Breaking the Cycle

     This piece is a continuation of the story in last month’s magazine about Bill.

Bill is now living with his forever family in southern California, for Bill and his family it is definitely a happy ending.

      In an effort to get Bill from Oklahoma to California I contacted friends that I knew to participate in rescue groups around the country. Bingo, a lady from Collie rescue had a contact that organized dog transport all across the United States. This wonderful woman Joan, spent her time setting at her computer contacting and organizing people to fill time and distance spots that would get these dogs all across the country one to two hour legs at a time. The journey for Bill and three other dogs would include seventeen different legs or hand off points. At the end Bill and two others even flew from one point to another.

Each person donating their time, energy and fuel, I was amazed how all of these wonderful people contributed to such a great united cause; made my heart sing.

     My husband and I were planning a trip to Durango, Colorado so when some of the legs from Oklahoma City to Albuquerque New Mexico could not be filled we volunteered to fill the spot.

     Bill had been in my home for two weeks so we knew him well. Two Border Collies were going to a rescue in Riverside, Calif. and one Siberian husky was going to end her journey at a rescue in Albuquerque.

      This story is about my experience with Dina, the Siberian Husky.

      I noticed on the run sheet that told us about each dog that Dina had been abused and was a “high flight risk”, two collars and leashes recommended at all times. Our leg of this journey was nine hours. The dogs would need at least one rest stop and potty break.

      On a rainy Tuesday morning we set out with Bill from Tulsa, Oklahoma to New Castle to pick up the other three dogs.  Dina and the two Border Collies had had a lay over in New Castle waiting for Mac, my husband to pick them up, then on to Albuquerque.

      The lady,            that so graciously agreed to keep the three dogs while they were waiting for us had to go to work so we would be picking them up by ourselves.  The Border Collies were very energetic and a little hard to handle, but no problem. We were instructed to have Mac stay far away while retrieving Dina because she was deathly afraid of men.

     Dina had two collars on and I attached two leashes so walking her to the SUV was easy.  She did not know how to jump up into the crate in the back of the SUV, it was when I went to touch her body and lift her up when everything fell apart. She whimpered and scuttled over and threw herself against a near by fence, trembling. She rolled onto her back and the look of terror in her beautiful, human like blue eyes made me start to cry. So then I couldn’t see.  I tried for a long time to pick her up out of the mud and get her into the SUV but I was not strong enough. My husbands help was needed, so I finally called him over and hoped for the best. By this time, I am covered in mud and sobbing, and I am thinking “what kind of a monster could have done this to this dog’.

      Mac is a sweet soul and Dina’s reaction to him was not as expected.  I rolled her over and she allowed Mac to lift her into the SUV. We were on our way to Albuquerque.

     As an animal communicator I often help people with abused animals, most of the time remotely. I had never personally looked into the eyes of such wounding, I had felt it but the combination of feeling and visual knocked me off my feet.

     The next few hours were spent thinking about my reaction and what it could mean.

     I have to admit my first thought was to harm the person responsible for the harm done to Dina, but that did not feel right to my heart.

     When I ask Dina, the response I received was like that of many dogs in her situation.  No anger toward the person, only fear and she commented that they did not understand her and she was often clueless as to what was expected of her from the people. Many times the adorable puppy is purchased by people not knowing how to teach the dog what is necessary to coexist with in the family, nor do they seek help.  Couple this with a tendency to take fear and anger out on others and you have a very unfortunate combination.

      A word kept coming to my mind “punishment”. Many of us have been programmed for generations when wrong is done, punishment is the only answer.

     I have read a lot in the last few years about the shift that is occurring around the year 2012. That part of this shift is our society changing from a mostly negative environment to a more positive one; that we are changing to a more matriarchal society from the patriarchal one that we have lived in for centuries. This means to me that the masculine heavy fighting and war mentality will change into a more feminine, intuitive, problem solving environment. Anyone that I talk to about this says, ‘yes I am ready’.

      Often I have ask my self how can that happen, how would it look and feel?  The word punishment brought all this up for me and I wanted an answer to my question. I realized our core reaction to situations like Dina’s would have to change. If it did the environment that created the fear in Dina would never happen.  But how do we understand it?

     I took Dina on a shamanic journey with me, I saw the angry eyes of the person who hit her. But I didn’t stop there. I went back further and saw the same fear as Dina’s in the eyes of this person as a five year old. This fear later turned into anger. This pattern was the same for three lifetimes back. Also the absolute believe that punishment was the only way resulted in justified violence against another. It is time to break this cycle and the only way to do it compassion toward the person doing the harming.

      I remembered a story about a Native American family that boy had killed their son out of anger. Instead of punishing the boy, the family brought him into the family; healing all of the experiences that resulted in the boy’s anger. The boy turned out to be a wonderful person in the village.  When the white man asks the family about how they could do this for some one that had caused such a tragedy in their family, they responded “the tragedy would have been to waist two lives”. Now is the time to look at the deep core beliefs and begin to change them. There are so many modalities for healing now, instead of judging some one as bad, recognize everyone has the spark of God or  Creator. Sending a loving or understanding thought and steer some one to the right person for help, and break the cycle. What a wonderful thought, never looking into the eyes of fear again.