Tonight is the Third of July. Even though the big fireworks happen tomorrow night, several towns nearby have their celebrations tonight and I could hear the booms and cracks quite clearly. So could my neighbor's dog. Usually a quiet little dog, he began a high pitched howling shortly after the explosions began. This was a really awful sound of panic and great distress. Very soon another dog joined in and it seemed that they were setting eachother off. They seemed to be getting more and more hysterical and I felt called to do something.Without much thought I began tapping for the dogs. "Even though I'm so scared of the loud sounds, my master loves me and will protect me and I'm safe" "Even though the other dogs are scared too, so it must be something really bad, my master will keep me safe" "Even though these sounds are freaking me out, I'm going to be okay and my master will protect me". I began tapping through the points as if I were the dogs "these loud sounds" "so afraid" "these scary sounds". Within two or three minutes the dogs completely stopped howling and barking. Given that they'd been howling for 15 minutes straight and were only getting worse, I believe it was the tapping that made the change.
Since tomorrow night is the Fourth of July, I may get another chance to practice this surrogate tapping for dogs. If you encounter any freaked out animals, be sure to give it a try!
