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NorthStar Pet: No Place Like Home

As of November 2023...

NorthStar Pet is not currently taking new pet sitting clients. Current client referrals possible.

Vacation/Out-of-Town Visits: Available for Current Clients Only.

Daily Visits: Available for Current Clients Only..

Reiki Services (Distant and Present): Available.

For details, visit the Booking Availability page.

NorthStar Pet Services ▪ Linda Foor
e-mail: ljfoor@earthlink.net


▪ Serving Greater Westerville. Exclusively within 43081 and 43082 Zip Codes, and this geographic range: North: Big Walnut Rd. / South: Huber Village Blvd. / East: Sunbury Rd. / West: Worthington Rd.

▪ Distant Reiki can go anywhere!  

▪ Positive Reinforcement Households Only. NorthStar Pet provides services for positive training/reinforcement households only. (No households using electronic containment, aversion, fear, prong collars, slip/choker collars, electronic collars, or punishment.)

▪ In-home visits, dog walks, mornings, afternoons, evenings. No overnight stays.

▪ Established in 2007.

▪ Warm-blooded, indoor only pets.

▪ American Red Cross Pet First Aid Certified.

▪ Certified Reiki Practitioner, Levels 1 and 2, Usui Method; Certification in Advanced Animal Reiki.

▪ Payment accepted via  Cash, Check, Zelle, Venmo.

NorthStar Pet: Biofield Therapy - A Bit About Reiki


My relationship with energy - how I got here: I stumbled upon Reiki many years ago. while I was looking for ways to help Jena, the chocolate lab. Jena was diagnosed with arthritis, and her humans brought me on-board to walk her throughout the workday - keep her moving. Jena was a walking hug and such a wise, wonderful dog.
 
I wanted to learn more about Reiki, checked locally into the steps toward certification, and in the very wise words of the Reiki teacher I contacted, I learned I needed to heal myself first (so I could help heal others) before I took this next step.  I understood that advice deeply.  Not quite time.
 
I still needed to help Jena, so I learned about T-touch massage, which was truly helpful.
 
A Reiki practitioner channels Reiki via energy meridians through the hands, and bottom-line, Reiki energy, essentially works with what's there and unblocks energy clogs. Reiki energy can and does interact with all life.
 
The modern interpretation of the word, Reiki (pronounced: RayKey) is the blending of two Japanese words - Universal Life (Rei) and Energy (ki).
 
Depending on context, the words 'rei' and 'ki' have various individual meanings. One of the most literal definitions of Reiki is Ghost (Rei) Care (ki), which I really like, because Reiki is unseen energy (like the wind or the warmth from the sun) that flows through a practitioner, reaching-out to the recipient - be they human, flora, or fauna - with care.  
 
A biofield therapy, Reiki is a complementary, natural, non-invasive, holistic healing modality that renews and unblocks energy. Reiki can do no harm, so it helps or does nothing. Energy healing has been discovered and lost and rediscovered and passed-on through the centuries. The methods of modern Reiki can be traced back to the early 1900s and a scholar by the name of Dr. Mikao Usui. 
 
Reiki is taught and passed-on person-to-person or Teacher/Master to Student. Reiki practitioners are certified by a Teacher/Master. In modern times, and because Reiki is energy, students can be both attuned to Reiki and learn the Reiki practice distantly and electronically. 
  
Reiki energy channels through the hands. I call it a no-touch energy massage. Reiki can be offered just off-body, with minimum touch, or from a distance, be it across the room or miles upon miles away (it's energy). It can be offered in a structured head-to-toe form with specific hand positions and time intervals, or it can be offered intuitively; the Reiki recipient can be inactive or going about their business. 
 
I am an intuitive empath, and taking my guidance from Dr. Usui, I offer Reiki intuitively, and when I am offering Reiki to pets, in person, it often includes t-touch massage. Reiki can also be infused into a space, into the physical, and electronically, including social media. 
 
Reiki energy is subtle and intelligent - it knows to go where it is needed most. And, sometimes, that's a surprise.  
 
Reiki is a spiritual practice in its connection to nature and life energy, but it is not a religion. The practice of Reiki is guided by a precise code of confidentiality, principles, and ethics. 
 
There are five Reiki principles: 1. Just for today, I will let go of anger. 2. Just for today, I will let go of worry. 3. Just for today, I will count my many blessings. 4. Just for today, i will do my work honestly. 5. Just for today, I will be kind to every living thing. 
 
We operate in our day-to-day world through what's commonly accepted as The Five Senses - seeing, tasting, feeling, hearing, and smelling. And, then there is the stuff we sense (like "spidey sense"), that is beyond the basic five, and that is the vibrational energy of Reiki. 
 
As renowned Reiki Master, Penelope Quest says, "Remember, the Reiki is pulled by the recipient, not pushed by the practitioner." Reiki can only be offered with permission; it cannot be asserted; it cannot be misused; it cannot be guided. A Reiki practitioner can channel the energy, but can attach no value to the outcome (because it is not up to the practitioner... or the recipient).  
 
The Earth may seem still, but it is hurling through space and spinning at a rapid rate at the same time. We may seem still, but there is a whole lot going on behind the scenes inside our bodies, including a heartbeat. Reiki is subatomic. Reiki is vibration. Reiki is quantum mechanics. Humans and animals and plants are electromagnetic, and made up of cells and molecules and atoms, always on the go, we are a vibrating conductor of energy flow.  
 
