Try to stay out of the way of all that happiness - it could be dangerous. Knocked down by your own Dog is not good for your resume or dating profile. How about a Cat determined your foot under the covers is a bounty worth the pounce? Claws out and at the ready. And a Horse? Feeling his oats? Expressing the joy of freedom? How happy is that?
It is all a grand display unless you happen to get in the way.
Zoomies in the Dog World are considered a state of ecstasy, kinda. As is humping. Ask any super happy Poodle, Lab, or Golden strengthening their back muscles and they will tell you… this is HAPPY made visible. Not talking about the insecure dominance we see all too often on walks as leash-aggression OR IS IT REQUESTS TO PLAY?? and shhhhh… @ dog parks.
Zoomies in the wide open spaces of the prairie or living rooms with non-slip flooring is a grand spectacle. Go for it. Play. Get on the floor with them, roll around, crouch down and smack the ground with flat hands. Spin. Engage. Let them tell you what they like and don’t like. Let them scoot, sprint, and zoom. And maybe if they are so inclined, give you a soft, safe muzzle punch like a gentle bump from a friend acknowledging your connection.
Cats: hunt, freeze, fixate, pounce. Eat, sleep, potty. That about covers their happiness scale. Only advice: carpe the diem before your Cats do.
Horses at play are a gorgeous sight. But Churchill had a point when he reportedly said Horses are uncomfortable in the middle and dangerous at both ends. No one denies their beauty and grace and speed. The precision of where, when, and how they place each hoof is a study in and of itself. Equines have developed accute accuracy over their 55 million years, and we humans are the better for it. Don’t want to hang out with a 1,000 pounds of clumsy.
While ‘playing’ with Horses (big ones) in pastures or fields; several have been within inches and ounces of causing great damage. They were able to control their force and pull back the full impact of a massive set of teeth or a hoof nano-seconds before contact. I feel they just wanted to get my attention… to make a point… to expose the possibilities.
Not to scare me but to remind me we both have something at stake here.
ASIDE: there was one older grey mare who reminded me of Captain Ahab’s giant white Whale… looked me right in the eye as she ran past splashing up dust, purposefully skimming my jacket, just to prove her point. Counting Coup while counting this brush with (my) death a game.
All this brings me to one of my favorite formulas: SETTLE DOWN. Animals and people benefit because these Flowers allow them all to pause and pull back; granting each other a tiny bit more space to assess and do the right thing.
Cats benefit by being able to chill out and re-connect faster with their environment rather than remain on “high alert” anticipating the next and the next and the next thing to hunt. They may twitch, stretch, yawn, roll, vocalize. Learn their individualized signs of ‘re-entry’: then play some more - with new insight and intelligence = EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE!
This formula is also aimed at the uber happy Dog = could call this emotional state: HAPPY-MESS. They are wiggling across the floor disrupting furniture, some drooling, maybe a pee dribble, soft whining, often with a toy in their mouth as an offering = a way to disrupt all this overwhelming, mind-boggling emotional happiness at seeing you again!
We don’t want to discourage this love fest, just tone it down a bit. More like taking a step back, taking a breath, and while exhaling asking for a minute of peace and quiet.
SETTLE DOWN is a Flower Essence blend of:
- Impatiens for restlessness and impulse control,
- Valerian Flowers (never roots in our practice) for relaxation,
- Yarrow for repetitive behaviors appearing as stubbornness,
- Star Tulip for grounding,
- Echinacea for calming excitability,
- Arnica 30x homeopathic for mental clarity and superseding old memories.
Make sense? Actually it makes so much sense to me that I think this formula should be mandatory before every car ride, staff meeting, NATO meeting, every shelter, all trips to the groomers and vets, Congressional hearings, and (some) family dinners! Keep all your “HAPPY MESSES” happy!!
Pair with our CONFIDENCE for if and when they are too bold or too shy; thus creating MORE PROBLEMS IN PARADISE. 
