Rules for being human

Cherie Carter-Scott's rules of life 

('Rules for Being Human')

(Carter Scott references this quotation:) "Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood." (Helen Keller)

Rule One - You will receive a body.
Whether you love it or hate it, it's yours for life, so accept it. What counts is what's inside.

Rule Two - You will be presented with lessons.
Life is a constant learning experience, which every day provides opportunities for you to learn more. These lessons are specific to you, and learning them 'is the key to discovering and fulfilling the meaning and relevance of your own life'.

Rule Three - There are no mistakes, only lessons.
Your development towards wisdom is a process of experimentation, trial and error, so it's inevitable things will not always go to plan or turn out how you'd want. Compassion is the remedy for harsh judgement - of ourselves and others. Forgiveness is not only divine - it's also 'the act of erasing an emotional debt'. Behaving ethically, with integrity, and with humour - especially the ability to laugh at yourself and your own mishaps - are central to the perspective that 'mistakes' are simply lessons we must learn.

Rule Four - The lesson is repeated until learned.
Lessons repeat until learned. What manifests itself as problems and challenges, irritations and frustrations are more lessons - they will repeat until you see them as such and learn from them. Your own awareness and your ability to change are requisites of executing this rule. Also fundamental is the acceptance that you are not a victim of fate or circumstance - 'causality' must be acknowledged; that is to say: things happen to you because of how you are and what you do. To blame anyone or anything else for your misfortunes is an escape and a denial; you yourself are responsible for you, and what happens to you. Patience is required - change doesn't happen overnight, so give change time to happen.

Rule Five - Learning does not end.
While you are alive there are always lessons to be learned. Surrender to the 'rhythm of life', don't struggle against it. Commit to the process of constant learning and change - be humble enough to always acknowledge your own weaknesses, and be flexible enough to adapt from what you may be accustomed to, because rigidity will deny you the freedom of new possibilities.

Rule Six - "There" is no better than "here".
The other side of the hill may be greener than your own, but being there is not the key to endless happiness. Be grateful for and enjoy what you have, and where you are on your journey. Appreciate the abundance of what's good in your life, rather than measure and amass things that do not actually lead to happiness. Living in the present helps you attain peace.

Rule Seven - Others are only mirrors of you.
You love or hate something about another person according to what you love or hate about yourself. Be tolerant; accept others as they are, and strive for clarity of self-awareness; strive to truly understand and have an objective perception of your own self, your thoughts and feelings. Negative experiences are opportunities to heal the wounds that you carry. Support others, and by doing so you support yourself. Where you are unable to support others it is a sign that you are not adequately attending to your own needs.

Rule Eight - What you make of your life is up to you.
You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. Take responsibility for yourself. Learn to let go when you cannot change things. Don't get angry about things - bitter memories clutter your mind. Courage resides in all of us - use it when you need to do what's right for you. We all possess a strong natural power and adventurous spirit, which you should draw on to embrace what lies ahead.

Rule Nine - Your answers lie inside of you.
Trust your instincts and your innermost feelings, whether you hear them as a little voice or a flash of inspiration. Listen to feelings as well as sounds. Look, listen, and trust. Draw on your natural inspiration.

Rule Ten - You will forget all this at birth.
We are all born with all of these capabilities - our early experiences lead us into a physical world, away from our spiritual selves, so that we become doubtful, cynical and lacking belief and confidence. The ten Rules are not commandments, they are universal truths that apply to us all. When you lose your way, call upon them. Have faith in the strength of your spirit. Aspire to be wise as wisdom is the ultimate path of your life, and it knows no limits other than those you impose on yourself.

Amazingly good with dogs?

Recently I received a letter from Andrea in Belgium who wrote to me because a friend had told her

...how amazingly good you are with dogs...

