In the Winter 2009 (Number 63) issue of The Main Central Jin Shin Jyutsu Newsletter, Gail Okray tells us a sad story about a beautiful Malamute in her article An Urgent Request:

“As student of Jin Shin Jyutsu, we all at one time or another have received an urgent request to give a session.

This time, the request was for a large, furry, athletic Malamute. This beautiful dog’s role was to serve as the lead dog in a dog sled team. The lead dog sets the pace of the team and follows the musher’s commands. The rest of the team just follows the lead dog’s tail. This team was destined to run in the Iditarod, which is like the Olympics of sled racing. The race is from Anchorage, in south central Alaska, to Nome on the western Bering Sea coast. Each team consists of 12 to 16 dogs and their musher, and they cover over 1150 miles in 10 to 17 days. Competing in the Iditarod was his owner’s life-long dream. Her life’s work was finally coming to fruition.

As the Malamute lay on the grooming table his story unfolded… The owner/musher was in Colorado, and while training in the mountains, the dog hurt his pastern (metatarsus) and a hematoma developed. The veterinarian treating the dog suggested rest and compresses to reduce the inflammation. After some time a new approach was taken, and I received a phone call to see what kind of help I could offer.

After treatment I offered homework to the owner, and a return session was booked in 2 days. The dog never returned. When I talked to the owner and asked about the dog, she said that she couldn’t find the time to give home treatment or come back and decided to have surgery on his leg. The dog was not able to compete in the sled race.

This reminded me of what Mary said in Self-Help Book 1, page 9, and item number 8: “It is the daily application of the simple sequences that will accomplish results as well as develop patience. The knowing the sequences but not applying them will not accomplish results.”

To be continued…