from your book; in fact, if a Nobel Prize could be given for the category, “OMG, I Can’t Believe You Just Said That!”, this one from your book would surely win the award. Here it is. Strap yourselves in!

 

“Lyn Thompson, a vet … had telephoned me a few years previously to offer her help. She also felt that vaccine damage in animals was more common than the reports suggested and had tried to persuade her veterinary boss to drop the annual vaccination, even lending him my book. One day she telephoned me, brimming with excitement! Her boss hadn’t read my book but he had read one of my letters in Veterinary Times, complete with the references I provided. He was shaken, having finally looked at a small selection of the science and told her that they would stop vaccinating annually…. Two weeks later, however, Lyn phoned again. Her boss had been thinking, and told her that apart from losing booster income, the practice would also lose patients if there was no vaccine damage to treat. He told her to shut her mouth and refrain from enlightening clients on the vaccine issue.”

 The Tip Of The Needle, p. 205 [emphasis mine–EL]

 

Holy cow!!!!! Let’s take a minute to just let that quietly sink in. Did he really just say… “Excuse me!!!!! Helloooooo!!!! But, what kind of business are we running here with no vaccine damage??? Huh???? Did you think about that? Is anybody paying attention here besides me? Now keep your mouth shut, and don’t say anything!!!!” (I may have added a few words, I’m not sure.)

 

You know, if that was a movie plot, no one would find it credible. But there it is, folks! It’s what I’ve been saying all along, it’s in all my articles; it’s all about the money; THE MONEY! It’s all about the money and it ain’t about nothin’ else…not science, not helping sick people… As a matter of fact, Catherine devotes quite a bit of her book to shining a bright light on the “people” who are at the helm of the Good Ship Big Pharma, and here’s what they think about doctors who won’t “play along”…won’t “keep their mouths shut”, as it is said:

 

 

According to CBS News, May 2009, … Merck [Pharmaceuticals] made a ‘hit list’ of doctors who criticized a discredited drug called Vioxx. … The list, emailed between Merck employees, contained doctors’ names with the label “neutralise”, “neutralised” or “discredit” next to them.

“The Tip Of The Needle”, p. 148

 

 Whoa! You do know that “neutralise” means “kill”, right? Would you buy “medicine” from these people? I wouldn’t–and I don’t! They make vaccines too, you know.

C. O’Driscoll: Another vet wrote to me to say that her daughter is vaccine damaged, compensated for by her government, and confirming that it was vaccine damage. The child just sits rocking backwards and forwards, screaming all day.

 

I believe that! This is a real scandal that people are sweeping under the rug. Do you know that autism is actually being “normalized” in the media now?

 

C. O’Driscoll: The vet’s husband couldn’t take it and walked away…

 

Again, not surprised, heard it all before.

 

C. O’Driscoll: …and the lady whose daughter is vaccine injured can no longer work as a normal vet because, as she says, she now knows what vaccines can do. She tells me she’s tried talking to her veterinary colleagues about the damage vaccines cause but they refuse to change. Some even say they know, but she won’t stop them.

 

Vicious.

C. O’Driscoll: Other vets are fooled by their education. Academic establishments take money from corporations – for research, or bursaries, or building projects, or even free vaccines and pet food – and then the corporations dictate the curriculum. They even influence research findings or at least pay academics who are amenable to control to conduct the research. Vets are required to obtain points to show that they’ve continued with their education once in practice, but there’s no quality control. A sales jolly over a lavish dinner hosted by a vaccine or drug company is considered worthy of further education points. One vet told me he’d been on three skiing holidays with Intervet, but it didn’t influence his buying decisions at all!

 

Yes, I’m sure, not at all! Why would receiving lavish gifts influence anybody?

C. O’Driscoll: I must also say that I have met a great deal of arrogance from people who believe themselves to be superior to ordinary humans because they’ve been to college. They demand scientific proof and then they don’t look at it, or they ignore it, or they say the research is ‘badly conducted’.

 

“Flawed”. You can’t win.

C. O’Driscoll: They willfully see what they want to see. And yet there is copious, irrefutable, research to confirm that vaccines can cause cancer, leukaemia, brain damage, autoimmunity and allergies: the modern epidemic.

 

For sure!