I know that people are saying that about me and I accept it. But since I received the message from Andrea I kept on asking myself what had happened in my life that enabled me to become "amazingly good with dogs".
Today I think I have found it and I want to explain what I discovered about dogs, about humans and most of all about myself.
Let me first state that when my wife Béatrice decided to have our first dog, I was not even interested. But as soon as our first beautiful Labrador arrived I was hooked. Nevertheless it took me a decade to start discovering the real importance of dogs in my life. It was nothing less than a revolution brought about by my marriage to Eva Schoenfeld, living with dogs, and becoming a member of the ManKindProject and a student of martial arts.
Let me tell you in a few words what I discovered. 

Our first dog had to suffer from my lack of understanding her. I was taught to use a choke chain and to use it violently. As I did not have a clue about what the dog was telling me I only copied what the well meaning amateur-instructors of the "dog training club" showed me. What changed my approach completely was not a series of workshops, not attending lots of courses or reading many books about dog training. No! What changed my overall approach to life was what I learned about myself.

My eyes started opening only after my initiation as a "New Warrior" in the ManKindProject. Soon after my initiation in Magaliesburg (South Africa) I started doing men's work in men's circles. This work enabled me to very slowly discover that I was not alone with my fears, my unanswered questions and my feelings of uncertainty.
I will now summarize what I learned during my work in the circles of men.

First I learned how to accept the existence of my shadow. For us New Warriors our shadow is "everything we hide, repress and negate as a man".
To give you an example, if I see myself as a warrior, then I also accept that my shadow is the coward in me.

The Second important result of my work in the circles of men is that I learned to accept the existence of my fears. Most of all I have accepted that within me there is always the fear of failure, the fear of poverty, the fear of abandonment and the fear of not being good enough. These fears are always present.
But the more I observe and accept the presence of these fears in me, the less they control me. On the contrary, I can now speak and write openly about these fears in the same manner as I can be open about the presence of my shadow.

Thirdly, because of the fact that I accept the existence of my shadow and the presence of my fears I do not need to use my social mask anymore.
In my case the social mask I used was the mask of the arrogant, successful businessman and I had been using it for the major part of my life. Hiding behind that social mask was a young child who wanted to please everyone by being a good boy. Carl Gustav Jung has written extensively about our shadow and our mask.

The Fourth important result of my work in the circles of men was to accept that, as a man, I have feelings. I do not only accept that I have feelings. I also know that I am allowed to identify and to show them without shame. Accepting the importance of feelings in my life enables me to listen to my gut feeling whenever I make decisions.Trusting my own feelings produces confidence and calm assertive energy. It is exactly the calm assertive energy that is needed in our non-verbal communication with dogs (and horses).

The more I could observe and accept the existence of my shadow, the presence of my fears, the use of my social mask, the more I started noticing the same symptoms in the body language of other humans.

It is obvious that the more we use a social mask and the more we pretend, the less we are real and authentic human beings. Dogs notice this immediately.

Because being real and authentic is exactly what dogs are. They never pretend. They do not have a social mask. They never lie and are always clear in their communication. Today it is my conviction that whoever wants to live with dogs has the obligation to learn how to understand them correctly. Unfortunately it is quite impossible to clearly understand dogs if we do not understand ourselves. How can we for instance correctly understand sentient beings who never pretend, when we are pretending all the time?

Living with dogs and doing my work in men's circles allowed me to observe my own behaviour around them.

The more I got to know about myself, the better the communication became between me and my dogs, but also between me and other humans.

As I had (and still have) the opportunity to observe the behaviour of hundreds of dog loving people it dawned upon me that most of the "problems" between humans and dogs were (are) not caused by the "bad" dogs but by the unnatural behaviour of the humans. According to me we are living lives that are disconnected from nature. It means that we are disconnected from ourselves, from our fellow human beings, from animals and from the universe. We are living unconsciously. We can feel the emptiness this has created inside and we unsuccessfully try to fill that emptiness with "entertainment".

My remedy for the "problems" between dogs and humans is not that I teach my clients how to train their dogs. No!. My remedy is to teach them how to change their behaviour. For that reason I closed my three dog training schools and stopped with what is called "dog training".

Teaching human beings how to change their behaviour is of course much more difficult than training a dog. But it is also very satisfying.

Denial

Why is it so difficult to change our behaviour?

