"Seven years ago, I brought my new Australian Shepherd puppy, Scout, home with me. I had carefully selected her based on two simple criteria. First, I wanted a dog that would be part of my family. Second, I wanted a high-drive performance dog to herd and compete in agility trials. My Scoutie met both of these expectations beautifully. However, what I had not counted on was her intensity. A herding dog is expected to be intense, but Scout's intensity was so extreme that she couldn't relax. Her life was devoted to patrolling the yard, guarding her family and enforcing her set of dog rules on humans and dogs alike.

"Enter Jeanie Ward. I met Jeanie five years ago at a massage clinic that she facilitated. Her style and energy had a profound impact on me, so much that I decided to give my dogs a weekly gift of an hour with her. Jeanie consistently exceeds all of my expectations. She is adept at many massage techniques, healing touch, and energy work. From the first session, it was clear that she had great intuitive skills as to the needs of my girls at any given moment. So I gave her carte blanch to give Auggie, my 12 year old Lab mix, and Scoutie what she felt they needed. Through her devoted work, both of my girls have supple muscles and flexibility that most younger dogs would only dream of, and they are champions in multiple agility venues. However, the real value of Jeanie's work to me comes on a much more personal level. Working as a team, through touch and energy work, we have taught Scoutie that just accepting life is good. It's OK to kick back, relax, and enjoy life. The funny thing is that what Scout was learning rubbed off on me. Jeanie has influenced me to take my intensity down a notch and just be."

Lois Cook