Monthly Archives: August 2015

Sadie, Angels, Guides and Timing

This week, my husband and I are on vacation. We went away and had a wonderful time in Julian and are taking a few days for ourselves here. Yesterday, we went to the library and had a lot of fun looking up the genealogy of my family. My grandmother’s name was Sadie. We spent the better part of the day doing that.

SadieToday we did some shopping, came home to settle in for dinner with the cats, when out of the blue, an adorable chocolate lab, probably 80-100 lbs, with a greying muzzle, showed up at our screen door. Let’s be clear. This was not an animal who was investigating, looking here, looking there, this was a dog that came right up to our door and stood there as if to say, “I’m here.”

The sweetest dog you can imagine, she followed me into the back yard as my husband frantically worked to get the cats into the bedroom so they wouldn’t see him, as that would not have been the road to harmony in our cat-driven household.

This beautiful and muscular dog, was as calm and compliant as any dog I have ever encountered. Once we corralled the cats and set down some water for her, her being secured in the back yard, we ventured out into the neighborhood for the first order of business, to borrow a leash and collar. The neighbors across the street were happy to oblige.

It was a quarter to five, we had just enough time to rush her to the vets to see if she was chipped. As if she knew us and had done it a million times before, she jumped into the back seat of the truck, laying down to brace herself with every turn, like a pro. On the way, we tried to call Rancho Coastal Humane Society,rchs a non-kill shelter I used to volunteer at doing Reiki. We kept asking Siri to find it, but she couldn’t understand us. I resolved to ask the vets to call them immediately to ask them to stay open, pending our findings, but upon walking in, they scooted us into an air conditioned room (I’m sure the dog loved this on this 95 degree day) and I completely forgot. I was just glad to be there as the vet tech went out to get the chip scanner.

We were elated to hear they found an Avid chip, but that elation quickly changed to sigh, when we discovered that the chip had never been properly registered. They did find the name of the vet’s office who inserted the chip and called, but they stopped using Avid roughly 5 years ago and had no record of the dog’s person or people. We only knew the vet’s office was a good, 40-50 miles away.

It now was five minutes after five o’clock. The Rancho Coastal was now closed. The vet techs suggested the county animal shelter, which was open until 5:30pm but, for us, that is not an option. Before we left, the vet techs graciously gave us some dog food, but we were in a bind. One of our cats could have dealt with having a dog in the back yard, but the other one, not so much. He has severe PTSD from years of construction work on the house, preceded by several traumatic moves, and traumatic hospitalizations. This was not going to fly.

And it didn’t. When we got home, both cats were upset, not only from being locked up .. for the second time this day .. in a very hot house, but my PTSD baby, Makana,DSC01836 was beside himself. He knew something was going on, he just didn’t know what. We were getting home just around their dinnertime.

While I frantically made calls to lab rescue organizations (one which was closed, the other refused to help) and anyone I knew who might know someone who could take a dog for the night, my husband went out and fed our new found friend. He then rushed in to feed the cats, so that we could take her on a walk, hoping she could show us where she lived.

I’m not sure why I felt we needed to turn left out of the driveway, but I did, and so did she. As we ventured off, I asked my spirit guides to help us find her people. We went up and down talking to people, asking if they knew her. Some very helpful, some complacent. One couple was very interested and helpful, pointing out houses where they knew there were dogs. The interesting thing is, this information was salient in our directional decision-making.

We went to the first place, a woman named Jenn was very concerned, but didn’t know the dog. So we turned around and went the other way towards the other house we had heard there were dogs. Both my husband and I had the feeling that the dog was from around the neighborhood and hadn’t been out very long. She was clearly well taken care of, and you could tell she had recently had on a collar. As we did an about face, Michael said that he felt we should be turning to the right of our house. I said fine, but we should go across the street and around the corner first for this lead on the ‘house with lots of dogs’, thinking that they would know more dogs in the neighborhood.

As the dog ‘walked my husband’ on one side of the street, I went door to door several houses, and was subsequently pointed elsewhere. I met one woman, Jane, also very concerned who said she would have taken her for the weekend, but was already pet sitting another animal.

As I crossed back across the street, where Michael was waiting with the pup on the corner, I said, “Let’s go down this street and circle back around.” My thinking was we would hit the direction my husband wanted to go on the backside. (I came to find out he didn’t really understand my thinking because his thought was “Why would we go down *this* street?)