According to my own experience it is so difficult because most of us go into denial when somebody advises us to do something about our behaviour.

Let me give you an example.
I remember quite well how, each time my ex-wife Eva (bless her) made a remark about my behaviour I immediately went into denial. I always experienced what she said as a personal attack. Unconsciously I switched on my resistance, closed up like an oister and tried to forget what she had just said.

Today I know how well meaning she was and how she wanted to help me.
But I can also see that I was not ready to accept what she told me. Each time I went into denial and closed my eyes, my heart and my ears to her.
Today it is remarkable for me to realize how easy it is to accept what I experience in men's circles, remembering that I denied it when Eva spoke about exactly the same things years ago. The price I had to pay for my denial and my resistance was my divorce from Eva.

Martial arts
Besides my work in circles of men, there is something else that helped me tremendously in getting to know myself. And of course it also helps me in my work with dogs and their carers.
It is my work as a student and an instructor of martial arts.
Let me explain.

First of all the practice of martial arts has nothing to do with sports.
Today sports is a global industry tainted by lots of money, corruption, hooligans, criminals, violence and drugs. Sportsmen and -women are the modern gladiators playing their part on the tv screens for the unconscious masses who want to be entertained.

As a practioner of martial arts I am not a sportsman but an artist and my first target is to transform my body into a work of art. But my ultimate goal is to transform my life into a work of art.

This is the example I am living for my companions and my pupils in the dojo.

Learning and teaching martial arts is very similar to learning and teaching how to behave correctly with dogs. It is very similar because both activities are based upon first, the oral transmission of information and second, upon following the example given by the teacher.

It is completely different from what I learned at school and at the university.
At the university we had professors who were (according to me) the most horrible and inadequate teachers. The way they behaved and spoke was something I never wanted to copy. But these (according to me) very akward and emotionally immature men had...written many books.

It were these books we had to study and to memorise. Looking back at my time as a student I see myself as a young and inexperienced parrot who replicated and reproduced what the professors had written. A good parrot got good notes and in the end an academic title. But during all the years I was a student I did not learn anything about real life and myself.

I had to wait for another 40 years before I could start discovering myself.

When I enter the home of clients for the first time they often say:"Oh, we have never seen our dogs behave like this!"

My standard answer is:"Yes, I know, their behaviour is different because I am here and they can feel my energy." This calm ascertive energy I feel around dogs is the result of my work in men's circles and my practice of martial arts. It is NOT the result of attending many courses in dog training.

I remember the two Greek words "gnoti seauton" from the Greek lessons in the ateneum.

I knew it signified "know yourself" but I did not understand what that was supposed to be.

Today I know that as soon as I know myself, it is impossible to have problems with my dogs, with my fellow human beings and of course.....with myself.

Thank you Andrea for inspiring me.

Love and blessings from Bruno

Giver or receiver?

Dear Friends/Liebe Freunde

Recently I received a (according to me) brilliant message from Michael, who is one of my MKP-Brothers. For that reason I am sharing it with you.

Dear Bruno,

Are you a Giver or Receiver?

