Follow Your Dog

As I await receiving my sixth Seeing Eye dog from the Seeing Eye school in Morristown, New Jersey, I reflect on my five former Seeing Eye dogs and what they have taught me. They were the perfect physical, emotional, and Spiritual Guide I needed exactly at that point in my life. Below is the list of these wonderful dogs, accompanied by the lesson they taught me, and the part of my life they walked with me for.

Gretel: Finding my voice through music; Masters of music degree

Lorraine: Self-growth through psychology; Masters in psychology and counseling 

Kamber: Love; Built my former Habitat for Humanity home

Vinnie: Queen of my destiny; Ms. Colorado Senior America, and fourth in the country

Sarge: Be an advocate for myself; no matter who attacks, stand up for myself

As I wait in quarantine, I could worry about what the breed, gender, height, weight, and age of my new guide will be, or I can let Divine order dictate all that. I believe that the perfect dog is coming to guide me forward into my life’s next purpose with trust, love, and commitment. 

One thing is for sure, while at the school, one statement the instructors say constantly is, “Follow Your dog.” 

Physically, this means: 

#1 Trust. Don’t second guess what is going on. Grab the harness and trust that the dog knows what she/he is doing. All is in Divine order.

#2 Stay present in the moment. Don’t worry about what’s ahead. Stay calm, relaxed. The dog can feel stress from my hand through the harness handle and then will lose his/her confidence.

#3 Praise. The dog works on love. The more I deposit love into the dog’s work the more the dog will work and bond with me.

Spiritually speaking, wouldn’t it be good if I trusted my guide and followed Spirit (the dog) all the time? 

When I stand at a corner waiting to cross a street, I have choice. I can worry about getting stuck in the middle of traffic or giving the wrong command-and those things have happened to me-however, it doesn’t serve me to worry.

It’s better for me to trust, to walk boldly and confidently forward, and let “God do God.” 

In training, we are taught that once the command is given, especially on the street corner, there is no going back. The dog has the total control; for good or for bad. Ninety-nine percent of the time it is good. Am I going to worry about the remaining one percent? No. I have to trust my dog. I have to trust spirit. I have to believe that no matter what, our love and commitment for one another will keep us safe.

Likewise, I can’t worry about tripping over cracks in the sidewalks and falling. Will that happen? Yes. And let me tell you, when you fall at four-miles per hour, you know you have fallen. We will have cracks in life, and we will trip over them. The thing is, how do we get up from them? Do we sit on the walk and cry? Do we ask for help? Do we stand up and brush ourselves off and walk on? 

We do all of that at different times. It all depends on how hard we fall and how banged up we are. 

Isn’t that like life?

We all need assistance crossing our streets and getting up after falls. It’s okay. We don’t have to be stoic all the time. I find it best to trust my guide, my dog, my Spirit when crossing the psychological and physical streets in life. At the crossroads, it’s always good to stop, listen (for cars), choose, then move forward. 

I challenge you to trust God, like I follow my dog, and let go of your fears. This will lead you forward in living an Unstoppable, Unforgettable, and Unbelievable life.

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Comments

  1. Ann

    Beautifully written and really thought provoking Gail. Thank you for sharing these valuable words.

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