SURF DOG RICOCHET - PAWS-ON HEALING
For even more insight on Ricochet's healing abilities, visit her Sedona Page where several healers share their thoughts about her.
There is no question that dogs make a difference in the lives of others. And there is no question about the healing power of dogs. Ricochet is just an ordinary dog. But she has been blessed with an extraordinary and powerful ability to intuitively and empathically identify and alert to the emotional and physical changes of the individuals she interacts with. This ability allows for remarkable paws-on healing interventions. Ricochet is a registered therapy dog with Therapy Dogs Inc, a certified goal directed therapy dog with Paws'itive Teams and she has a Therapy Dog title with the AKC.
And, although surfing has been at the forefront of Ricochet's work, it’s not the act of surfing that makes her interactions so life changing. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty magical to watch her instinctively adapt her surfing style based on each individual's disability. And there have been some tremendous life-altering experiences in the ocean. But, it's her powerful gift of intuition that allows her to make such deep heart-to-heart connections. The more she connects with people, the stronger her gift becomes.
I call it intuition, but I'm not really sure what it is. Maybe it's her sense of smell and she's able to distinguish a change in a person's cortisol level (a hormone released by the adrenal glands when a person experiences stress, anger, anxiety, fear, etc). Maybe it's some psychic ability. Or maybe it's some other mystery that scientists haven't discovered yet. All I know, is that it's profound and I didn't teach her to do what she does, I just nurtured it.
Dr Clare Cunningham, led a study that show's a dog's ability to understand humans is innate and isn't dependent on training. She said "As they get to know particular humans, they pay more attention to them and this may mean they can read and even predict human behaviour with more efficiency as familiarity grows."
Most dogs are capable of picking up cues from their family members due to the strong human-animal bond. But Ricochet is able to instantly bond with strangers, often alerting to their emotional or physical changes. She is able to detect and alert to their feelings of anxiety, stress, pain or other emotions. She often takes on their emotions, and I notice it manifesting by her body language. I typically know how a person is feeling based on her behavior.
Ricochet is like a mirror to the people with whom she interacts, reflecting back their feelings with a sense of confidence. As such, she can help people go inward to find a place of peace while, at the same time, moving outward through their greatest fears. The behavior she uses the most is stopping and planting... not moving forward with whoever is handling her. She uses planting as a way to communicate a person’s physical or emotional distress.
While Ricochet has always been able to make deep connections with many different types of people, the two segments of the population she's the most sensitive to are military with PTSD and children with autism. The thing with these two populations is that clinicians typically try to get them to function in our world. But a veteran with PTSD may never be able to go back to the same person they were prior to combat. And a child with autism may never see the world the same as someone without autism. Ricochet has no expectation for them to come into our world... instead, she goes into theirs.
Most kids with autism and military with PTSD have triggers that result in anxiety. Because Ricochet is able to alert to their stress, she is able to prevent panic attacks, melt downs and other anxiety provoking behavior. This allows for the opportunity to intervene and assess the individual and environment before their anxiety escalates. Ricochet can understand their situation and needs while providing them with support, even if they aren't aware. Often when I ask the individual if they're feeling a certain way, they will say yes. But, if they say no, I still trust what Ricochet is communicating.
Because of Ricochet's intuitive healing, we are involved in canine research to help educate others on just how powerful dogs are. Ricochet was invited to The Duke University Canine Cognition Center (DCCC) to be filmed by Dr. Brian Hare. The segments aired on Nat Geo Wild's Barkfest on May 15, 2015. Check out the videos below. Dr. Hare explains the science behind what Ricochet does!
~ Judy
Ricochet is also slated to be one of five dogs featured in an IMAX film on the super power of dogs. This 2-3 year project will give us the opportunity to push the limits and help educate others about the extraordinary healing abilities of dogs. It is our hope that the information gained during this project will shed more light on the influence dogs have on the physical and emotional well-being of humans.
I believe all dogs are intuitive. All animals are unique and show their gifts differently. Unfortunately, we often mis-interpret their subtle, or not so subtle cues as bad behavior. In doing so, we miss the magic every dog is capable of. We can get the most our of our relationships with animals by viewing them as equals and gifted spiritual beings. Being open and allowing them to teach us lessons will help guide us on the path to our true purpose.
Dogs are always communicating with us... we just have to listen. It is our mission to help people understand the awareness and consciousness of animals.
Reiki Practitioner
In May of 2015, Ricochet went to Sedona, Arizona. There, she received a Reiki attunement... an initiation to universal life energy. As a result, she is now an official level II Reiki practitioner. The word Reiki is made of two Japanese words - Rei, which means "God's Wisdom or the Higher Power" and Ki, which is "life force energy". So, Reiki is actually spiritually guided life force energy for healing and self-improvement. She uses this energy to heal those in need. People can be helped without even having to be in her presence.
Distance healing/Reiki Sessionsssions
At least once a month, Ricochet holds distance Reiki sharing sessions. This gives people around the world the opportunity to ask for healing. Each person's name is put into a special bowl that is placed among other healing items. Ricochet then sends out her healing energy to all who need it.