C. O’Driscoll: But always in the background lurks the veterinary vaccine industry, handing out money to professional bodies, vets in practice, and student vets. So even the professional bodies turn a blind eye where vaccines are concerned, and the major animal charities all have their hands out, so they can’t be relied upon to speak the truth either. It’s all a seething cesspit of corruption.

 

All we can do is try to reach as many pet-owners as possible. Fortunately, there’s social media, where, for example, this very article can be posted! (Hint-hint!)

I know your book is primarily about vaccines, how your dogs suffered and died from them, how you don’t vaccinate anymore, how corrupt the veterinary industry is, how Pharma is in the thick of it, pulling the strings in education, research and vet practice, etc.; but, I wonder if you would be amenable to answering a few questions about pet food. I know you’re a raw food advocate, and that a lot of what’s wrong with dogs would disappear if they were on their natural diet. I’ve read in your book that chicken wings have caused a bit of stomach upset in dogs, and yet you seem to be very high on chicken wings! Can you clarify this discrepancy; and is there anything else you can tell us about the average daily menu for dogs? Are turkey wings OK? What about lamb shanks? The fat on raw meat–does it have to be cut off? Can I buy a sirloin steak and give it to a dog? Does it have to be cut up first? What vegetables should the dog have with his raw meat meal? How many times a day should a dog have a raw meal? Sorry for all the fussy questions!

Also, worms. A lot of vet-visits have to do with round worms. You can actually see the worms in the dog’s stool. Are you OK with worm medicine or do you give herbs for that or does the raw diet mitigate against the incidence of worms and heart worms as well?

C. O’Driscoll: Many dogs are becoming allergic to life. I believe this to be largely vaccine damage, an allergic response set up by vaccines, but it’s also associated with environmental chemicals -like glyphosate-

which destroy the gut microbiome. Many vaccines are cultivated on animal proteins, like eggs, dog, cat and monkey brains and kidneys, hamsters, even aborted human embryos. Adjuvants include monosodium glutamate (MSG) which is a neurotoxin and excitotoxin; peanut oils (hence the rise in peanut allergies), and even wheat oils, hence the rise in wheat allergies.

The words, ‘vaccine’ and ‘sensitivity’ could be regarded as synonymous. Vaccines sensitise. A study in the ’80s by Frick and Brooks showed that if you vaccinate a dog and then expose him to an allergen, he is highly likely to develop atopic dermatitis and conjunctivitis, which is how canine allergies are chiefly manifested. But if you expose him to the allergen before he’s vaccinated, then he won’t develop an allergy. Logically, you might conclude that whatever a dog is exposed to shortly after being vaccinated could become the substance he’s allergic to: petrol fumes in the car on the way home from the vet; the chicken he’s given for dinner; the grass cuttings he smells on the way home; the pollen in the air, and so on.

 

That is so interesting…

C. O’Driscoll: So now we’re finding that many dogs have food intolerances and chicken is a major one…

 

Oh, I see…

C. O’Driscoll: …maybe because they use eggs in vaccine manufacture, or maybe because chickens are so intensively farmed. I teach muscle testing in my workshops and we go through all the proteins, vegetables, grains and so on to ascertain what each dog can tolerate. My eight-year-old Golden Retriever, Freddie, came with inherited thyroid disease which I had him tested for after discovering that he had food sensitivities. Give him chicken and his ears will start to itch and his head even became swollen after eating it.

 

I hope you keep Apis in your house for things like that. Or even Histaminum 30C.

C. O’Driscoll: He’s also intolerant to beef.

It’s different for every dog, though. Whilst chicken and pork can be quite allergenic, they’re not for every sensitive dog. It’s all very individual. Some dogs do well on dark meats, others on the lighter meats. All meats for the non-sensitive dog are fine: rabbit, turkey, lamb, beef, chicken, kangaroo, and so on.

As for fat, it depends on the dog whether you cut excess fat off or not. If the dog is prone to pancreatitis, for example, you wouldn’t want to be giving him tripe, which is very fatty, though great for the average dog and full of natural probiotics, but not for one with pancreas issues.

You can certainly buy a sirloin steak for your dog – lucky you if you can afford it!

 

I use that as an example, in that it’s not clear to a lot of people what you mean when you say, “Feed your dog raw meat.”

C. O’Driscoll: I hear that Queen Elizabeth treats her Corgis to steak once a week. But don’t cook it, and don’t cut it up. Raw meaty bones and big chunks of meat act as Nature’s toothbrush!

 

Oh! That’s a very good point!

