When my mother, father and I moved from that extended family situation and into our own home, we were finally able to get a dog from a friend of my father’s whose mixed breed dog had puppies.  I remember I was the most excited ten year old boy ever because I was finally able to have a dog of my own!  Many of the puppies were running around in my fathers friend’s basement, but one was a little bit slower and more deliberate, and made his way over to me and gently rested against my leg. That would be my very first experience of a dog “finding me.”  We named him “Patches” because of the black, white and tan sections of color in his coat, and he was to be my best friend for seventeen years.

Patches was a hunter by nature, had amazing aerial abilities, enjoyed climbing, and could even scale a five foot high vertical rock wall.  He had many gifts to offer, but I think the biggest one was teaching me that if you pay close attention to dogs, you can really learn about their personalities and they will communicate with you and love you even more.  We shared many adventures growing up together and he loved his long life very much.  At the age of twenty seven I was getting ready to leave on a long tour of Europe, I could sense that we might not see each other again in this life.  He was frail and slow at seventeen years of age, and I knew I would be gone for many months on a USO tour playing music to entertain our troops overseas.  I spent many days with him telling him that I loved him, and that I would be gone for a long time - but that I was not abandoning him and that I would be back and we could play together again if he would hang on.  I also told him it was alright if he couldn’t, and that we would see each other again another time.  I never told my father about this, and I was heartbroken when I returned from the tour of Europe and found out that he had Patches euthanized because our beloved dog seemed to be in a great deal of pain. I did not understand then, but now I don’t blame my dad anymore because I know he loved Patches too, and did what he thought was best.  My last visual image of Patches sitting quietly on our living room floor will stay with me forever. I think we both “knew” but did not want to admit it at the time…

I know this seems very sad, but something wonderful happened that I have to share with you to make this part of the story complete.  By retracing my tour itinerary after I returned home and learned what had happened, I was able to figure out my exact location on the day Patches left us.  I was in the Sinai peninsula region of Egypt.  I was very restless and could not sleep on that particular night, and I went outside and sat under the starlit sky that had had shined above for thousands of years over the great pyramid, the sphinx, and now me as I could tell something was not right.  I could not put my finger on it, and then a large Egyptian cat (just like the statues that guard the tombs of the pharaohs) came to me and nuzzled me, licked my face and sat in my lap until dawn.  It was then that I knew that Patches was safe, secure, and on his way to eternal peace, and that those cats did indeed have a grand purpose as guardians of the afterlife.

A few weeks later on that same USO tour, a pack of large, wild dogs like Rottweilers befriended me while the band and I were stationed in Turkey.  No one could figure out exactly what was going on as these big dogs would seek me out, play with me and even show me the birds they had hunted down for food before they would go off and eat.  Everyone else was very wary of them, but I became a part of their family for a week before I had to move on.

After I returned home to the US , we decided to try to live without a dog for awhile because the ordeal with Patches was very difficult.  An interesting thing began to happen though, as I began to find stray dogs on my travels.  I found them while hiking in the woods, playing in the park, driving on the street, and one even followed me home as I was out for a walk.  I managed to locate the owners of the dogs who had tags, and they were very grateful, while I dropped the untagged others off along with donations at “no kill” shelters.  It just seemed to happen every four to six months over the course of five years, and I was glad to help these lovely animals stay off the streets and be safe.

As these canine capers unfolded in my life, I studied psychology at Temple University, and had also begun studying healing arts and martial arts, as well.  As I learned more, I realized that I was in a state of bliss when helping the dogs, and my hands would feel very “alive.”  Later on, I would find that this was one of the characteristics of a modality of healing called Reiki, and I then studied it for five years to become a certified master healer.

After years of organically rescuing and helping these dogs, one of my best friends asked if I could help her and her husband find a dog of their own.  I happily agreed, but strangely, no dogs were coming my way.  We then visited some shelters, and one day while she was looking at a dog in one of these places, I followed my instinct to venture to a different aisle, and as I passed one particular cage that was on the upper level of a two tiered configuration, a dog blasted into the cage door with it’s arms and legs spread out, chest smashed into the fencing, and what can only be described as a big smile on her face as she bounced backwards while looking at me.  I am convinced that if there was no door on the cage, that dog would have wrapped her self right around my head!  She had a grin on her face like she had been waiting for us, and I said to my friend “Hey, I think we have something here!”  She came over, asked about its history, and if the dog could be let out of the cage into the yard.  After being told the dog was found wandering the mean streets of Camden, New Jersey, this dog was let out and hit the ground running! She circled the yard at racing speed in a giant figure eight and upon her return, crashed chest first into my shin, then laid down on her back in between all of us and that was it!  After the necessary shots and spaying, my friend had her dog.