Until we went to Sedona, I hadn't realized that Ricochet had the power to heal people from a distance. I always thought the energy of her
viral SURFice dog video is what brought people to tears. But now I'm thinking it's because she has the power to heal from from anywhere. We are eager to see if she's able to help people find inner peace through these healing sessions.
Empath
As validated by the healers in Sedona, Ricochet is an empath. She can feel the pain of others. She feels their physical discomfort, emotional discomfort, fears and imbalance. Her senses are hyper-activated and it's multi-dimensional. Other dogs have this ability too. But, Ricochet's is amplified because it has been nurtured and allowed to develop. The more she does it, the more powerful it gets.
When she is in busy environments, she can feel the crowds, the noise, the lights. She takes in so much. She hears people, feels their pain, their anxiety, their fears. Although she mirrors these feelings in her behavior, she doesn't take it on as her own. She knows how to release it.
Ocean healing
The ocean helps us restore our physical, mental and emotional well-being. It's a very healing place. You often hear about therapeutic salt baths. For Ricochet, she is able to cleanse all the negative energy that she takes on while she's in the ocean. Who knows, maybe that is why she chose surfing as one of her main healing modalities. Here is how one mother described an encounter her son had with Ricochet (name changed for privacy)
I cannot thank you enough for the experience at "Best Day" that my son had. He still talks about "surfing with the cutest Doggie"! He refused to surf with anyone else that day but had a life changing experience with Ricochet!
Joey is an adorable 8 year old that was born with a heart defect called hypo plastic right ventricle. Before age 3 1/2- had 3 open heart surgeries and many of which he had several life and death moments. Joey also has a very rare chromosomal disorder called 3q29 micro deletion syndrome. Due to the chromosomal problems he also has autism.
Joey’s PTSD has actually revealed itself throughout his whole life but has increasingly shown itself in the last year. Joey has a severe fear of dying and it is a paralyzing fear.
When Joey met Ricochet- it was remarkable- he forgot about his fear of dying and literally jumped on Ricochet's surf board without EVER being on one in his whole life! When he was finished- I was weeping tears of joy! I truly believe Joey and Ricochet found one another that day!Thank you so much for all that you do!
Paws on healing
Ricochet is able to heal others just through her presence and energy. She's able to transform their blockages, painful memories and physical ailments. She can dissolve their pain and trauma. She releases their fear.
Ricochet can read a person’s whole history in moments. She can read the trauma. She sees the original trauma or traumas in full technicolor. She feels it. She sees all of it, knows all of it.
pSychic Surf Dog
In Sylvia Browne's book, Insight, she depicts animals as being..."God's most perfect creations." According to her, they are..."Angels living among us." Furthermore, she believes that animals..."are the most naturally gifted psychics on earth" and possess, "uncanny intuitive survival and communication skills..."
I've given examples of Ricochet's psychic abilities below under "Clairvoyant Canine". There are some things that she's done that just can't be explained any other way. I believe animals possess innate psychic abilities. I believe they are sensitive to many things we are not.
Whether fact or fiction, I'd like to believe that our dogs have a canine sixth sense!
Ricochet's "Clairvoyant Canine" Examples
Ricochet was working with a marine who we’d just met. After about an hour, we went outside for a bathroom break for the dogs. We were walking across the parking lot, and Ricochet planted twice. As always, I looked around to see what Ricochet might be alerting to. But the only thing I saw was other participants and volunteers. So I just let it go.
But once we were back inside, the marine had a light bulb moment and realized Ricochet had stopped because there was a black truck parked in the direction we were headed. Black trucks are triggers for him. This time she was alerting before the service member even knew what was happening.
Ricochet was working with a Marine at Walmart. As I expected, she did quite a bit of planting because her Marine just got out of the hospital after several days of testing for seizures. But, she was different today. At one point the Marine saw a little girl looking at Ric, so she asked her if she'd like to pet her. The girl was excited to do so, but uncharacteristically, Ricochet did not pay attention to the little girl. She was focused on her Marine.
Then, we were in an aisle that didn't really have many people, and Ricochet stopped. She wouldn't start moving again, and even when her Marine asked her to show her where to go, Ricochet wouldn't move. The Marine asked Ricochet if she wanted her to sit down, so she did so in the corner of the aisle. Ricochet's face looked different too. Like not relaxed, and more confused or something.
Then, she laid down with her head on the floor and just laid there. About a minute later, her Marine had a partial seizure. Ricochet has never worked with anyone (that I know of) who has seizures, so I think she was confused as to what she was feeling, but knew that the Marine needed to sit down and stop walking. This was the first time she's alerted to a seizure, and she apparently started to recognize it when we encountered the little girl. It was a span of about 7 minutes from that time until the seizure. Dogs are always communicating with us... we just have to listen!
One day Ricochet was working with a marine on an agility course. The marine was having a lot of pain in her neck and back from an auto accident earlier that week. Ricochet kept stopping in her tracks during the exercise. I figured she was alerting to the marine's pain.
But, a few days later, the marine contacted me and said she just got back from the doctor and found out she hadactually fractured her spine the day of the accident. Ricochet—somehow knew that the marine shouldn't have been partaking in those physical activities.
