A ten-year old boy whom I see in my private counseling practice was scared of being home alone. He definitely isn’t the McCauley Culkin type a la the movie “Home Alone.” His father travels frequently for work and his mother works long hours some days each week. There is an older sibling, but being a teen, he doesn’t want to interact much with my client.

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So the boy feels anxious and always slept on the floor by his parent’s bed at night. He would start off in his own bed, but, when they would awake in the morning, he was always there on his pallet. I asked if he had a dog and he did; however, due to his anxiety, he teased his dog in annoying ways such as blowing in his face and chasing him to excess. Therefore the dog preferred the company of the older people in the family.

I told him that my biggest dog, Bill, probably a lab/golden retriever mix, had protected me late one night. My client was curious and asked me how. I told him that one night about midnight I had let all of my dogs outside before bedtime. I soon heard them all barking and could hear Bill’s booming bark above all. Bill rarely barks and , when he does, it’s something he’s really alarmed about.

That scary night I walked out on my porch and all dogs stopped barking for a brief moment. The reason was that someone was right next to my fenced front yard and was telling them to “shut up!” I live far off the main road so someone was illegally on my property. Needless to say, I was alerted to the danger and could take appropriate action.

I asked my client what he thought Bill was doing. He replied, “Protecting you.” Exactly… and why I asked. He said, “Bill loves you.” We then began talking about how his dog prefers the other members of his family and why. I then asked him if he wanted to meet Bill and he was eager to do so. So at the next appointment I introduced him to my 85 pound darling. We then discussed and practiced what dogs (and cats and other companion animals) like and don’t like. Just like anyone, they do not like teasing. They like to be talked to and handled gently.

My client was excited to start his own “kindness” program with his dog. Within two weeks, his dog was sleeping at the foot of his bed and my client was staying in his bed all night. His parents think I’m a genius… but really the dogs are!

Copyright © 2009, Sharon Scott. No reproduction without written permission from author.

P.S. Please see my other column, Counselor's Corner

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