 About 30 years ago I went bankrupt. My close friends gave our family food and money every day until months later I had found an income producing job. This bankruptcy interlude was one of the happiest periods of my life – yes happiest. To think that people so loved and cared for my family that they would go out of their way to ensure we could survive.
I did not beat myself up for losing my business and I was not too proud to accept the food that was given to our family of six. It was a totally new experience for all of us. Our children took it in their stride as we shared our gratitude openly. Some of the Givers were too embarrassed to knock on our front door and so left anonymous gifts for us – all the same, they were gracious Givers.
 What type of Giver are you? What type of Receiver are you? Generally we tend to focus on giving as “goodness” of feeling good or intending good.
Do you take compliments bashfully? Do you say, “Aw, it was really nothing”? Do you tell them to stop teasing you?
One of the big reasons most people don’t reach their full potential, financially or otherwise, is that they are very, very poor Receivers. Your Inner-e wants to receive everything with kindness and dignity. But often the outer personality has ideas of its own.
And then there’s that phrase that a lot of people heard when they were young, and we still hear it: Its better to give than to receive.” This makes receiving inferior to giving. From my experience, it is more difficult to receive than to give – it takes more inner courage to receive with gratitude than to give for whatever reason. Often there may also be an ulterior motive in giving to anyone.
How does it feel to give, especially when that person didn’t ask you for anything yet you knew they were in need? Most people say it feels great, yes? It’s especially the grateful receivers that make us feel even better about our giving, but what was your motive in giving? Could have it been for a tax rebate or to save a starving family?
So here’s your practice. No more returning compliments for a specific time! If someone gives you a compliment, you’re not allowed to give them a compliment back at that time because it dishonours them – you need to become a gracious Receiver. Returning a compliment because you think you have to robs them of the full joy of giving you the compliment. And it robs you of being a good Receiver. Become a gracious honourable Receiver and accept the compliment with gratitude. Do the same when your partner says they love you – savour the moment and allow the Giver’s words to sink in with all the thankfulness you can must up. But don’t just give it back – feel it first.
Receive with the same joy that you give – It is what will make you greater than you are in your career.
Until next time Bruno,
Michael
Sunday 29.09.2013

Thank you very much for joining me during my 70th birthday walking classes in Jalon/Xalo on Sunday 22nd September 2013. It is my intention to keep on having birtday parties until I leave for the eternal hunting fields.

Herzlichen Dank fuer ihre Anwesenheit waehrend unsere Wanderung genau am Tag wenn es mein 70. Geburtstag war. Mit 70 Jahre ist es schoen mit Freunde und Hunde wandern zu koennen. Es ist meine Zielsetzung es noch viele Male zu wiederholen.

This coming Sunday 29.09.2013 we will walk in Adsubia. We will meet Anna and John at La Moleta at 9.30. If you do not know where La Moleta/Adsubia is, come and join me at the library in Jalón/Xaló where I will wait for you, but I will leave at 8.45.

Love and blessings from Bruno
LieGrue von Bruno

Walking the dog

Walking the dog – is that a rabbit over there?

For a dog or pack of dogs the purpose of a walk is to hunt. They sniff, circle, go off track, all with the aim of looking for prey. Our job as pack leader is to lead the hunt. We want our dogs to be vigilant of us so they remain safe, in communication with us and don’t get into mischief with other people or dogs. We do this by ‘hunting’ together.

What ‘the walk’ isn’t

As humans we tend to think of ‘the walk’ as a means of going from A to B and then back again. We get to where we are going by the shortest means possible and then hurry home.

But dogs don’t think of ‘the walk’ as a process of travel, but an activity. They aren’t going in a straight line but are out to investigate the terrain with their pack.

How to do this?

Imagine you are a dog. You are padding along the track, joyfully sniffing and suddenly you smell the tantalising aroma of a rabbit or maybe you see the blur of a white cotton tail, and you are off, we need to catch our dinner!

As pack leaders we are doing the same, leading our dogs in finding things to investigate, hunt and eat.

We can imitate this by simply changing direction (what’s that sound I heard?); step off the path (nice smell over here); change tempo (ooh squirrel, chase! Or slowly, let’s stalk and get in position around this rabbit bush) or hiding behind a tree (better check out who’s marked here lately). We just wait till our dogs find us and then off we go again.

Doing the unexpected

Pack leaders job is to decide when to go and where to go. The followers make sure they keep the pack leader in sight because it’s their job to follow. As we change direction, tempo, position or go off track our dogs need to stay close by, so they know what’s going on. They are part of our Team Dog and need to be aware what the leader is up to so dinner doesn’t get away.

The more unexpected we are in our behaviour the more our dogs have to mentally work and communicate with us. Where’s pack leader? Oh over there. What’s pack leader doing? Has s/he found something? We wait whilst pack leader decides where to go. Pack leader has decided.  Now we move off, together.

So now, instead of us seeing the far away view of our dog’s behind, they keep their eye on us, so they know where we are. As we keep them guessing, they stay close.

 Strange is best

‘The walk’ in these terms is strange. Remember we are no longer doing a walk in human terms but in a dog’s terms.

