December 2020
Supporting the interconnected energy system means understanding the emotional and spiritual aspects of your dog….give a listen to support your dog’s well-being in the world…We are so much more than what meets the eye…..
November 2020
Visual stimulation, sniffs and smells, learning and social interaction are all part of mental well-being. Give a listen for ideas that can benefit your dog on a mental level…..
October 2020
This podcast explores the different aspects of supporting your dog physically. Give a listen for ideas on movement that meets your dog’s life stage….
September 2020
Thought Directs Energy – We come together as Earth’s humanity unified in purpose to clear the path for all to live in peace and harmony through mutual respect, love, compassion, and self-responsibility
September 2020
Creativity – My recent contemplation has inspired me to spice up my life and step into using my un-found gifts, just as I talked about in What is Hidden in August. I blew off the dust of my electric guitar and after a few lessons decided to trade it in for an acoustical Seagull six string guitar. Out of this upgrade blossomed the conversation with Gary Ricchio, my guitar grue, of a nose work jingle. Wha…la…here we are a few weeks later with “Together We Will Be…”
The birth of “Together We Will BE…” gave me an appreciation of the all the moving parts in a song…Gary has tone and rhythm in his bones. His confidence in me has helped me move with the beat and have some fun tapping to the beat and listening, really listening, to radio jingles. The jingle he composed is layered with tambourine, shakers that give the subtle movement of a dog sniffing, guitar cords, arpeggio with a guitar, base drum, side stick, bells, base guitar, and harmony vocals. Then there is my message:
How do you spend time with your dog? Care of your canine and yourself means connecting, developing physically, mentally, emotionally, and having a spiritual connection together. It’s having a wholesome relationship. It’s being and sharing the fullness of life. Enhance your relationship with your dog through fitness, nosework, acupressure, and healing touch. Did you know that a dog’s job is to absorb 40% of your negative human energy? That’s an incredible gift! Well Balanced Dog helps you return this gift by helping you have a better balance and deeper connection to your canine. Contact us to help your dog clear and balance his or her being in the world through fitness, nosework, acupressure, and healing touch. Check out our website at www.dogwellbalanced.com Together we will be….doing nosework. Together we will heal and be healthy. Together we will be…..Well Balanced Dog.
Click below and give a listen on how it came together….of course I added my clients, human and canine….
Take some time and uncover your gifts and have fun….Thanks Gary, Ricchio, GTR Entertainment.
Holding Ourselves in Highest Potential – Have you noticed how the smoke from a grill or a campfire gently and lazily drifts based on the wind & picnic tables, chairs, and other things that it comes in contact with? At the same time , have you noticed your dog chase the birch molecules to the fence, the chair, the flower pot before going to source? The smoke and birch scent encompass and penetrate all in its way.
Our social climate is moving like smoke. My hope for humanity is that each of us not be taken up by this malevolent energy. Rather, may we hold ourselves in our highest potential in who we are. Does this seem hard to tap into with all that is happening? Try tapping into it from how your dog(s) holds you. Then expand that feeling within you.
May each of us be present for ourselves and each other, just as our dog(s) is/are present for us….
August 2020
The Power of Breath – “When the dog’s search starts, notice how the dog’s breathing shifts to sniffing. The quick inhalations give samples of information to the dog as the molecules travel from the environment to their warm moist furnace-filter-like environment. Each nostril pulls in separate packets of information on the olfactory cells, sending information to the brain.”
What is it that you take in with each breath? The past few months have bravely shown the power and true gift each single breath is….Mr. George Floyd and covid masks are a symbol of this and an opportunity for each one of us to reflect. Again, what is it that YOU take in each breath? What do you create as your state of Being with that breath? Select something more than what you have had or did already….reach for something greater……grow into a state of being of “Gratitude,” “Moment to Moment Presence”, “Kind Heart,” “Joy,” “Creativity,” “Patience”…..Pick something that will serve you and a world you want humanity to step into…. My hope is that you bring forth your selection with your highest potential with Spirit moving throughout. We are more than a response to our environment….
While you have fun with your dog who is sniffing for birch, reflect on what you want to breath into your state of being.
What is Hidden – I didn’t know what would happen. Once I released Feather in the hockey rink with the 36 scattered containers, I was curious to see if she would stand there and look at me, run around with a high pitch bark saying “let’s play,” or start searching for the scent of birch, anise, and clove. My seven classmates perched themselves on the edge of the rink as I unclipped the leash from Feather’s collar. She jolted out from me with her nose 12 inches above and parallel to the ground. Within 15 feet, she landed at the first Christmas tin that hid the treasure of birch inside….” So starts out my book “Nosework: To the Dog’s World and Back.” As I reflect on this experience I wonder about all dogs I work with when I do K9 Nose Work. How it is that they can find what is hidden? Yes, there is a biology to it, but I want to go deeper to the fact they search for something they can’t see. And they do it with drive, enthusiasm, and independence. They don’t have to fact check. They trust themselves and go on an adventure of fun!
Humans, it seems to me, would benefit by letting their inner compass guide them. I know for myself I second guess, discard that initial thought, seek the advice of others, check a book or the internet. I may get caught in someone’s agenda. All this stuff is outside of myself. I give away my power and as I have realized, I start to make it a chore that depletes my energy. It takes the fun out of life and I become a less spiritual as a BEing….a human being.