C. O’Driscoll: A whole oxtail or a cow’s trachea are the ultimate in terms of cleaning the teeth (although you wouldn’t give a toy dog a whole oxtail, of course).

 

Naturellement!

C. O’Driscoll: Give according to the size of the dog and if he’s fat, give less.

You can also tell a lot about a dog’s state of health and particular health issues by seeing which herbs and supplements he’s asking for when you muscle test.

 

Maybe people need to see Diane’s and my article, “Homeopathy and Muscle Testing”:

 

C. O’Driscoll: A dog with an inflammatory condition -an allergy or autoimmunity or even a neurological problem, for example- will ask for all the anti-inflammatory supplements such as vitamin C and zinc, and often CBD oil.

 

The average daily menu for a raw-fed dog can differ depending upon the viewpoints of the person telling you! Some raw feeders feed only raw meat, organ meat, and bones. They contend that dogs don’t need the other food groups. I personally veer towards the diet put forward by Dr Ian Billinghurst in his book, Give Your Dog a Bone.

 

_________________________________

Dr. Billinghurst was talking about processed pet food vs. raw, meaty bones for dogs. He was saying how healthy dogs were if they were given the food that had kept the species alive for millions of years. As I read it, a lightbulb went on in my head. Prudence was overweight, but she was always hungry. I realized from this article that I had been slowly starving my dogs to death with processed pet food.

“The Tip Of The Needle”, p. 40

_________________________________

 

C. O’Driscoll: His diet is mainly raw meaty bones, meat and organ meat, but he adds vegetables and fruits which you whizz up in a kitchen processor to mimic the content of the prey’s stomach. You can also give raw fish, eggs and table scraps so long as your own food is healthy and natural. You would avoid onions for dogs but garlic in the right quantity is great.

 

I know, especially as it repels fleas and other pests.

C. O’Driscoll: I feed my dogs twice a day. They get raw meaty bones in the morning, and meat and whizzed up vegetables in the evening. It’s easier to add supplements to the evening meal. As a general rule, most dogs benefit from vitamin C and an essential fatty acid such as flax/linseed or hemp oil. You’d then add other supplements to treat any particular health issues. This is detailed in my book, “The REAL Epidemic”.

As for worms, it’s very unusual to find worms in a raw-fed dog.

 

I had a feeling that might be the case.

C. O’Driscoll: Pet food generally turns into a gloopy mush in the dog’s gut and it takes many more hours for the dog to try to digest it since it’s biologically inappropriate.

 

Yes, that can’t be stressed enough!

C. O’Driscoll: This gives worms a lot to thrive on as it hangs around in the gut for hours. Raw food, on the other hand, is generally metabolised within four hours. Most of it is easily used up by the body, so the faeces are smaller, and worms have little to thrive on. I don’t worm my dogs as a matter of course. If I suspected worms, I’d do a worm count, where you send some faeces off to be put under the microscope, or your vet can do this for you. If worms were found I’d treat herbally (a herbal product called Verm-X is an option). Worm medicine from the vet is always a possibility if all else fails.

 

And finally, Catherine, do you have a list of mistakes that new pet owners are making?

When you break it all down, there are a small number of things that cause disease. These are:

     Genes

     Diet

     Over-vaccination

     Environmental toxins

     Veterinary drugs

     Viruses and bacteria

     Stress

 

Genes are what a person comes in with (and dogs are people too).

 

Of course!

C. O’Driscoll: It’s hard to change what you’re given at birth, but we now know that genes load the gun, but the environment pulls the trigger.

 

Well-said.

C. O’Driscoll: In other words, genetic predispositions are unlikely to be expressed unless environmental conditions put the pieces of the jigsaw in place.

 

Well-said again!

C. O’Driscoll: Diet is crucial to health. Absolutely central. So the pet food industry has a lot to answer for.

 

I’ll say they do!

C. O’Driscoll: Processed pet food is nothing much more than industrial waste.

 

Let’s just let that sink in for a moment………. Industrial waaaaaaaaaste………. OK! Do continue!

C. O’Driscoll: It’s the leftovers of the human food chain – the stuff that can’t go into human food because it’s rancid or a ‘by-product’: the lips, hide, spleen, hooves, etc., of animals, or the husks and off-cuts of plant matter.

 

Charming! I’m sure no one knows this!

