Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened. ~Anatole France~
If playing harp for hospice care of people can work so much comforting “magic,” my thought is, why not for some of our best friends in the animal kingdom?
My dogs “grew up” with music, especially of a soothing ilk, and when it came time that my Diamond dog was letting us know he was ready for the next world, we needed to release him as he transitioned from this world to the next. You can read Diamond’s story in this blog entry.
I also played the singing crystal bowl for him almost daily (more to come on this website about singing crystal bowls) after a serious cancer surgery, and for years he loved to lounge in the living room near the piano or harp when I practiced. A recent experience is detailed here in my blog.
Another time I played for a gentleman in hospice, quite young, just upper 50s… he and his wife and dog had not been sleeping much as he headed toward his end days. Their mid-sized dog, totally loyal to his master, was so concerned he hadn’t eaten in 3 days. I played a hospice harp session for all of them, putting both the dog and his master to sleep, and seriously relaxing the wife. I then quietly left. I learned from the nurse that the dog ate that night for the first time in 3 days.
A week later, I was asked to please come back as he was very close, and so I did. I played for all 3 of them again, and the wife lay down on the couch to get some much needed rest. At the end of my playing, EACH of them was asleep. As quietly as possible I packed up and looked for the quietest way to leave without waking anyone. As I went out the garage door, the dog raised his head and without thinking, I gave him the finger-to-the-lips sign to be quiet, and he didn’t make a sound. I escaped and realized at the core of my being what a privilege it was that all three of them trusted me and my music enough to go to sleep on my watch. WOW!
If you are interested in having some soothing music played for your dog during a recovery period or for making the transition, please feel free to contact me.
Click here to read LiveScience’s post on Oregon Harpist Alliana Boone’s work with animals. She is one of the few to conduct a study on harp music’s effect on animals, including cows and dogs!