I found out about Kathy Edstrom from an article in The Whole Dog Journal about thunder phobia in dogs. At the time, my Shih tzu, Angel, was going blind and thunder was only one of the things that upset him. Lots of different noises caused him distress. 

After a telephone consultation with Kathy, she created a special blend of flower essences for him. Angel was and is a working dog, going to the office with me every day. After a month or so of four drops, four times a day, people began commenting that Angel seemed to be more confident and things didn't scare him as much. We really felt he had turned the corner when he began playing with his squeaky toy again. I tied bells to it and he would shake it and throw it, then hunt for it, using the sound as a guide.

Angel has adapted to blindness amazingly well and people sometimes say, "Are you sure he's blind?" He is not afraid to go to new places. He just explores with his nose and moves slowly. When he runs into something, he just calmly changes direction. I wear bells on the leg of my slacks so he can keep track of me.

In August of 2001, Angel's life changed forever when Maggie came to live with us. She is also a Shih tzu and was three years old when she joined our family. She was a rescued dog who had been living on the streets. Now during thunderstorms, Angel was the calm one! Maggie was apprehensive about quite a few things, hiding the fear with defensive behaviors.

Our dogs have short haircuts and are groomed every month. Maggie was giving the groomer fits, being very defensive. Again, I contacted Kathy and she made up a special blend of flower essences for Maggie. The groomer has noticed an improvement in her behavior. In fact, one of her helpers who had been gone for a couple of months came back and declared that this was not the same dog! I also use visualization, picturing her being calm and confident as she is being groomed. She still doesn't like thunderstorms, but frantic has changed to concerned, a great improvement.

I believe that Kathy Edstrom's flower essences have greatly improved my dogs' lives and the lives of the people here too. They aren't magic, but enhance the training and maturing process. Please visit the dogs' website at www.angelandmaggie.com and learn about their activities.

Ilene Waite, Angel and Maggie - Cambridge City, IN