After being closed for nearly three weeks, I couldn’t wait to get back to work. I missed my clients, I missed the dogs, and I was genuinely excited to be back in my space.
My very first appointment was with a husky named Zuko that I’d met before.
As I approached to greet them, he politely but unmistakably and in a very husky way of things told me to back up.
It wasn’t dramatic (well, it was husky dramatic). It wasn’t aggressive. It was simply clear communication.
In that moment, I realized something that made me smile. I had been so excited to be back doing what I love that I’d skipped over one of the most important parts of every session: before I tell them my intentions I need to slow down and let the animal tell me how they wanted our interaction to begin.
Of course I know this. We all do.
As practitioners, reading body language is woven into everything we do. We spend years developing our observation skills and learning to recognize the subtle signals animals offer. But experience doesn’t make us immune to being human.
Sometimes excitement gets the better of us. Sometimes routine creeps in. Sometimes we simply forget to pause.
Zuko wasn’t teaching me anything new. He was reminding me of something I already knew.
It was a reminder that every animal deserves the opportunity to consent to our presence before they consent to our touch. Even clients we’ve worked with many times can arrive feeling different than they did at their last appointment. A familiar face doesn’t mean a familiar emotional state.
One of the gifts of this profession is that our greatest teachers are often the animals themselves. Every so often, one of them gently reminds us to return to the fundamentals. Not because we’ve forgotten them entirely, but because the fundamentals are worth revisiting over and over again.
My first day back ended with gratitude for a Zuko who kindly reminded me to slow down, respect his space, and begin the session on his terms. (classic Husky)
Sometimes the best continuing education comes from an animal who simply says, “Not so fast lady”.