The Dog Cancer Survival Guide (13 page)

FIRE BELLOWS BREATHING

Duration
: 15 seconds to one minute

Indication
: for clearing the mind

This exercise is adapted from a breathing technique used by yoga practitioners. While slightly noisy, it can make you feel more alive and alert. It’s also been shown to enhance thinking: in one study involving medical doctors, this exercise reduced errors in their daily work.

If you’re feeling agitated, angry, restless, confused, or if you need a “pick me up,” this exercise can help. Here are the steps:

Breathe in and out rapidly through your nose, with your mouth closed and your jaw relaxed. Placing the tip of your tongue just behind your front top teeth can help to relax the jaw. This will feel like controlled hyperventilation. Keep your breaths as short as possible, and don’t worry about the snorting noise you’re making.

The optimal rhythm is three breath cycles per second: in, out, in, out, in, out. Make each in-breath as long as each out-breath. You will find your belly and chest moving in and out, like a bellows.

On your first try, continue for fifteen seconds, if you can. Each time you do this increase your time a little, until you reach a full minute.

After you are finished, breathe normally.

It can be difficult to do this if your nose is stuffed up; although some find that it clears nasal passages quickly (have a tissue handy, if you need one). You may want to do this exercise in private, because you must make noise to get its full benefit.

MEDITATION

Duration
: 5 minutes

Frequency
: preferably daily

A daily meditation practice is a great way to connect to your dog, even if you can manage only five minutes. Depending upon your background, you might think of meditation as an esoteric or foreign practice. It’s not. Some form of meditation is used in every culture and in every religion on the planet (in Christianity it’s sometimes called “contemplative prayer”). Meditation is also used in stress management programs, although it may be called “breathing exercises” to make it sound more familiar.

My friend and business partner, James Jacobson, introduced me to the concept of meditating with your dog when he wrote an entire book about it. I must admit that, at first, I thought it was pretty silly. After reading his book (
How to Meditate with Your Dog: An Introduction to Meditation for Dog Lovers
), however, I realized there was a good argument for meditating with your dog.

There are many forms of meditation. For our purposes I’m going to recommend a very simple practice: pay attention to the breath. Observing the breath as it naturally occurs helps the mind to develop focus, increase patience, and learn quickly.

Here’s a quick dog meditation:

Set aside five minutes to sit quietly with your dog. Sit in a comfortable position, with plenty of support for your back. Make physical contact with your dog, even if it is just your hand on her head.

Focus on your own breath. Take a deep breath or two, and then let the breaths fall into your natural rhythm. Keep your attention lightly focused on your breath. If your attention wanders, gently bring it back. It may help to think, “I am inhaling” as you inhale and “I am exhaling” as you exhale.

Now focus on your dog’s breath for a few breaths. To keep your focus, it may help to think, “My dog is inhaling,” as he breathes in and, as he breathes out, think, “My dog is exhaling.”

Stay focused on the breath (yours or your dog’s) for five minutes (longer if you like). Other thoughts may crowd in and emotions might come up; this is normal. However, since you have chosen to focus on the breath, not on thoughts or emotions, simply return your attention to the breath. No matter how many times you lose focus, you are still meditating, as long as you remember to re-focus on the breath.

Most dogs enjoy sitting in calm with their guardians. If your dog is restless and moves away, you can choose to go get him and continue, or let him go and sit on your own, feeling your connection to him from afar.

Sitting in meditation with your dog can remind you of several important facts:

Your dog is still breathing. She is alive.

You are still breathing. You are alive.

You can connect to your dog.

You can manage your emotions, which helps your dog.

I recommend regular meditation practice to help cultivate a good mindset for dealing with dog cancer. As in most things, consistency is helpful to get the full benefit of this exercise. Short daily sessions give more benefit than do irregular, longer sessions. Meditating for five minutes is manageable for most guardians.

VENT IF YOU’RE BENT

Duration
: 5-30 minutes

Indication
: for anger and frustration

Some guardians dealing with dog cancer feel angry or “bent out of shape.” This is normal, because anger often comes when we want a situation to change but feel incapable of doing anything to make it happen.

Regardless of how normal it may be, feeling angry is not helpful when you need to make decisions. According to research, a tendency toward anger promotes risky decision-making in many different areas of life. It also interferes with mental clarity in general. Plus, dogs can experience stress when their guardians are angry.

Anger is a powerful emotion that demands an outlet. Here’s an idea:

Go to a place where you will not be disturbed: your room or a secluded spot in nature. It’s best if your dog is not with you.

Vent in a way that feels good to you. Here are a few ideas:

Yell at a wall (not a mirror).

Scream into a pillow.

Run as fast as you can around a track.

Hit a punching bag at the gym.

Pound sand at the beach (stay out of the water, though).

Scribble angry words in a notebook.

Slash at a paper with crayons.

Turn up loud music and scream the lyrics.

Stay safe, of course. Don’t hurt yourself or anyone else. This is about releasing the pent up anger, not using it as a weapon.

If anyone asks what you are doing, refer to this book and say you’re following a vet’s advice.

Keep venting until you literally run out of steam. You’ll know when this happens: you’ll feel exhausted, and the venting will peter out. You might find yourself sighing big sighs, crying a little (or a lot) or just staring off into space, void.

When you are finished, take three deep breaths to remind yourself that you are still alive.

Now that the emotional charge is gone, you may be able to see what you really want to do about the situation that triggered your anger.

How long it takes for you to run out of steam will depend upon many things, including how angry you are, whether other events from your past life come up, and how much permission you’ve given yourself for full expression.

MESSAGE MASSAGE

Duration
: 10 minutes

Indication
: sad feelings or anxiety