C. O’Driscoll: Cook this industrial waste at high temperatures to kill off the moulds and toxins and then extrude it (remove the liquid to make kibble), and you kill off any nutrients, or the water-soluble vitamins go down the drain.

 

Cheers.

C. O’Driscoll: Then add chemicals so it looks right to the human eye, and other chemicals so it can sit on supermarket shelves…

 

…indefinitely…

C. O’Driscoll: and chemicals like monosodium glutamate (a neurotoxin) so that disgusting muck seems palatable … and you end up with chronically malnourished,

poisoned dogs.

 

Mamma mia!

C. O’Driscoll: The solution is to revert back to Nature and what Grandma used to do: feed dogs REAL food. Meat, bones, table scraps … Check out the raw feeding movement. We’re finding that our naturally fed dogs are living long and vibrantly healthy lives.

Vaccination is the main subject of Tip of the Needle; there is a great deal to say about its tragic effects. But what I will say here is that if you vaccinate anyone who is malnourished, then the immune system is already at a disadvantage. You need nutrients to feed the immune system. If they’re not there, then the person being vaccinated is going to have a hard time dealing with the vaccine challenge. I’ll mention stress in a little more detail later, but I will say here that you should NEVER vaccinate anyone who’s under stress. A six or eight-week old puppy in a new home, removed from her litter, is -believe me- going through a lot of stress.

 

Again, yet another reason why you should adopt the litter mate as well!

C. O’Driscoll: Not a great time to vaccinate. The emotions and the immune system mirror one-another, and vaccines need a healthy immune system to withstand the vaccine challenge.

I don’t believe in telling anyone what they must do, but I will say that I haven’t vaccinated my dogs for over 25 years. Not at all – not even puppy shots. The rewards are long-lived, healthy dogs who rarely need to see a vet, and an absence of trauma and heartbreak.

 

Environmental toxins are a big problem in the modern world we’ve created. It’s hard for dog owners to keep their dogs away from farm chemicals. Glyphosate, for example, is in all of us.

 

Glyphosate is the herbicide in the popular weed-killer, Round-Up.

C. O’Driscoll: It’s now an accepted carcinogen, and it’s a major disruptor of the microbiome. We’re now beginning to realise how important gut health is. Leaky gut, and gut dysbiosis is, we’re discovering, a major contributor to a wide range of illnesses. And of course dogs are down there on four legs…

 

Sniffing the grass…

C. O’Driscoll: …finding it hard to avoid chemicals like glyphosate. One recent study concluded that dogs have 5,000 times more glyphosate in them than humans!

 

Good lord! But it makes sense when you think about it.

C. O’Driscoll: Then there are the chemicals we’re advised to deliberately put onto and into our dogs. By February this year, there had been thousands of adverse event reports logged by the European Medicines Control Agency in respect of flea control products for dogs. Bravecto had caused 7,098 serious (reported) side-effects and 1,696 deaths. Nexgard gave rise to 11,275 acknowledged serious side-effects and 698 deaths. Simparica was acknowledged by the MCA to have caused 834 reported side-effects of a serious nature, and 118 deaths. So I’d advise new pet owners to avoid these chemicals at all costs. Instead, attend to husbandry. Feed well. A well-nourished dog is infinitely less likely to attract parasites.

 

If you check out “Everything You Know About Pet Care Is Wrong”, you will see that I go into detail regarding the safe alternatives to commercial flea control.

C. O’Driscoll: And then we come onto veterinary drugs. Basically, they’re all toxic – just as all human drugs are toxic. Side-effects are part of the conventional system. In fact, the conventional system is not denying side-effects as a possible sequel to drug use; they’re just interested in how many people have those side-effects. It’s a numbers game: Russian Roulette. Give your dogs NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatories), steroids, antibiotics and vaccines, and then you have to give even more of them to treat the conditions caused by these drugs and biologics in the first place. It’s a truly vicious circle.

So as advice to new pet owners, I’d say avoid conventional drugs and vaccines as much as you can. If you feed real food and avoid vaccines, then you’re unlikely to need them, anyway. Use homeopathy, herbs and natural foods to build health from within instead.

