The longer I live and the more dogs
which have graced my life, the more convinced I am that these very special
creatures possess unique intuitiveness and abilities.
(Giftedness)
(Giftedness)
What got me reminiscing about this subject
tonight was a response one of my cousins left beneath a video I made in
Scotland last year in which several sheep dogs demonstrated their impressive
skills. I have included her response below, though I have changed the names.
“I have had Border Collies
for years. When we went to pick up our Lucy it was on a sheep farm. We had
brought Rover with us, and the sheep herder told my daughter to let him off the
leash to see what he’d do. We both looked at each other because he had run in
the past and was lightning fast!
“Well, she let him go
and to our stunned amazement, Rover took after those sheep like he had done it
every day; instead of his first time!!! It proved to me once again Gods economy
and unfathomable wisdom!”
(Perceptiveness)
(Perceptiveness)
What follows are some
unique accounts related to my dearly departed pooch, a female Shih Tzu, named
“Buddy.”
Buddy had been with us for a couple of
years, when suddenly and without any explanation, she began following my wife
around the house. Jean had begun feeling depressed, and I expressed concern and
insisted that she needed to see her physician. After undergoing a mammogram,
the news was not good. She was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in one of her
breasts which has just begun to invade the duct. Thankfully, it was discovered
in time. The tumor was surgically removed, and my wife submitted to 33
radiation treatments over the course of six weeks.
Pt. 2
(Perceptiveness)
(Perceptiveness)
As I researched this story tonight, I
learned some things I never knew.
Dogs have an extraordinary
sense of smell; between 10,000 to 1,000,000 times more powerful than that of a
human being. For example, a dog could detect a teaspoon of sugar in a million
gallons of water! They have 300 million receptors in their noses compared to
our six million. The area of a dog’s brain which is devoted to analyzing smells
is forty times larger than ours. They can detect the presence of a man before
they see him. Since we exude an individual scent, even if a dog happens to be
blind, they can distinguish us apart.
We finally understand why our pooches sniff each other’s rear ends.
Scientists believe this is how they gather personal information about one
another; information which includes age, personality and behavior. Dogs are
capable of detecting the emotions of fear, anxiety and sadness. Even if we
attempt to mask these feelings from our friends, our pet pooches can literally
smell our emotions.
Speaking of smelling our emotions, they also have the innate wherewithal to detect abnormalities in human tissue. Our little Buddy not only smelled the presence of despair in my wife, but the thumb-nailed sized tumor hidden a couple of inches inside her breast tissue.
Speaking of smelling our emotions, they also have the innate wherewithal to detect abnormalities in human tissue. Our little Buddy not only smelled the presence of despair in my wife, but the thumb-nailed sized tumor hidden a couple of inches inside her breast tissue.
As I have inferred, dogs have often been known to follow people around
when they detect maladies such as cancer. While I had read about this unique
quality in dogs, our little Buddy truly “brought it home” for us, and helped
saved my wife’s life.
Pt. 3
(Persistence)
(Persistence)
As a child, and as a young and older
adult, I have enjoyed watching “The Twilight Zone.” And though Rod Serling,
(like Elvis) has long since “left the building,” millions of people are still
fascinated by the syndicated re-runs of this marvelous program.
For anyone who has ever viewed this
half-hour broadcast, he or she is all too familiar with the quirky nature of
the old series; which might loosely be characterized as belonging to the genre
of science fiction. Of course, none of the ‘stuff’ which was formerly a weekly
television offing was based on reality.
Nonetheless, someone once made a
statement which goes something like, “There are strange and wonderful things in
heaven and earth which have yet to be found out, and some of these things are
the stuff of fiction.”
Lately, I have come across two
examples in scripture, one in the Old Testament, and one in the New Testament,
which bear out this perspective.
“You
(meaning God) preserve both man and animals, alike.” (Psalm 36:6)
(and)
“Then I heard every
creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all
that is in them, saying:
‘To him who sits on the
throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and
ever!’" (Rev. 5:13)
Pt. 4
(Persistence)
(Persistence)
After my little pooch
passed away, I expected the obligatory wait ‘til I would be allowed to see her
again.
But, have you heard the old adage,
“There’s always an exception to the rule.” (?)
I was nearing 60, and I found myself coping with a loss with which I hadn’t contended in half a century. The demise of a beloved pet. The tears came, and continued to come hot and heavy, as they had when my little Princess had gone on to her reward.
I don’t exactly know what I believe about “visitations from the great beyond;” (except the admonition of scripture that we refrain from pursuing such things). I can only bear witness to the unique experiences which were mine after my little Buddy left the scene, and the resulting perspective that God can do anything He “jolly well chooses” to do.
It had been, at the most, a few days since Buddy “gave up the ghost” and my emotions were as raw as the day she left us. My furry friend and I had slept in the same bed for years, and there was no one to complain about the arrangement, as my wife had long since “taken up residence” in her own bedroom; due to her work as a shift nurse.
But, have you heard the old adage,
“There’s always an exception to the rule.” (?)
I was nearing 60, and I found myself coping with a loss with which I hadn’t contended in half a century. The demise of a beloved pet. The tears came, and continued to come hot and heavy, as they had when my little Princess had gone on to her reward.
I don’t exactly know what I believe about “visitations from the great beyond;” (except the admonition of scripture that we refrain from pursuing such things). I can only bear witness to the unique experiences which were mine after my little Buddy left the scene, and the resulting perspective that God can do anything He “jolly well chooses” to do.