I soon became “Uncle John” and watched the dog, now known as “Maggie” whenever they went on vacation.  I also enjoyed just stopping by and playing with her since they lived around the corner from my house, and I found myself visiting their yard  to spend time with this cute Basenji mix. In the summer I’d bring her cold water and in the winter I’d put my Reiki hands on her and place her inside my large, heavy coat to keep her warm.  After a few years, my friends had to relocate to an apartment that did not allow dogs, so I was the first one they called to offer Maggie to, and of course I said “Yes!”

I was a new dad, and Maggie and I soon became inseparable.  She drove in my car with me, hiked in the woods with me, kept me company as I rehabbed my house, and looked after my every move.

After paying close attention to her for more than ten years now, I am convinced she is so smart that if she had opposable thumbs, she would be driving our car!  She is an amazing watchdog, hunter, friend and I think, a mind reader.  She listens to spoken words and seems to understand speech. There are so many stories about her that I am compiling them to turn into a book, as well as another book about our other dog, Elvis.

I literally rescued Elvis from a street corner after seeing him nearly get hit by a bus in an early morning rush hour fracas.  He was a ball of energy, trying to hump a frightened old lady’s dog, and when no one would help or could identify him, I pulled him off the other dog and sat down on some steps to figure out what to do next.  As I sat there, he came over to me frightened and shaking, and gently placed his entire head into my right armpit.  I looked down and realized he was in bad shape.  He was full of cuts and scrapes, his skin was bright red, there were notches carved in his tail and he looked muscular yet starving – he was obviously an abused fighting dog.  I lifted my right arm and he gently looked up at me.  I looked into his jaundiced, yellow eyes and realized I was probably his last chance.  Many vet bills and Reiki sessions later he was healthy, but he and Maggie did not get along for awhile.  It took many months of supervised association before they accepted each other, and he finally learned that although he was younger, stronger, and larger, Maggie was definitely in charge.

Elvis is a wonderful Staffordshire Terrier, but is the kind of dog that seems to create drama wherever he goes. There have been many unusual incidents and injuries to him, and they will become a book.  The most dramatic event was a fifteen foot fall from an ice covered ledge in a public park. Although I was very close by, he slipped while sniffing around up high, hit the ground with a sickening thud, and broke one of his rear legs.  I had to carry him across a snow covered field and also  through most of that icy winter. It was a challenge for us to help his leg and hip heal correctly.  It’s been a highly amusing six years with him so far, and let me just say that I’m very glad I’m a healer.

One of the good things that happened because of Elvis’ misadventures was that I began to learn a form of acupressure therapy called Kiatsu as part of my path to earning a second degree black belt in the Japanese martial art of Aikido Kokikai.  I was learning how to use my energy and the energy of others to remain safe in a self defense setting, but I also thought it would be wise to learn how to use this life force energy, or “ki” to heal as well. I’ve studied and healed earnestly for nearly a decade now, and have helped many people and animals along the way.

My partner Jaye and I have one more dog, who is also a rescue.  She is a five pound Chihuahua named Lucy, and watching her cuddle with our pitbull Elvis is all the proof anyone needs to see that peace is possible if you just give it a chance. 

Lucy had been “telling” me that she did not feel well, so we took her to our veterinarian.  Lo and behold, she needed many of her teeth pulled as she was an old lady of ten at the time.  I gave her healing energy before the surgery and once we got her home after a successful operation, she was out of it for many hours.  When she woke up, I went over to her to begin Reiki healing, and with Jaye as my witness, she began what can only be described as talking out loud to me – about the surgery. She made a combination of warbles, tones and what we have since named “snurgles” to tell me about what happened.  Jaye had previously owned Lucy for six years before we met and told me she had never seen or heard anything like that come from the little dog.  After that, Lucy sensed her “talking” worked, and has continued snurgling to this day when she needs to communicate with us. 

I receive many calls from those who know of my reputation as “the dog guy” and I visit their homes and help their animals.  I have brought relief to many of our four legged friends, including alleviating arthritis pain from a Doberman named Eddie, and helping soothe the ravenous pain from cancer in another dog named Veddha.

PS: I am allergic to cats, and therefore cannot treat them. As for my feline friend that night in the desert, I was absolutely fine and still cannot explain it…