With regards to viruses and bacteria, then – again – real food is the way to build a dog who is more likely to withstand these natural pathogens. There are also herbs and nosodes to use prophylactically. But we are looking for homeostasis: balance. You don’t want the puppy’s environment to be too sterile. Like human babies, they need to be exposed to a certain level of natural germs so they can build their immune systems. Allow them to play on the grass; don’t be over-zealous about hygiene. I personally would be looking for a puppy from a mother who’s been raised in a barn alongside cattle and exposed to lots of healthy immune-supporting microbes. That’s the best way to get yourself a puppy who doesn’t suffer from allergies and autoimmunity.

And finally, stress. This is a biggie in the modern world. So my advice is to be gentle with your dogs. Treat them kindly. Don’t shout at them or hit them. Handle them gently. Introduce them to the world in a calm and measured way. Understand that their greatest desire is to please you; teach them how to be in this world, don’t expect them to know unless you tell them. Love them: give them your attention to aid them in their growth.

You also need to be mindful of your own stress because dogs, like children, are totally attuned to you energetically. If you’re stressed, they’re going to be stressed. Look after yourself. Treat yourself kindly. And despite all I’ve said above, don’t worry too much. Trust life to be good.

 

Thank you, Catherine, this is a good positive note to end on! Listen everybody, to order Catherine’s book, click below and scroll down to the big red button!

https://www.catherineodriscoll.com/tip-of-the-needle.html

It will make a great holiday gift for anyone who has a dog!

Bye, Catherine, and thank you again!

 

ZEIT ONLINE

[Ulrike Meyer-Timpe]

hörte von einer Bekannten, dass der Arzt ihr einen Hund gegen ihre Depressionen "verschrieben" habe. Das gab den Anstoß, den Fähigkeiten der Tiere als medizinische Assistenten nachzugehen.

Hunde sind prädestiniert für solche Dienstleistungen. Als sich ihre Ahnen vor 15.000 Jahren den Steinzeitmenschen anschlossen, brachten sie bereits wichtige Voraussetzungen für die Zusammenarbeit mit. Die Rudeltiere waren soziale Wesen, die miteinander kooperierten und Hierarchien anerkannten. "Diese günstigen Eigenschaften wurden durch die Haustierzucht noch verstärkt", sagt der Verhaltensbiologe Udo Gansloßer von der Universität Greifswald. Dass sie besonders gern mit Menschen zusammenarbeiten, ist längst genetisch verankert.

Das hat die Zoologin Dorit Feddersen-Petersen von der Universität Kiel in einer Studie beschrieben. Darin verglich sie ein Wolfsrudel mit einer Gruppe Straßenhunde, die nicht an Menschen gewöhnt waren. Die Pfleger sollten sich so wenig wie möglich mit ihnen abgeben und nicht auf sie eingehen. Dennoch wurden die Artgenossen für die Hunde uninteressant, sobald sich ein Mensch näherte: Sie suchten – ganz anders als die Wölfe – sofort Kontakt zu dem Fremden. "Ein Leben mit wenig Nähe zu Menschen ist für Hunde schwer erträglich", sagt die Wissenschaftlerin. Sie brauchten diese Bindung.

Das ließ sich auch biochemisch nachweisen. Schon die Stimme des Menschen sorgt dafür, dass beim Hund Oxytocin ausgeschüttet wird. Umgekehrt bewirkt der Hund, dass das Beziehungshormon, das etwa die Bindung von Mutter und Kind oder Liebespaaren fördert, auch beim Menschen aktiviert wird. Denn das Tier fordert Körperkontakt ein. Das fühlt sich für beide Seiten gut an, weil es jeweils die Hormonausschüttung bewirkt und so die Verbindung stärkt. Zudem wird die Produktion des Glückshormons Serotonin angeregt, das die Psyche des Menschen stabilisieren hilft. "Leo ist nicht nur mein Assistent, sondern auch ein Freund für meine Seele", sagt Regina Bosse.

Allein die Anwesenheit eines Hundes bewirkt, dass signifikant weniger vom Stresshormon Cortisol ausgeschüttet wird. Der Blutdruck sinkt, der Mensch entspannt sich. Wenn ein Hund etwa am Schulunterricht teilnimmt, steigt die Konzentration der Schüler. Das haben US-Studien gezeigt.

 

ZEIT ONLINE

Umwelt

Das unterschätzte Tier Wolliges Multitalent mit Trendfaktor

Sein Image ist ziemlich eingestaubt. Doch der Pudel kann mehr als nur bei Oma auf dem Schoß sitzen: Er hat viele Talente – und eine glamouröse Vergangenheit.