We tried another house, to no avail. Our anxiety rose, knowing how difficult it would be for us to look after her for the night. I said, ‘let’s cross to the shady (i.e.: cool) side of the street.’ (Again, we’re in a heat wave situation here, which didn’t make things any easier.)

cazaderoAs we were crossing the street, the dog came up to me but I didn’t notice. Michael said, “She’s trying to get your attention.” I told her, “I”m sorry, sweetie, we’re going to find your mommy and daddy.” All of a sudden, we saw a woman, in a half frantic, half “are my eyes seeing what I think I’m seeing’ state, coming towards us. She called out something, but neither of us heard what she said. Our hearts skipped a beat. All at once, the both of us called out, “Do you know this dog???” She came running over and said, “Yes! She’s my daughter’s dog! We’ve been driving around looking for her for hours!”

She ran in the house to get her daughter, who was visiting from Orange County (40-50 miles away.) The sense of relief on everybody’s part was palpable. Not the least of which, my cats. “Sadie” was safely home with her people and all was right with the world.

Why, now, did I find this story interesting enough to write a blog post on it? I’ve found and reunited animals many times, even ones seemingly through divine intervention, but none to the extent of this. Let’s summarize:

• Sadie walked straight up to our door as if she had lived here for years.

• She got into our car and related to us as if she knew us from birth. (These two things alone helped us understand that there was no question this was a ‘meant to be situation’)

• We asked Siri to connect us to Rancho Coastal, but she couldn’t understand us. I resolved to have the vets call the minute we got there to have them stay open for us, just in case, but forgot, even though I said I would do so, not two minutes before walking in.

• If we had not turned the direction we turned, met the people we met, been given the ‘tips’ we had been given to turn around, talked to the people we talked to for a specific amount of time, and then turned down a street that my husband didn’t even understand going down at that specific moment we would have missed this woman. 2 minutes either way and we would have missed her seeing us walking down the street with Sadie. She was about to get into her car to drive around again, and the way the houses are situated, with no windows looking out on the street, there’s no way her daughter would have seen us pass by.

• Sadie (my grandmother’s namesake, who we had spent a day searching for the day before) had her guardian angels working overtime today.

• My spirit guides worked overtime hearing my request for assistance.

• And coming back around to Sadie just walking up to the screen door as if she knew us, as if she had been told exactly where to go and who to trust, is the defining image I will have in my mind. I’ve never seen anything like it, when I walked out the door, she, without a collar, just walked with me into the back yard as if it were hers.

candle-starfilterWe were suppose to get a visitor tonight. Sadie was suppose to find the two people who she knew would not, could not, ignore or shoo her, but resolve to do whatever it took to find her people and get her home safely. Mission accomplished. All is right with the world. Thank you Sadie for bringing your energy into our lives, thank you spirit guides for helping us find her people, to the minute, and thank you Sadie’s guardian angels for sending her to a home of love and commitment to animals. And, sure, while we’re at it, thank you Grandma Sadie. I never knew you, but somehow it feels like this was a little shoutout from the other side.

The moral of this story is twofold: Trust your instincts to understand when you are the vehicle for divine intervention, no matter how inconvenient it may be for you at the time. There just may be a lost soul that you are intended to help. Secondly, make sure to chip your animals, and if they are chipped, make sure that the information is up-to-date. The amount of agony that will save on everybody’s part will be immeasurable.

Lisa Larson is an Animal Communicator, Medium and Reiki Master.
You can find her at Pawstalk Animal Communication & Reiki

ASK CAAT: Shelters, Dogs and Breeds

Someone asks:

How would you choose a shelter dog? What do I have to consider besides the sex of the dog? My dog is a male, and [we] would like to have another male, but since i found out that another male would be bad idea, we are now thinking what traits should we search in a dog. I ask about a breed, because you kind of know what traits the breed has…

We could adopt a purebred dog as we will likely know how she will behave… or if we decide to have a mixed-breed [sic], how should we pick one? Is there any way we can know if this dog will be a good companion for our Dobie?

Also, if we adopt a purebred dog, what breed has a similar way of living as a Dobie? Because if i put, for example, a basset hound with a doberman, I think it might not be a good combination….. What would you recommend? 🙂

Thanks for the question.

While I understand that breeds may have some commonalities, I am in the camp that they are just generalities. Having spoken to just about every breed I can think of, I cannot say that every time I’ve spoken to a specific breed, they have all the same traits. I’m Jewish, (by nationality) for instance. So, It would be like saying, “All Jewish people have this trait.”

