Relaxing Rover

DOES YOUR DOG SUFFER FROM ANXIETY? DEPRESSION? A PET THERAPIST AWAITS

At the Let Go Stress clinic on Ponce de Leon Boulevard, a few blocks south of The Plaza Coral Gables, the client is typically human. Patrons enter the tranquil space, with its images of Eastern temples, shelves of calming crystals, and meditative music, carrying with them the ills of modern life: stress, depression, and emotional exhaustion. At Let Go Stress, they are treated with a variety of treatments, from acupuncture and bioenergetics to guided visualization and massage therapy. Once or twice a week, however, the clients do not arrive alone. They bring their dogs.

“Dogs suffer the same sorts of things as their masters,” explains Roland Gonzalez, a bioenergetic expert who, along with wife Beyla Romero, owns and operates Let Go Stress. “It can be a lack of energy, or too much tension, or simply a lack of emotional balance. So, we treat the owner and the dog at the same time.”

Among the treatments available at the clinic is the “biocharger.” This is a generator of electrical frequencies with an uncanny resemblance to the top half of the robot from the TV series “Lost in Space.” It is, explains Gonzalez, based on the idea of a Tesla coil – a “resonant transformer” designed by the famed inventor Nikola Tesla in 1891 to produce high-frequency, alternating-current electricity. Tesla had lots of plans for the device, including the wireless transmission of electricity, but it’s mostly used today for entertainment and educational displays, crackling little tongues of electricity inside a glass dome.

At Let Go Stress, the biocharger fulfills another of Tesla’s purposes: the use of his coil for electrotherapy. Modern medicine uses electrical energy to stimulate the brain and speed up wound healing. Tesla posited that exposure to the multiple frequencies emitted by his coil also helps to tune up the body’s cells, each of which has a signature harmonic vibration.

At Let Go Stress, the biocharger is used to relax and energize clients, who sit in a quiet room while the machine hums and glows and emits energy. Here, the dogs can join their masters. “We call this ‘the canine cuddle,’” says Gonzalez. “Both of them with the biocharger so they can both receive the good energy.” Some dogs are hyper or depressed, “and we just help them relax,” he says. Dogs also mimic their masters, “so sometimes when the master is sad, they also want to be sad with them.”

Soledad Beraza, who brought her two French bulldogs, Hendrix and Nina, to Let Go Stress, says the therapy did wonders for them; Nina in particular. “Nina was extremely anxious, but after the first session she was able to slow down, calm and quiet, and really enjoy the treatment,” she says. “It was a wonderful experience.”

And if the client does not have a dog but wishes to be joined by one for emotional support, there is Spike, the preternaturally calm house mascot. A diminutive Terrier in the Jack Russell variety, Spike pads around the clinic, presumably benefitting from the therapeutic environment. At 15, he is a spry but tranquil little dog, taking in the scene in a cool, calm sort of way.

“We have more treatments we use on [dogs],” says Gonzalez, including collars with pockets that hold crystals. Spike wears one that Gonzalez says promotes wellness by reducing inflammation and promoting stem cell production. “He had a little arthritis, and [now] you see him jumping.”