“Have you ever watched an accomplished dog and handler team work together while navigating an agility course? Yes, the handler is giving the dog directions, or cues, but when the pair speed up, the direction, or cue, becomes so miniscule it looks as if the handler is no longer in charge of directing the dog. The pair become a dance as they function as four eyes and two brains focusing upon one goal. This is when the handler and dog are co-functioning through their heart brains. This is when the human “handler” IS an animal communicator, working as one with the dog without the human brain worrying about whether the dog is processing the language or not.
Just like the current, western culture or society causes humans to separate into blind ping-pong balls of ego, so do many dog owners program their dogs to be habitual reflexes of responses and cues. To fully understand your pup takes a partnership that few humans have the patience to create. It is my hope that you, dear reader, have experienced dancing with your dog, or horse, through your heart-mind too.
As I type Yellow Dog’s words, I’m thinking about an issue I’m having with my dog. Yes, I agree that it is lovely to be of one mind when working with a beloved pet. But my current farm dog, Orion, doesn’t always agree with what I expect of him. I’ve always had a sheltie as a farm dog, and after owning this farm for over forty years, Orion is the fourth generation of sheltie that has filled this role. My expectation is for Orion to trail behind or around me as I feed the animals, or clean the stalls, or even watch my grandchildren play outside. But Orion doesn’t always choose to stay near me, and I’ve come to a frustrated stalemate with him regarding his wandering behavior.
I know Orion has been wandering away because he has been drawn to the recently re-established, and now well-groomed, walking trail that lies at the base of my road. This trail borders my north pasture, and I frequently can glimpse the distant bobbing heads of joggers or cyclists from my barn as they move past the far tree line on the opposite side of my fence. I know where my property line ends, but my six-year-old sheltie, Orion, appears to think the walking trail is part of his property. I know that I am legally bound to keep my dog contained, and yet Orion feels the need to wander over to these strangers, and evaluate whether they are friend or foe, a conundrum that I’m not sure how to fix.
Yellow Dog interrupts my questioning mind with the perfect explanation:
That is because you two do not exist within a shared sense of love and appreciation. If the human’s desire were to walk the property line, you and your dog could enjoy this activity. If the dog’s desire were to be by your side, you could both exist within this same sense of joy and sharing. But your intended emotions and goals are different; the human looks for companionship while the dog seeks securing safety. If you truly want companionship, then the human must accompany the dog when it secures the perimeter for the dog to desire to accompany the human on their chosen outside task. Only then can the shared tennis ball reality of oneness be achieved.
But the purpose of this teaching is not to train a dog, but to discuss the ways in which to share language with your dog—through the shared consciousness of the tennis ball or the species knowledge of the marble. Going within, or traveling to the lower world, is not how we usually communicate. This world requires intervention or the merging of a different consciousness.
The lower world has many sides. Best to explain through the practice of journey work. Once again, we begin at the heart chakra, but his time, instead of going up and out of the crown of awareness, we focus down, into the base of the body, the root, and into a lower awareness.”
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If you’re curious about more of the topic of Journey Work, visit the next Blog Entry, an excerpt taken Chapter 2 of The Pet Psychic.
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