This article is available in Spanish. Go to the Spanish translation.
I was doing an EFT presentation for a group of about 30 people. A man at the end of the front row had brought along a beautiful yellow lab. The dog was nearly full-grown yet obviously still a puppy, and he was having a very hard time sitting still. The man had to continually calm the dog who clearly wanted to get up and interact with people. The poor dog kept changing positions and straining in one direction and then the other, looking very unhappy.
Part of the way through my presentation, I made a friendly comment to the dog's owner. He then told us all, "Ziggy is in training to be a seeing-eye dog. I have to bring him to events like this sometimes so he can learn to obey and sit still. He would love to go and meet everybody but he's got to learn to control his urges when he's on harness."
I took a chance and suggested to the group, "Let's tap for Ziggy! You never know. Maybe it will help." Some people thought it was a joke, but I guided us all to tap together:
Even though Ziggy is restless and having a hard time, he's a good boy and we send him love.
Even though Ziggy wants to meet us all, he can calm down… we want him to know that we all love him… he's a really good boy.
Even though it's hard for Ziggy to sit still, we're proud of him…he's learning... we love him and he's a good boy.
We tapped the points with words like "restless…. having a hard time…. but we love Ziggy… he's a good boy"
Lo and behold, before we had finished that one round of tapping, Ziggy had stretched out and gone to sleep! He slept quietly through the rest of my EFT presentation. There were some incredulous expressions around the room, but no one could doubt that the surrogate EFT for Ziggy had really made a difference.
I think people who tap for animals would agree that animals are amazingly open. They receive the benefits of the tapping so easily. Simply tapping on ourselves and voicing what we think the animal may be feeling can often have remarkable results. It is wonderful to have such a gentle way to help relieve stress and restore calm, good feelings for our animal friends.
love,
Betty
Betty Moore-Hafter, www.CreativeEFT.com, is an EFT International Accredited Certified EFT Master Trainer of Trainers and Advanced Practitioner offering EFT Level 1-2 and Level 3 Trainings several times a year. She also offers a special EFT mentoring and support program for EFT International EFT certification at www.EmotionalFreedomMastery.com. Betty offers EFT sessions by phone and by Skype, as well as in person at her Burlington, Vermont office. You can find out more on both websites and pick up free gifts on each site.
From the EFTfree Archives, which are now a part of EFT International .
Originally published on February 16, 2010.
Betty says
Hi Virginia, I wonder if you could “be” your dog and tap for how frustrated he must have felt when he licked and licked his belly and it still was hurting inside. Is his medication supposed to be helping with possible pain? You could also tap and talk to him, “Even though I’m so sorry that I didn’t understand that you were in pain… I love you and I’m sending you healing… I really want to help you feel better.” I think animals have almost a psychic connection and will pick up the energy of our communication, especially if we do it while tapping (on ourselves). Just a few thoughts!
Virginia says
I especially appreciate the article on Ziggy. I have tapped for my dog with questionable success. Maybe I am just making it harder than it really is, or maybe it took a while for the results to manifest. He was obsessively licking his belly for several weeks. The vet took x-rays and found a partially fused spine (likely arthritic). He says that dogs perceive pain in very different ways than humans and that belly- licking could truly be an expression of his pain. A trial of medication produced no noticeable improvement. It is now several months later and the behavior is about 85% improved. Perhaps my tapping results would have been better if I had gotten my own distress out of the way first. Now I know. Other than the arthritis medication for four days at the beginning and my amateur attempts at tapping, he has received no other treatment.
Anita Germain says
I loved this story. My dog Louie has a hard time every July 4th, so I will use this technique with him! Thanks.