Fascia-nating Journey How releasing Fascia changed my connection with my Dog Hunter
I adopted my dog Hunter, a Shepherd/Pyrenees mix at 3 months old.
Before long he became my running buddy… over time something changed with him, he became dog-reactive to other dogs especially when we were on a run . He also became small prey driven.
We did obedience training first, then we switched to nose work which he excels at.
Upon doing nose work he shifted his behavior a little but after a few drags on the leash he began chasing squirrels, cars etc… I was at my wits end, bruised, banged up and defeated.
I was at the point where I couldn’t take him running anymore.
I would wake up in the morning with a knot in the pit of my stomach and go over our running route in my mind to make sure we would only run the same route at the same time of day. I chose the early morning because I knew what dogs would or wouldn’t be out and he would be safe.
I would put a muzzle on him to run as well just in case he got away from me from pulling he wouldn’t go after and hurt another dog. I would pray to God to let all the squirrels stay in the woods and not let one of them cross our paths. Some days it worked some not so much.
He was also fear-reactive when we would have people over, he was not aggressive to people but he would bark and run away. He would just take himself out of the equation and not go up to anyone.
Upon talking to a friend about what I was going through she recommended Dr Allecia Maine. A unique blend of Master Animal Communicator, Holistic Dog Trainer, and Body Alignment Expert who co-created TheIn Sync Body Assessment and Fascia Release Technique ™
As a fitness trainer and MELT Method Certified Instructor, I knew a lot about how tight fascia affects the human body so I knew it was something I needed to try with Hunter. I had nothing to lose. I was running him in all different tools, a collar, a harness, a collar and harness belly wrapped him and I couldn't get him to relax on the leash…
I wonder why he couldn’t relax but here is my story of his transformation …
On our first session, Allecia went over my breathing first, and I thought I was pretty calm, I mean why wouldn’t I be as I teach this to my own clients.
However, Hunter was putting me in a state of anxiety and I was passing that down the leash to him. If I saw another dog in our field of vision I would start to panic inside, I truly knew this was wrong however I couldn’t figure out how to fix it.
After working on my own breathing technique, switching leash, harness, collar configurations and Allecia releasing tight fascia in Hunter which helped to relax, shift and open his nervous system, things in him started to shift.
He was softer, his breath was more open and relaxed in just one session. We rested him the next day, I just took him on a short little walk and noticed a difference right away.
I had a different dog.
I finally had my dog back in one session. His nervous system started to relax and after a couple of sessions, no more prey or cars were chased. After a couple of more sessions, he started to be less fearful of people, started to go up to people and explore and sniff them. Nowadays he loves people more and more and is not as fearful to allow them in his space.
Upon exploring this and following Allecia’s work I started to become more interested in doing this myself as I was already helping humans and next to humans I love to help animals so why wouldn't I pursue learning this body alignment system.
I started to take classes and earned my certification as an In Sync Body Assessment and Fascia Release Technique ™ Practitioner
Fascia tissue release changed Hunter's life as well as mine.
Over time we were able to get rid of the muzzle. He was less reactive on the leash to other dogs. Was he perfect no, but he was better and more manageable.
Chasing squirrels and cars are a thing of the past. We are able to run different routes with confidence and I wake up in the morning with relaxation and excitement instead of dread in my stomach.
I have seen in person how this work not only helps humans but our animals as well and I can’t wait to share this with you to help you reconnect with your animals to be in communion with each other.
Dolores