Unhurried International

29/07/2025

Shelby was adopted from an animal shelter earlier this year. Her new human was told that Shelby had a problem with men. The extent of that issue became clear at the fortnightly dinners when Shelby's new human's two adult sons come visiting with their families. Shelby would bark at the two men incessantly. You can imagine what that was like for everyone. 😫

When Shelby's human phoned the animal shelter she had adopted her from she was advised to have her sons calmly sitting on the floor offering Shelby treats.

That did not work. Shelby was not interested in any food, her level of arousal simply too high to be able to focus on anything else but her extreme alarm. 🫨😵‍💫😨 When a nervous system is in such a state of fight/flight, eating or playing are not accessible.

After several months of stressful, barky family dinners, Shelby's human contacted me for help. We fit in our first 2 sessions before the next family gathering.

This is the feedback I received afterwards:

"Shelby did very well Friday night with my family. She barked at first but I kept her on the lead and she settled, stopped barking and seemed relaxed even though she did not lay down.
She reacted a little if either of my sons stood up, not barking but just wary. After dinner we were all in the lounge watching a movie and she got up on the couch between my daughter in law and myself and went to sleep. It seemed an excellent new start." ✨

The family was impressed and relieved. 🤗

Well done, Shelby! 🥰❤⭐️

01/07/2025

When Boston's human first contacted me she described him looking like a messy black scribble. Then she sent a photo and I saw that he is the spitting image of Hairy Maclary - protagonist of many children's books by Lynley Dodd. 🤗😊

Boston's human was looking for help with his seemingly unpredictable behaviour towards other dogs, pulling on the lead and familiarizing him with a crate.

Much has changed over our three sessions via Zoom. As a beautiful bonus Boston now loves to sit on his human's knee. What's so special about that?

Well ... during our first session his human confessed that it irked her that Boston would often hop on visitors' knees for a cuddle but never on hers. She felt a bit confused and a little hurt by that. It all makes sense to her now! Animals and humans are able to perceive each other's inner state. Boston's human has a very busy mind - the opposite of restful.

With the aid of the Trust Technique she has learned to be calmer, more quiet inside her head. So much so that Boston now loves to sit on her knee! 💖

It's heartening to witness my clients discovering new depths in their relationship with their animal. Of course, improving and solving the problems is great but they usually take way so much more. ⭐

Now look at the two images below and how much they look alike - Boston and Hairy Maclary - even down to their cheeky eyes! 😁

13/06/2025

Your dog, your protector?

Family members? Guardians? Can they be both? I interviewed an expert to find the answer.

Was personal or home security a criterion when choosing your dog? – A little while ago, a poll I did here on FB revealed that most chose their canine family member for companionship. Although some appreciate the added bonus of their pooch’s barking to announce visitors or their appearance working as a natural deterrent.

However, over the years I've been contacted by people looking for help with their out-of-control young dog that they got as a puppy from a working dog line with the purpose of protecting the family. Usually such a dog has already bitten someone and is unmanageable to walk.

Such situations always deeply affect me, sometimes even disturb me. The ignorance, the good intentions, the lack of understanding, the belief in false myths ... they all add up to a dog becoming a hazard ... a dog on the line of losing their life.

In my new blog article I explore this topic with Eki Arifovic who has trained and handled attack as well as detection dogs worldwide. He's been in active war zones. Worked for military police, police and other security departments and private organisations. He's a certified dog trainer and has extensive knowledge on dog behaviour.

It's a fascinating and informative read I recommend for anyone who loves dogs.

https://unhurried.com.au/your-dog-your-protector/

Enjoy, share and leave your thoughts as a comment!

09/06/2025

Many of us have experienced an older family member or friend (or perhaps ourselves!) dubiously eyeing a couch and declining to sit on it because they know they would be struggling – or failing – to get up from it again. Adjusting the physical features of a home to meet the changing abilities and needs of a senior is part of the standard age care provided for humans. What about our golden oldie canine (or feline) family members? 🐶🐱

Set up your Senior Dog to Thrive is the title of my new blog article. 🥰

Read it here: https://unhurried.com.au/set-up-your-senior-dog-to-thrive/

And share it! 🙏

31/05/2025

Happy Sunday and Happy first day of Winter from Marvel & Henry's alter egos - Wednesday & Pugsley! ❄😛💙

30/05/2025

The topic of end-of-life experiences (ELEs) in animals is an emerging area of research that aims to investigate and understand the behaviours and phenomena observed in domesticated animals during their final moments of life.

Renowned biologist Rupert Sheldrake, PhD, together with several other scientists have conducted research into the similarities of ELEs between animals and humans as well as After Death Communications parallels between the two.

I feel equal measures excited and grateful for these studies and their findings. I hope that they reach and touch many people who are afraid of dying and death, perhaps turning their fears into curiosity and awe.

For me as an Animal Hospice Care educator and guide this research provides another excellent resource for my clients.

You can watch Rupert Sheldrake in this YouTube video below presenting some findings of one of the studies.

For more in-depth info visit Rupert Sheldrake’s website where you can read pdfs of this research including many case studies.
https://sheldrake.org/research/end-of-life-experiences

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2TbJ5YYXx8

Join Rupert's Substack Here: https://rupertsheldrake.substack.comIn the remarkable phenomenon of “terminal lucidity”, people who have suffered from dementia ...