We might get funny looks from others as we meander around, seemingly without purpose – they don’t know we are imaging stalking rabbits. But remember our dogs will love it as they realise they don’t need to worry about who’s in charge anymore, we lead the activity they just have to relax and follow.

But best of all we will love it as we realise our dogs are staying close, calmly sharing with us their joyous experience of being a pack member on a hunt.

Anne Duguid 

Walking classes 08.09.2013

Liebe Freunde,

Laut  Wettervorhersage werden wir Sonntag anfangen mit 16 Grad.

Deswegen ist mein Vorschlag das wir nicht mehr um 8.00 order 9.00 Uhr anfangen sondern wieder um 10.00.

Vielleicht ist es unter diese Umstaende moeglich fuer Carmen und Roger mit zu machen, weil die dan nicht ZU frueh aufstehen mussen.

Gerne moechte ich diesen kommenden Sonntag mit Ihnen in Orba spazieren.

Ich schlage vor das wir uns am 08.09.2013 um 9.45 fuer 10.00 am Friedhof in Orba treffen. Falls sie sich nicht erinnern koennen wo das ist, warte ich bis 9.45 an unsere Bibliothek in Jalón/Xalò.

 

Vergangene Woche haben wir in Alcalali 3 schoene Hunde gesehen. Schau mal hierunter.

Dear Friends,

According to the weather forecast we will have this coming Sunday 08.09.2013 a temperature starting at 16 degrees. For that reason my suggestion is NOT to meet at 8.00 nor at 9.00 but at 9.45 for 10.00.

Hopefully Carmen and Roger will be able to join us again, as they do not have to get up THAT EARLY anymore.

I would like to walk with you in Orba this coming Sunday and my suggestion is to meet at the Orba cemetery at 9.45 for 10.00.
If you have forgotten where that is, I will wait for you till 9.45 at the library in Jalón/Xaló.

 

Last week we met 3 beautiful dogs during our walk in Alcalali.

Un abrazo de Bruno

Low self esteem

Dearest female friends, customers and pupils,

I dedicate this article to you.
I dedicate it to all of you who told me terrible things like "I am useless", or "I am good for nothing".
When you called me you said that your dog needed training. This was, according to me, not the correct diagnosis of the problems you had with your dog. Most of you, dear female friends, customers and pupils, did not know that the solution to the problems you have with your dog(s) can be found inside yourself.
The problems were linked to the way you feel, the way you think and the way you behave. Many times it was linked to low self esteem. I explained to you that your dog can read this in your body language. Therefore (s)he does not respect you and does not pay attention to you. Training your dog cannot change that situation.
However, the good news is that you can change the feeling of low self esteem into a feeling of self-confidence. And I can help you discovering that feeling of self confidence.

Reading the magnificent book "Confusius from the Heart" by Yu Dan, I found a poignant story on page 40.
I am offering you this beautiful story about a young Chinese girl. Read it and maybe it can help you change the way you think and feel about yourself. If you can change your ideas and your feelings it will have a positive influence on the way you behave with your pet.