It had been, at the most, a few days since Buddy “gave up the ghost” and my emotions were as raw as the day she left us. My furry friend and I had slept in the same bed for years, and there was no one to complain about the arrangement, as my wife had long since “taken up residence” in her own bedroom; due to her work as a shift nurse.
After I resorted to my
bedroom one night, and the combination of weariness and grief overcame my
wakefulness, I experienced something completely unexpected, and unbidden.
…Breathing
Or at least the sensation of something up against my right shoulder, and that something was
…Respiring.
…Breathing
Or at least the sensation of something up against my right shoulder, and that something was
…Respiring.
Pt. 5
(Persistence)
To be sure, no audible sound escaped the lungs of whatever lay next to me. Only the physical sensation of something breathing in and out, in and out, as this non-descript thing lay hard against my shoulder.
And as you might well imagine, several seconds transpired before I conjured up the wherewithal to look. I mean, by this time I was all too aware that I, and I, alone should be the only entity filling up the 65 square foot rectangular surface upon which I resided.
Ultimately, I turned to look.
And what greeted my eyes was,
… absolutely nothing.
(Persistence)
To be sure, no audible sound escaped the lungs of whatever lay next to me. Only the physical sensation of something breathing in and out, in and out, as this non-descript thing lay hard against my shoulder.
And as you might well imagine, several seconds transpired before I conjured up the wherewithal to look. I mean, by this time I was all too aware that I, and I, alone should be the only entity filling up the 65 square foot rectangular surface upon which I resided.
Ultimately, I turned to look.
And what greeted my eyes was,
… absolutely nothing.
My little Buddy had her own pillow at the foot of the bed. That
same night I sensed the sensation of weight against my right foot, as if this
same unseen entity was seeking the comfort of the pillow which was still lying
there.
I can assure you, I was wide awake, and that there was nothing about these unseen manifestations kin to the dreams of which I, (and every other inhabitant of the earth) are all too familiar.
The late Jimmy Stewart, one of my favorite old-time movie stars, once appeared on “The Tonight Show” (with Johnny Carson) and shared one of his ‘home grown’ poems, titled, “My Dog, Beau.”
I can assure you, I was wide awake, and that there was nothing about these unseen manifestations kin to the dreams of which I, (and every other inhabitant of the earth) are all too familiar.
The late Jimmy Stewart, one of my favorite old-time movie stars, once appeared on “The Tonight Show” (with Johnny Carson) and shared one of his ‘home grown’ poems, titled, “My Dog, Beau.”
What he apparently
experienced, and upon which he based the following excerpt, seems akin to my
own experience.
“And there are nights
when I think I feel him
Climb upon our bed and lie between us,
And I pat his head.
And there are nights when I think
I feel that stare
And I reach out my hand to stroke his hair,
But he's not there.
Oh, how I wish that wasn't so.
I'll always love a dog named Beau.”
And I pat his head.
And there are nights when I think
I feel that stare
And I reach out my hand to stroke his hair,
But he's not there.
Oh, how I wish that wasn't so.
I'll always love a dog named Beau.”
Pt. 6
(Persistence)
And I suppose if that had been the end of it, a decade later I might still be questioning the reality of what transpired that night.
However…
As I was walking in my neighborhood one evening, perhaps a month after the loss of my beloved Buddy, and I found myself reminiscing about the old girl,
…I saw it,
(or should I use a different pronoun)?
…I saw her.
Suddenly, not twenty feet ahead of me, what seemed to be a little white pooch appeared out of nothingness, slowly walked across my path way, and entered my neighbor’s front yard.
And as quickly as she appeared, she immediately relinquished her physicality.
I can’t account for why the great actor and I were blessed to realize such momentary manifestations of our precious pooches. But at least for me there remains that quiet reassurance that our pets are alive and well, and reside in a land where the roses never fade, and no tear dims the eye.
There’s a poignant cartoon which depicts St. Peter standing at the pearly gates. Next to him is a dog thoroughly overcome with excitement. In the foreground we see an old man approaching the duo.
St. Peter bends his head towards ‘Scamp’ and exclaims,
“So this is your friend, Bobby, who you’ve been ‘going on about’ for the past 50 years!”
I think by now Jimmy and Beau have been reunited, and I like to believe my own little Buddy eagerly awaits my arrival.
(Persistence)
And I suppose if that had been the end of it, a decade later I might still be questioning the reality of what transpired that night.
However…
As I was walking in my neighborhood one evening, perhaps a month after the loss of my beloved Buddy, and I found myself reminiscing about the old girl,
…I saw it,
(or should I use a different pronoun)?
…I saw her.
Suddenly, not twenty feet ahead of me, what seemed to be a little white pooch appeared out of nothingness, slowly walked across my path way, and entered my neighbor’s front yard.
And as quickly as she appeared, she immediately relinquished her physicality.
I can’t account for why the great actor and I were blessed to realize such momentary manifestations of our precious pooches. But at least for me there remains that quiet reassurance that our pets are alive and well, and reside in a land where the roses never fade, and no tear dims the eye.
There’s a poignant cartoon which depicts St. Peter standing at the pearly gates. Next to him is a dog thoroughly overcome with excitement. In the foreground we see an old man approaching the duo.
St. Peter bends his head towards ‘Scamp’ and exclaims,
“So this is your friend, Bobby, who you’ve been ‘going on about’ for the past 50 years!”
I think by now Jimmy and Beau have been reunited, and I like to believe my own little Buddy eagerly awaits my arrival.
by William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from "McDonald's Daily Diary" Vol. 88. Copyright Pending
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