14/05/2025

Joining households with one very reactive and one selectively reactive dog is a tall order. I have posted about Kaiba and Jett before. Many small and patient steps have lead to now being able to be walked together without being muzzled. And being able to share space in a calm environment. Being able to each play with their own toy while in each other's presence. 🤗

A gold medal and a thousand gold stars to their humans whose continuous effort in supporting their dogs is paying off. ⭐🏅⭐ And that's a reward beyond any medal or gold star! 🙏

This certainly hasn't been a straight journey from A to B. Time, money, creativity, flexibility, persistence and resilience have been expended. But what a return on investment! 🐶💛🐶

10/05/2025

Love and Gratitude. Last week two clients said goodbye to one of their animals. I’ve posted about Doyly’s sudden death from colic. There was also Linda the cat who died at 17 from a condition she’s had for a few years.

It was interesting that both humans - Doyly’s and Linda’s - said to me afterwards that the most helpful thing I shared with them as their animal’s life came to an end was to keep returning their attention to Love and Gratitude. It’s what was the most helpful to me on my own first hospice care journey 5 years ago too.

Why? When we’re confronted with the dying process of a loved one A LOT is coming up for us. Feelings of regret, heartbreak, guilt are common. All unprocessed previous loss is being unearthed inside us. All these big feelings and painful thoughts can create a lot of drama. And we can stay stuck in that drama. Inviting ourselves to connect with the love we feel for our animal and gratitude for the live shared is like a circuit breaker. We can breathe a little lighter when we realise what a blessing it has been, our time together. ❤

Redirecting our attention to Love and Gratitude is not about pretending we don’t feel and think what we are feeling and thinking. It’s an invitation to allow grace and peace during a very tender time. It softens our hearts which might be contracting and recoiling from pain. It’s also perhaps the single most useful thing we can offer to our animals at that time. We give them space instead of crowding them when we don’t make it all about ourselves. It frees them to tend to themselves instead of worrying about us.

Again, this is not about pretending. Animals see right through that.

Writing this post is hard because it seems to be one of these things that are hard to explain and that you only understand when you are in that situation and doing it. So, perhaps, rather than attempting to help you understand why having Love and Gratitude be your Pole Star when your animal is dying, I just need to put the idea out there for you to tuck away for now and remember it when the time has come for you and your animal to try it out yourself. 🙏



Photo by Ludemeula Fernandes via Unsplash

07/05/2025

Life always just hangs by a thread. We really become aware of that in cases of unexpected sudden death.

❤ Vale, Doyly. 🌈🐎

Yesterday a colic brought him to the ground and all efforts to help him up failed.

When I answered the phone I just heard sobbing. Shock, disbelief and panic in her voice trying to figure out what to do.

What do I do, she cried.
Breathe, I said.

She did. Then questions tumbled out of her. The vet, other people had given their thoughts. I offered some of my thoughts.

It felt all out of her hands in the end. She would have liked to go a bit slower but the overwhelm took over, barred access to the courage to express her needs. To ask for more pain relief for Doyly to bridge the gap to her readiness.

Today she is wrapping herself in kindness and gentleness, allowing herself to feel what she feels. Which is a lot. Trying to understand it all is just confusing. Returning to allowing it all brings peace and comfort. Such a tender and vulnerable place. ❤

I asked if I could do a post about Doyly's death. She said it would be an honour because she didn't feel like sharing with anyone yet, not wanting to be exposed to people's reactions - the ones that project their own pain, only see a tragedy, offer some empty platitudes.

We talked about the enormous gratitude she feels towards Doyly whose presence in her life changed and enriched her deeply. We talked about the enormous gratitude Doyly feels towards her who was likely the first and only human in his life that cared about his opinions and his pace. What a love story this was ... and continues to be. ✨💛✨

If you comment - which I warmly invite you to do - please do so from your own vulnerability, from your awe of life, honestly and authenically. 🙏

01/05/2025

Who's feeling proud as punch? 🐶 Miss Juno is! And her human! And I! 😁

In our session today we worked on Juno's reactivity towards other dogs while going for a walk. Fine-tuning her humans behaviour and actions helped Juno to better keep her cool. Well done and a ⭐ for both of them.

27/04/2025

Client testimonial 📣

"I contacted Mia to help me with my horse Rocky as I felt frustrated about our relationship. Mia refreshed and refined my understanding of the Trust Technique and helped me to cut through the stories my thinking mind had created. I learned to simply enjoy the bond I share with my horse again which was a beautiful feeling.

I appreciated Mia's direct, clear and honest communication.

Wonderful things happened after our sessions. More missing puzzle pieces appeared out of nowhere and I am very hopeful that Rocky and I have the support we need to further improve our communication and wellbeing together."

✨🐎✨🐴✨🐎✨🐴✨🐎✨

25/04/2025

I've been wanting a memorial piece for Louie since he died 4.5 years ago. I played with many ideas, they always included gum leaves for some reason.

Recently I came about this lovely water colour painting of gum leaves by Theresia Cookson that I bought. With some digital magic my husband created this image for me. I love it. ❤ It's perfect! 🤗

Do you have a memorial piece for your loved one who passed over the rainbow bridge? A photo? An object? An urn? An altar? Share a photo of it as a comment if you'd like and let's create a thread of loving memories. 🐾🌈⭐️