Of course, we know that not to be true in all cases with humans, so just like dog breeds, we are not guaranteed to get that specific trait just because we get that specific breed.

Their upbringing, genealogical line, and socialization are a tremendous influence, as well.Pi How many times have you heard that Pit Bulls are dangerous dogs? Well, they can be if they are taught to be that way, (either intentionally or unintentionally) so can chihuahuas. It’s just that Pit Bulls are strong so a lot of people get them to abuse in that way. The same was said about Dobermans in the 80s. And German Shepards before that. And Rottweillers somewhere in there as well. Pit Bulls are just this generation’s ‘mean dog’. However, if we are talking about breed traits, Pit Bulls are one of the most gentle, family-oriented dogs around. So you can’t just rely on breed and have the expectation that you know what you will get.

I am also in the camp that the same can be said about pure bred dogs. I cannot tell you how often I have had clients call me and say, “I got a pure bred because I thought I would have no problems, but … I’m having this problem.” They may not have all the same problems of a shelter dog, but problems nonetheless. For one thing, you can never be sure, even with reputable breeders, how the animals were treated, or if there were other factors involved.

I spoke with one purebred Doberman who was having aggression issues with dogs. It turned out to be a past life issue! She got much better after the conversation, but my point is, there are just too many variables to think that you know what you are going to get with purebreds. (Besides, purebreds generally have more health issues. Check out this video:)

That said, if you do want a specific breed, let’s tackle that. There are rescue organizations that specialize in nearly every type of breed. So check your area for it when and if you decide on a specific breed. That way, you are both getting your breed, and saving a life.

Whooo. Okay, let’s move onto rescue organizations. (Sorry you asked, now, aren’t you.) 😉 Before I forget, be aware that there are probably more rescue organizations in your area than you are aware of. Most people think it’s just the Humane Society, because they are the most well known. But, for instance, where I live, we have tons of them, that I would never have known about except for that I have either spoken to some of their rescues, or my clients tell me where they got their pups. (We even have one organization who goes down to Baja, Mexico, rescues dogs and brings them back to San Diego. It’s an awesome organization.)

Ok. I agree with possibly getting a female. Again, however, this is not a hard core guarantee. They say that about cats, too, and I live in testosterone valley! Of course, when we brought our youngest into the house, he was just a baby, So, I don’t know how old your guy is, but you might consider getting a puppy, if you can handle it. Depending on your pup’s personality he or she might become very maternal or paternal towards the puppy. Not a guarantee, but a thought.

If it were me, I would go to a reputable rescue organization and not only meet the doggies, but talk to the people there. They work with the doggies every day. They can tell you not only about that breed you’re looking at, they can tell you about *the dog.* They know what his or her personality is. They walk them every day. They feed them every day. They sit and play with them every day. That, I believe is your absolute best bet in finding a dog that has the traits you are looking for.

dog being adoptedFurthermore, I’m not completely certain, but I think … I think … that a lot of rescue organizations might have the option of you allowing the dogs to meet, so they know they get along. I’m not sure about this, but I seem to remember a client telling me this about when she got a dog, so it’s worth at least asking. Hey, look. They want your dog to get along with anyone you adopt. They want that adoption to be forever, too.

The last little thing I will mention is, I don’t know if you’ve ever adopted a dog from a shelter before or not, but once you do, you will probably never again want to buy a pure bred dog. The level of satisfaction you have for saving a life of someone who has had such a terrible one is indescribable. I spoke with one dog in spirit, we were talking about adoption. He said, in effect, “Humans adopt us and take care of our physical needs. In return, we take care of their spiritual needs.” I found this statement so profound, and of course, doing what I do for a living, I certainly know it to be true.

You will never have a more rewarding experience or relationship with an animal than one to whom you are adopting because you want to do it for them, rather than doing it for what you will get out of the deal. Ironically, in return, they will give you so much back.

I’m so glad you asked the question. I hope you will post back and let us know what you decided and all about your new little addition to the family. I have clients who have pairs or packs of dogs that go from the large to small. They play, they love, the large ones seem to instinctively have an understanding about the size and how to be careful when playing.

I think go to the rescue, and allow yourself to let go of thinking so hard about it. Meet some dogs, find the one that chooses you, and check to see that she or he will get along with your pup, through either talking to the volunteers, or doing a meet and greet with your dog, then the universe will have put together the perfect family. 🙂

Good luck with it, sweetie. Can’t wait to hear about your new family member. 🙂


Lisa Larson is an animal communicator and reiki master. You can find her at http://pawstalk.net