Das verstaubte Oma-Image gebührt dem Pudel schon lang nicht mehr. So wird er erfolgreich als Blinden- und Katastrophenhund eingesetzt.

Marie Antoinette, Grace Kelly und Maria Callas hatten einen, wie auch Ludwig van Beethoven, Arthur Schopenhauer und Heinrich Heine. Die Rede ist vom Pudel, oder französisch-elegant: aniche.

Das ist lange her. Mittlerweile begegnet uns der Pudel zumeist entweder an der Rollhundeleine der betagten Großtante oder flippig eingefärbt auf den Präsentiertischen fragwürdiger Hundeshows. Wer heute einen süßen Schoßhund will, greift zum beleibten Mops, handlichen Chihuahua oder neuerdings auch wieder zum traditionellen Dackel – auf das Comeback des Pudels jedoch wartet man vergeblich. Höchste Zeit also, um hinter die hübsch frisierten Pompons zu blicken, auf den eigentlichen Kern des Pudels.

Als Herkunftsland des Pudels (Caniche) gilt seit 1945 offiziell Frankreich. Etymologisch ist die Bezeichnung Caniche auf das französische Wort cane (Ente) zurückzuführen, da der Pudel ursprünglich für die Wasserjagd gezüchtet wurde.

In dieser Zeit entwickelten die Jäger auch seine spezifische Schur: Damit er im Wasser schnell vorwärts kam, wurde des Pudels Fell an Bauch, Lenden und den hinteren Schenkeln geschoren. Der Rest blieb dicht und schützte so Gelenke und Organe vor dem kalten Wasser.

Auch der noch heute geläufige Ausdruck des "begossenen Pudels" entstammt dieser Zeit. Der apportierfreudige Jagdhund von damals ist zum treuen, ausgeglichenen und überdurchschnittlich intelligenten Gesellschaftshund geworden.

Im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert, seiner ersten Glanzzeit, war der Pudel dem Adel ein hochgeschätzter Begleiter. Die gepuderte Gesellschaft war geradezu entzückt von dem wolligen Vierbeiner, sodass vor allem die Damen nur noch ungern von ihrem vorzugsweise weißen Gefährten lassen wollten. Damit dieser entsprechend bequem auf Frauchens Schoß Platz nehmen konnte, mussten schnell kleinere Varianten des recht stattlichen Königspudels her. So wurde die Art des Kleinpudels und bald auch die des Zwergpudels ins Leben gezüchtet.

Bald war klar, dass der treue Vierbeiner mehr sollte, als nur adrett gefönt und parfümiert auf dem adeligen Schoß zu thronen: Den Pudel zog es auf die Bühne. Im Rampenlicht des Zirkus vollführte er Kunststückchen und ließ die Kassen klingeln.

Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts war vorerst Schluss mit dem schillernden Pudel-Leben. In den fünfziger und sechziger Jahren dann, seiner zweiten Glanzzeit, erlangte er wieder weltweit außerordentliche Popularität. Geschätzt für sein ausgeglichenes Gemüt und den puschligen Look wurde er schnell zum Modehund Nummer eins. Da der Pudel nicht haart, ist er darauf angewiesen, dass Frauchen ihn regelmäßig bürstet und ihm außerdem alle sechs bis acht Wochen eine Schur verpasst. Diese ursprünglich praktische Gesinnung wandelte sich jedoch in eine teils bizarre Form der Hundepflege: Wie es dem Besitzer eben gefiel, wurde, und wird bis heute, der Pudel mit Mustern, Farben und Hochfrisuren "verschönert".

Vom Haarspray benebelt scheinen wir jedoch vergessen zu haben, dass der Pudel immer noch zu den intelligentesten Hunderassen überhaupt gehört. Gerade den Groß- und den Königspudel sollte man nicht unterschätzen: Als Katastrophen- und Blindenhund wird er heute erfolgreich eingesetzt. Als Vollblutathlet geht er gerne schwimmen oder joggen. Geschicklichkeitsübungen absolviert er mit Bravour. Der Kleinpudel beispielsweise diente sogar als Trüffelhund, da er den unterirdisch wachsenden Edelpilz verlässlich erschnüffeln konnte.

Es wird also Zeit, dem Pudel einmal mehr den Staub aus dem Fell zu schütteln.

 

 

Vorwort/Suchen                Zeichen/Abkürzungen                                    Impressum