I've Fallen....and I CAN Get Up!

When I took over the morning walks with Izzy again, I resumed the training I was doing with her on our walks before I had to take a break. She has always been a "reactive" dog so as we walk past a bike rider or jogger I have been giving her commands so she knows how I expect her to behave. She is doing an awesome job. It is rare that she lunges at a bike rider anymore and when we walk past the homes of our neighbors with dogs that also go a little crazy, she quietly looks at me and returns to my side. Even when the kids walk her in the afternoon they have noticed the improvement in her leashed walking.

Yesterday we had a setback. We were out early when we saw a little white yappy dog approaching us. (These are Izzy's least favorite kind of dogs.) I quickly went to the opposite side of the street as I always do with any dog that Izzy is not familiar. I also let her know what I expected of her, which up to this point has been working out great. But yesterday, it was just too much for Izzy and once the dog started barking and lunging at her, she just couldn't control herself and started right back at the dog. I remained calm as the dogs continued barking and lunging at each other expecting that the guy across the street would have a better chance of moving his little dog along than I would my border collie. But no, he didn't seem to be in a big hurry and Izzy continued to get more agitated and stronger. For the second time since she became our family dog, I found myself flipped over on the ground. My first thought of course was "this is so embarrassing. Did anyone else see me? " and my second thought was "wow, I am so glad this happened when I am capable of getting up from the ground by myself." It would have been really embarrassing to have to wait for a neighbor to come help me up or give my kids an emergency call to come help me up. Falling on a walk or being pulled down to the ground in this case, and not being able to get back up has been a fear of mine for a long time. But, my fears didn't come true (this time anyhow) and I not only got back up, but also was able to keep hold of my crazy dog!


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I emailed a good friend the other day and shared with her that I have been having some pain returning. It is strange how each joint has its own type of pain. Most of the pain has been in my fingers, toes and left knee. As a student of naturopathy she right away asked what I have been doing differently. I couldn't think of a thing. Then on Monday night I took Sophia to see our family physician for a diagnosis and texted my friend for natural substitutes to his recommendations. (Our family physician is awesome. He is aware of this game I play. Go to him for the diagnosis and then treat it naturally). She recommended a supplement that I have been taking for pain. I admitted that I haven't been taking it the last few weeks because I ran out and thought maybe I didn't need it anymore. She said, "That could be the problem." I am not sure if it is, but I did restock my supplements yesterday and hope that they do the trick.