The Way of Animals: Being Present

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This post was written by: Gailstrail

My canine friend Pieper keeps me in the present…a big lesson for me! Pieper is always tugging at my heart, looking up at me, saying, “where are you, I’m here, lets go for a walk”. What could possibly be better than a walk in the woods? When I’m there, nothing is better. The sights and smells; lush greens and wild flowers, I inhale and the fragrance of the wilderness fills me with a wild embrace and I never want to leave the woods.

Pieper and I begin our walk on a trail near Cheyenne Mountain. The trail is shaded with lush wild green; scrub oak, spruce and pine. Wild flowers are abundant; Fairy Trumpets, Mouse Eared Chickweed, Evening Primrose, Fireweed, Shooting Stars, Globeflower and Paint brush. A creek weaves in and around the trail as the trail winds its way up the mountain. I watch Pieper run effortlessly across the trail and up and down the sides of the mountain. In order for me to take a close look at the life and beauty around me I must stop. I’m breathless from the hike and become intoxicated as I inhale the sweetness surrounding me. The sounds and smells of the city are almost forgotten and human industry and development do not exist. I long for the forest to gobble me up! I want to become lost in the lush green and sweet smell of the wilderness.

Pieper knows where we’re headed. She darts ahead some 50 or so yards, turns, looks at me and says, “come on, we’re almost there”. The last 300 yards is in full sun and it’s hot. Pieper disappears and in a few minutes returns wet and oh, so happy. I’m happy too. If I had her tail, it would be wagging. She wags for both of us. I reach the reservoir to find her swimming in sparkling crystal clear water and mountains shimmer in the reflection; the beauty takes my breath away.

Others with their canine friends dot the shore line as they play fetch the ball. These angel beasts charge the water, tails wagging at lightning speed as they splash in a race to fetch a ball, any ball. Forget what ball belongs to whom, they don’t care, any ball will do. With one exception, Pieper must have her ball. She will not fetch another. Initially, this seemed strange to me and I wondered how she could tell the difference. Then I realized that Pieper spends a lot of time rolling around on her ball. Now, I understand, she’s putting her scent on it! Ah, now it is clear to me what the rolling around on the ball is about. I thought she was doing massage with her ball.

Pieper is anxious to join in the ball fetching; I dig the ball out and place it in the ball thrower, making sure Pieper is aware of where I’m throwing it. Pieper is a strong swimmer and swims toward the middle of the reservoir, grabs the ball and swims back to shore. Here’s the thing. Pieper now believes the ball is hers…and it is, she really wants me to throw the ball again; however, she wants to play her game. Her game is of course, ‘I want you to take the ball from me’. This game consists of her putting the ball in front of me, and then as I start to grab it, she quickly takes it. We play this for awhile, until she finally drops the ball, backs away and sits. This is my cue to throw the ball again. We do this for almost an hour. Until I tell her, “okay, it’s time for you to explore”. I distract her while I put the ball into a plastic bag and back into my pack.

Now, it’s my time to sit back and watch. It’s interesting to watch what catches Pieper’s attention. She wades and looks underneath the water, something will catch her eye and her head goes under to retrieve whatever it is that caught her eye. I’ve timed her underwater for 20 seconds! After a couple of hours we head home, happy and relaxed from fun in the sun.

Oh, an important thing to remember about your canine friend. After playing in the water, there’s good chance water has gotten into their ears. When I get home, I take a tissue and carefully dry the inside of Pieper’s ears. I also pay close attention to how her ears are falling. If one of them is dropping lower than the other, I’ve found it an indication that something is in her ear. If this is the case, I take a close look at her ear and feel its temperature. If I find that one of her ears is a little pinker and hotter to the touch than the other. I use a Pet Ear Cleaner to clean her ear and I keep a close check on it for the next few days.

As much as I love the woods, I probably wouldn’t go there nearly as much if I had not had such incredible angel beasts in my life. The love and responsibility for these canines kept and keeps me on the trails. Having this frequent contact to the woods has kept me in touch with nature. And nature keeps me in touch with a connection I would never make unless I visited the forest. Though I’m able to categorize and find names for all its parts; when I go there, I feel a wildness beating and somehow know that I’m connected to it. The connection makes me feel strong, alert and apart of the incredible invisible energy force that fills the universe. And watching The Way of Animals always puts me on a precious path!

Happy trails!