My challenge this week – uncover hidden inner gifts in how to navigate in the outer world. Locate and use your inner compass to led where you need to go and how I respond to what is happening outside yourself. Join me in the search in finding and honoring the gift of inner wisdom. Trust yourself more that trusting the outer world of illusion. With this shift you can “Be in it and not of it.”
July 2020
Being the Change I Want to See in the World – Last month I left you with the question “What one thing did the virus/shelter-in-place bring forth in your life?” In other words, how is your world going to be different?” What was your discovery?
I have been blessed with clients that have allowed me to be part of their life. We have done a number of exercises and had good conversation on how their dog searches for treats/odor this past month. The dogs, in various stages of learning, have grown their skill level in tracking odor, finding source (treat and/or odor), and communicating their findings to their teammate. They each have their own style, method of search and communication, and learning. There is no right or wrong! This is what makes it fun. It is self discovery in different levels of environmental situations. For one dog, the odor may be on a park bench 50 feet and downwind from their position. For another the odor may be hidden under the park bench that is separated by a 10 foot chain link fence. And yet for another, the odor may be upwind, 100 feet away, and tucked between the deep cracked layers of the bark of an old willow tree in a groove of trees.
How are you doing with your self discovery, peeling back the layers of life, and dreaming in your new world? Have you been able to go deeper while you examine your life in the midst of the sound of your mind’s conversations, social media, and the day’s expectations? Today’s energies REQUIRE the human to sort out the environmental demands and search internally. Otherwise, you will just get more of the same. AND remember, you can’t step into your new future with the same thoughts and emotions you have always used. So, what are you in search of? It might be proper self-love, kindness, compassion, bliss, abundance, community…… Be willing to dream, have discipline, give yourself permission to discover just as your dog does as it drives with a light heart to source.
May your path arise up to meet you so you can be the change you want to see in the world.
June 2020
What do I Want to Be Different – Two months of cleaning, organizing, and contemplating. Things in the area are starting to loosen up and people are getting out and about. The thought, “What one thing did the virus/shelter-in-place bring forth in your life?” In other words, how is your world going to be different? I hope it is not the old “normal” or a new “normal.” Let’s not put a cap on humanity.
May 2020
Observation & Reflection – It is Memorial Day weekend. As I sip my morning coffee, I find myself watching the blossoms from the fruit trees take flight from the front window. Some blossoms catch the upwind and head north parallel to the ground. A few minutes later a burst of wind gathers a few more and they travel northeast some taking the right side some taking the left side of my 10 year old tree in front of the house. Their journey temporarily stops in my pine tree that sits near the edge of my home. I wonder if this is how odor molecules of birch act.
Scientists have studies and labeled air movement – laminar flow, turbulent flow, coming plumes, and pooling. Take 5 minutes to google and get a picture in your head of what each looks like….then do a few hides and watch your dog. Can you match their behavior to get an idea of how the air and molecules are moving?
As a human, I can’t see how scent molecules behave. I can imagine how they dance in the environment by watching swirling autumn leaves, floating feathery dandelion seeds, and smoldering campfire. AND I can watch my dog. I love watching dogs explore their world. They are so present doing what they are doing.
This time of COVID-19 has been an opportunity for me to slow my world down to observe, reflect, contemplate the nature of realities and how I want to emerge from this timeout….I hope for this “awareness” for others as well. May we emerge from this “timeout” without fear and embracing the beauty and fullness of our humanity.
April 2020
After reading “Dogs Watch Us Carefully and Read Our Faces Very Well” by Marc Bekoff, PhD contemplate:
Friends are constantly sharing, “Do you know that your dogs are constantly watching you? No really, all the time even if you are in the house and they are outside. They are tracking your energy.” My response has been, “Yes, I am their job” and I continued serving ice tea and pass them the chips. However, hearing this same theme four different times from people the past month, I have become more aware and conscious on what my dogs see in relation to me.
After being sick for 4 days, I noticed Whisper, my 4 year old German Shepherd, runs into the house at every sneeze. He had had a busy 4 days! Feather, my 8 year old black German Shepherd, can be in the kitchen at the backdoor and I can roll irregularly in bed in the morning and she is up on the bed giving me a Good Morning kiss. Yet, I think it is more than the movements as the article talked about….they are aware of my moods. Feather nuzzles her way to my face and gently kisses my tears after an upsetting situation. Whisper comes over to me when I am laughing from a tv program or from a book and his wonderful shepherd nose can flip my phone across the room when he is fed up with me being on this black box too much! Yes, we co-exist and I allow them to respond to me in my environment. Tell me, Feather and Whisper, what else do you have to tell me?
My thought then became focused on what my dogs see in me. AND how can I take this free information, that is given unconditionally, and learn more about myself – for myself and about what all these cameras at intersections, grocery aisles, and cellphones see? When left on you, hey? Yes, the world is watching AND it is my business and yes, I care about how I am in the world. What does your dog tell you about you?
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/201802/how-do-dogs-recognize-human-faces