Another time she was introduced to a service member right before they went into a Lowes home improvement store. They had been in the store for about 10 minutes. Ricochet stopped several times to alert, but nothing out of the ordinary. Then, at one point, the service member stopped to look at something. When he turned to start walking again, Ricochet wouldn't budge. No matter what we tried to do, she wasn't moving.
She then laid down, which she had never done before. As soon as she did that, I turned to the service member and asked "Are you done?" He let out a big sigh and said he was sweating so bad. I told him we didn't have to stay in the store and as soon as I said that, Ricochet got up, and we all walked out. The service member wouldn't have told me he was done on his own, but Ricochet knew.
Do you believe in fate? Soul mates? Miracles? Divine Intervention? Well, if you read Ricochet's book, you know I do! on Friday, October 10th, she surfed with two boys named Jacob. They are both 19 years old, both have the same heart condition, and both need a life saving heart transplant. Ricochet brought these two critically ill "cosmic cousins" together to surf with her as one perfect heart.
The waves were very small that day, but after the first one, Ricochet didn't want to go back in the water. She did her planting behavior, and I wasn't sure why. At first I thought maybe she was bored with the small waves. But then I realized she knew just how sick the one Jacob was, and in her protective way was trying to tell us he shouldn't be surfing.
Sometimes Ricochet's intuition scares me. Not in a bad sense, but just the power of it all. Last night she was outside and I was watching tv. She came in and was wanting me to follow her outside. She does this thing where she takes a step backwards, and then she starts walking, looking back at me several times to make sure I'm following her. She knows the cue "show me" so I said that, and she led me outside. When I got there, nothing was there.
But, she went and stood by the fence looking at our neighbors patio, and then looking back at me. I could tell from her behavior that she was wanting me to get the neighbor. So, I called Robin on the phone & asked if everything was ok over there. She came outside and I told her what Ricochet was doing. Their mom (grandma to my dogs) had complications from eye surgery and has been in bed all week. So I immediately asked about her. Robin said she and her brother were just talking about their concerns since they are worried about her eyesight. Apparently Ricochet felt their concerns and needed to check on them because as Robin and I spoke, she began chewing on a stick. Mission accomplished. This time, she wasn't even in the presence of the person she was alerting to.
An experience with West, an 8 year old boy with autism best epitomizes her communication and energy exchange, and its ability to transform. West was terrified of boating so his mom asked if Ricochet might be able to help. As soon as we walked out the back door toward the boat, Ricochet stopped and planted herself, and I could tell by her body language that she was mirroring West’s fears and anxiety. I coaxed West to take one step at a time as he held Ricochet's leash. After many times of taking one step forward and five steps back, he finally got into the boat. West continued to be anxious, but after a while, Ricochet’s presence calmed West down.
Then West lay back against Lauren’s chest and closed his eyes. He asked us all to be quiet so he could sleep. For many kids with autism, excessive noise makes for too much stimulation, and sometimes it’s overwhelming when too many people are talking at once. By quieting our voices, West could feel the sense of calm emanating from Ricochet. I think West knew on a subconscious level that he needed to concentrate on feeling Ricochet’s energy.
As we all sat quietly, it was like a switch had flipped in West. Lauren’s dad unexpectedly untied the ropes of the boat from the dock, and West didn’t flinch. Fortunately, the boat is electric, so Lauren’s dad turned it on quietly, and again, no response from West. He just lay against Lauren. Normally even putting the key in the ignition would cause West to become frantic, triggering a full-blown meltdown. Before we knew it, we were pulling away from the dock. Some kind of incredible communication was happening between Ricochet and West on a heart level. With grins on our faces, we all remained quiet and shared looks of amazement with one another
Within a few minutes, West was so at ease that he opened his eyes, got off of Lauren’s lap, and actually drove the boat with a huge smile on his face, as Ricochet sat by his side at the helm. As he steered the boat back, he became our tour director: “Ladies and gentleman, on your right you’ll see a paddle boarder . . .” With Ricochet’s calming energy, West’s experience of boating had
completely changed from terrorizing to tame.
For several weeks in April, each night when we went to bed to watch tv, Ricochet would stand next to the bed, staring at me. She was relentless in her staring, and I even held a pillow in front of my face, but the staring continued. At first, I thought she had to go outside, so I let her out. But, she stayed outside longer than it should have taken to toilet. It was dark, so I couldn't see what she was doing. But, it was like she just wanted to be out of the house. When I'd call her back in, she would continue to stare at me.
I knew she was trying to tell me something, but I just couldn't figure out what. Finally, I figured it out. Rina was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor on her colon and needed to have it removed right away. Ricochet was alerting me to the tumor before we even knew there was a problem. Once Rina came home after the surgery, Ricochet sniffed her a bit, and then went and laid down. She realized the tumor was gone, and she was no longer staring at me.
Because Ricochet is an empath, and she can feel the pain and emotions of others, she took on Rina's tumor. After it was removed, Ricochet had a bout of colitis (inflammation of the colon). She too, was releasing the negative energy of the tumor that she had taken on during Rina's illness.
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