While Reiki uses a practitioner as an energy channel, the practitioner is never depleted (if anything. the practitioner is energized) because they are the conduit and not the source. 
 
For humans, Reiki is recognized as a complementary facet of integrative medicine, well-being, and healing by more than 65 U.S. hospitals, including Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins, Children's Hospital - Boston, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Nationwide Children's Hospital. 
 
Reiki can be intended for well-being, balance, pain relief, stress management, relaxation, a sense of peace, hospice, palliative, and end of life care, assisting the physical healing process, situations, and focus. Reiki helps the recipient align with their own healing abilities. 
 
Through my own practice, for both humans and animals, I have offered Reiki to complement well-being, alleviate the effects of arthritis; help relieve pain after oral surgery; help bring calm and relieve pain for patients in palliative care; offer comfort, focus, and balance in stressful situations; bring peace to rescue animals; support medical procedures, rehab, and healing; support the mourning process, and reduce discomfort. I have seen and felt Reiki do so much, and I find most of all it helps, very much, in the "going through" of life. 
 
Animals understand Reiki pretty much immediately - it is a wild feeling when a dog takes her paw and guides my hand to where she wants the energy to flow or when a family of geese in my backyard turn and start walking toward me, in unison, when I start offering Reiki from the dining room window. I offer Reiki to both my cats on a regular basis and each cat responds differently. My cat, Luci has also guided my hand with his paws, or he will position his body for me and he wants hands-on Reiki. Bob is highly sensitive and until she relaxes into Reiki, I hover my hands several inches above her. 
 
With training and attunement, Reiki energy is available to any of us, even animals (like a therapy dog) can be attuned. Dr. Usui intended for Reiki to be available to anyone. Usui wrote, "In times like these, the happiness of humanity is based on working together and the desire for social progress. This is why I would never allow anyone to possess it just for himself!" Usui called his system Reiki Ryoho - system of natural healing that addresses the whole. 
 
It is important to note that Reiki is a complementary healing modality and does not replace allopathic treatment. 
 
Reiki is offered by a certified practitioner. I certified in Usui Method Reiki Levels 1 and 2, with specialized certification in Animal Reiki, studying through Nancy Windheart, in 2016. I've been practicing Reiki on behalf of loved ones, my pet clients, and folks who reach out to a healing sanctuary I belong to on facebook ever since.  I intend to certify as a Level 3 Teacher/Master.

Note: As I mentioned, the internet and Reiki make good partners. There are a number of excellent, effective Reiki videos on youtube, including Reiki-infused music. I highly recommend Rest Relaxation Reiki from Reiki Master/Teacher Lourdes Lebron. I use her videos regularly for self-care. On youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@RestRelaxationReiki 
 
One more note, I honor and remember Jena, the chocolate lab. My need to find ways to ease her discomfort from arthritis, led me to my discovery of Reiki. Jena walks beside me in spirit. 
 
Now... Reiki On.
 

NorthStar Pet: Red, White, and Run!


Loud... Louder... Loudest. Gathering for fireworks and neighborhood fireworks are part of our Independence Day weekends.   It's important to keep a level of awareness that fireworks can also trigger distress for our pets, and people with PTSD and autism.

From Franklin County Dog Shelter and Adoption Center:

We pick up more stray dogs during the week of July 4th than we do any other week of the year. That's because dogs can be so frightened by fireworks that they bolt and get lost.

Follow these tips for a safe and fun 4th of July with your four-legged best friend.

1. Don’t take pets to fireworks displays or leave pets unattended outside.

Dogs trying to escape the noises can become panicked, scale fences they never did before, or injure themselves by becoming entangled in ropes. They can end up lost miles from home, suffer heat exhaustion, or get hit by a car.

2. Exercise pets early in the day and put them inside in a quiet place before the fireworks start. 


Keep your windows closed so that less noise and vibrations are able to enter your house.

3. Check your dog’s collar now, for ID tag and dog license, before he gets lost!  


If your dog does become lost, please visit the shelter to file a lost dog report and come back every day to look for your pet. We bring in new dogs 24 hours/day. We are open 7 days a week, but closed July 4th.

You can still call to report a dog running loose or a dog bite on the holiday: 614.525.3400.


More Information from NorthStar Pet:

Red, White, and Bark

A Pet Safe New Year

Fireworks - Playing it at 11

Consider having your pet microchipped - and make sure the information is current.

Or consider a smart collar tag like https://www.pawscout.com/
  
There is a new collar on the market called LINK AKC with a GPS tracker that will interact with your smart phone. Take a look: https://www.linkakc.com/

(Sending out a GPS signal from a smart tag or smart collar is fine. Be positive - Do not use electronic collars or electronic containment.)


And... great advice from cat behaviorist Pam Johnson-Bennett for fireworks and summer care is a click away: Fourth of July Cat Safety Tips

Photos courtesy Franklin County Dog Shelter and Adoption Center and Cat Behavior Associates.

NorthStar Pet: What Time Is It?


Realized this morning, after the mental fog lifted, and I'd had half a cup of coffee, when Bob the cat awakened me for breakfast "inexplicably" at 5:00 a.m., she was right on schedule, 5:00 a.m. has been 6:00 a.m. for the past eight months!

Fall back one hour on Sunday, November 6th.