Salvation Walks on Four Legs and Wags its Tail!

Live Holistically is a multi-author site.
This post was written by: Gailstrail

I believe Living Holistically is treating humans, animals and the environment as a single system. Is this a mind-boggling concept or a simple truth? Sometimes the answer is in places that keep disappearing. However, salvation walks on four legs and wags its tail! If you understand part or all of what I just said, read on.

Nowhere is Living Holistically more evident than in the four-legged animal we call ‘dog’. Scientists say we have walked with and depended on the ‘dog’ somewhere near 130,000 years (one millennium is a 1000 years).

Two ancient legends speak about our relationship with our canines. The Chinese tell a story about a Great Separation, as do the Native Americans.

Both legends speak of the separation between humans and canines; and how humans lived before this separation. They say humans were able to communicate through telepathy. That we understood and respected all life and nothing was beneath or above us: we were all equal. A marvel of harmony!

Where did this harmony go? Legend says our egos developed and we no longer wanted to travel on the same path as the other animals. We moved away from other creatures and forgot how to communicate with them. We lost most of the holistic approach to life that flows in nature.

The Native American and Chinese legends are almost identical except for one extraordinary difference. When the Great Spirit of the Native American legend decided to create this ‘Great Separation’ an extraordinary event occurred.

Legend says, the Great Spirit of the Native Americans opened a chasm in the earth, and that the Great Spirit wanted to make the separation permanent and kept widening the chasm; Dog looked to Human as the chasm widened and then looked at the other animals. As the chasm continued to widen, Dog looked again at Human and back at the other animals…then at the last possible moment Dog made a powerful leap across the chasm, making a conscious decision to join Humans forever.

In the Native American version of the Great Separation we did not lose our connection with nature. Our canines keep the connection ever present. I believe a key ingredient to keeping our holistic nature alive, is in taking time to make frequent journeys with our canines into the wild. While there, if we listen and watch closely, we can more fully feel and understand our holistic nature.

One evening, I went on a tiny journey with Pieper. We ‘howled’ together. I watched as Pieper transformed. Her eyes got this untamed wildness in them as she howled. What fun to see and hear the wildness in her. I felt pretty wild myself. And wondered about this wildness. What does wildness mean? Webster says to be ‘wild’ is: desolate, uncontrolled, unruly, stormy, uncivilized, fantastic, sensational and barbaric.

Hum, I do understand Webster’s perspective. However, my thought is about what else lurks in the wild. A read about a cat named Oscar in a Providence, R.I. nursing home that has a sixth sense. Oscar can predict when a resident is about to pass away. Pets have extraordinary healing power. Our canines have the ability to know when someone is sick or dying, they sense our emotions. These areas of the ‘wild’ are more difficult to measure and define. We have only scratched the surface of the secrets animals and nature hold.

Something came over me in that ‘howling’ moment with Pieper. I experienced an unusual connection with Pieper; we were as one in the universe. This isn’t the first time I’ve howled, just the first time I’ve talked about getting down on all fours and howling…try it. It’s an exhilarating experience and is sure to bring laughter and an insight not often experienced.

I’ve come to realize that if I want to write about ‘What Makes a Dog Happy?’ I need to watch and listen more closely to what influences Pieper’s behavior. One of Pieper’s most favorite games is fetching a ball. Fetching is the easy part. The game really begins when she brings it back; for her, the fun part is my trying to convince her to give the ball to me. I could take a short cut and give her a cookie, that always works. But what fun is that? I like to come up with more interesting and creative ways; I began massaging her and within a minute she forgot all about the ball. As much as she enjoys the ball play, the massage captured her completely.

While our canines live in our world some boundaries must be set…for their safety and ours. There are many great training methods out there; if you are looking for a gentle and kind way to train your furry companion, you might check out:

‘The Tao of Bow Wow’, by Deborah Wood. The book is based on the principles of Eastern religion and how it can be used effectively to train and strengthen communication between human and dog.

The Dog Whisper, Cesar Millan, “Cesar does not “train” dogs in the sense of teaching them commands like “sit, stay, come, heel,” - he rehabilitates unbalanced dogs and helps “re-train” their owners to better understand how to see the world through a dog’s eyes.”

The story doesn’t end here. Understanding 130,000 years of human and dog relationship takes more than a few blog posts. For a historical account of our furry companion, check out:

Judith Ho, Animal Welfare Information Center National Agricultural Library, U.S. Department of Agriculture Information Resources on Human-Animal Relationships Past and Present

We Humans are caretakers at our best; at worst we think we are masters or owners of canines. We spend billions of dollars attempting to humanize them. We dress them in hats, dresses, pants, bubbles and bangles.

I believe in order for us to go where the canine is supposed to take us; we need to lose our fear of who they are. I believe we have a responsibility to bring them as close to their true nature as we can. These are beasts of the wild and deserve our respect. Do not pick them apart; keep them whole. They can help us unlock many a mystery in life and discover much of our holistic nature.

So, with this said, shut off the computer, close the book, turn off the television and get out into the woods...Salvation does walk on all fours and wags its tail!

Happy Trails!

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The books/ DVD mentioned above can be purchased through Amazon here:

Tao Of Bow Wow - Understanding And Training Your Dog The Taoist Way

Dog Whisperer With Cesar Millan - The Complete First Season

Dog Whisperer With Cesar Millan: The Complete Second Season

Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan - Volume 1

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