"In a small town there lived a very poor girl. She had lost her father, and she and her mother depended on each other for everything, scraping a meagre living from handicrafts. She suffered from terrible feelings of inferiority, because she had never had any pretty clothes or trinkets to wear.
On the Christmas when she was eighteen, her mother did something she had never done before and gave her a purse of money, telling her to buy herself a present.
Such a treat was far beyond her wildest dreams, but she still lacked the courage to stroll naturally along. As she walked towards the shops, the purse clutched in her hand, she went out of her way to avoid the crowds, and stuck close to the walls.
On the way there she saw that all the people had better lives than her, and lamented to herself: "I can't hold my head up here, I'm the shabbiest girl in this town."
When she saw the young man she secretly admired more than any other, she wondered mournfully who his partner would be at the big dance to be held that night.
And so, creeping along and avoiding other people all the way, she reached the shop. As soon as she was inside, something caught her eye: a display of extremely pretty hair decorations.
While she was standing there in a daze, the shop assistant said to her: "What lovely flaxen hair you have! Try a pale green flower to go with it, you'll look just beautiful". She saw the price tag. It would have cost almost all her money and she said: "I can't afford it, don't bother." But by then the shop assistant had already fastened that ornament to her hair.
He brought a mirror and held it up to the girl. When she saw herself in the mirror, she was amazed. She had never seen herself like this, her face glowing with health and beauty; she felt as if the flower had transformed her into an angel! Without a moment's hesitation, she got out her money and bought it. Giddy with excitement in a way she had never felt before, she took her change, turned around and rushed outside, colliding with an old man who had just come in through the door. She thought that she heard him call out to her, but she was past worrying about all that, and hurtled out, her feet barely touching the ground.
Before she realized what she was doing, she had run all the way to the main street of the town. She saw that everyone was casting surprised glances in her direction, and she heard them discussing her, saying: "I never knew there was such a pretty girl in this town. Whose daughter is he?" She met the boy she secretly liked again, and to her surprise he called out to her to stop, saying: "Would you do me the honour of being my partner at the Christmas dance?"
The girl was wild with joy! She thought, I'll be extravagant for once - I'll go back and get myself a little something with the change. And with that she flew elatedly back to the shop.
As soon as she came through the door, that old man said to her with a smile: "I knew you'd be back! Just now when you bumped into me, your flower fell off. I've been waiting all this time for you to come back for it."

This is where the story ends.
The pretty green flower had not made the difference in her behaviour.
It was her new self-confidence that made all the difference.

DOG WALKING CLASSES ON SUNDAY 14.07.2013
Taking into account that it will be hot, I invite you to come and join me on Sunday 14.07.2013 at 9.00 on the parking lot of the Trinquet in Murla. If you do not know where that is, come to the library in Jalón/Xaló , where I will wait for you till 8.45 before leaving for Murla.
It is my intention to start earlier, to walk less, but to do more exercises with you and your dogs.

Kindest regards to you all from Brunothedoglistener.

Six dogs

Dear friends,
Whenever someone calls me for help or sends me a message asking for advice, I will send out the following answer.
Hi there,
Allow me to give you some more information about my work.
In 2005 I stopped with what is called “dog training classes” , having discovered that creating a harmonious interaction between dogs and humans has nothing to do with dog training.
The way I started working from then onwards goes as follows.
1. It is my opinion that if a human being decides to adopt a dog, the first thing the human being has to learn is how to communicate correctly with the dog.
Communication with a dog runs along the lines of energy, behaviour and body language.
Dogs do NOT speak English or any other verbal language.
Dogs are certainly not human beings with four legs. Dogs are animals. Dogs are predators. Dogs are scavengers. Dogs are used to live in a pack where there is a pack leader. According to me it is cruel to treat dogs as if they are human beings.
2. As soon as the human has learned how to communicate correctly with the dog, we can start with the education of the dog. What we are aiming at is that we educate the dog in such a way that (s)he is respecting the human as her/his pack leader. In order to achieve that, the human has to learn how to behave like a canine pack leader. This has most of all to do with humans learning how to act with calm assertive energy and how to offer guidance and leadership. No nervous wreck who only wants to spoil the dog is able to act like a pack leader. No pack leader offers needy love.
3. As soon as the dog respects the human as pack leader and pays attention when the human asks for attention, then and only then, can we start with whatever training you want. This can be man work, tracking, flyball, agility, you name it.
The result of all this is that the human learns how to live consciously with a canine.
This higher level of personal consciousness easily spreads into the daily life of the human and all those around her/him.
This is a beautiful and very rewarding result.
A result that is quite different from the opinion we had in the past about “dog training”. It was assumed that the human did nothing wrong and that the “bad” dog had to be trained in order to become a “good” dog. That is not true.
More than 90 percent of the people who came to my dog training schools, had problems with their dogs.
I could never offer them the solution for the problems they had themselves (according to me) created for their dogs.
I came to conclusion that I could only help my clients on a one-to-one basis, teaching them what to do and how to act in their homes.
I was making less money than before but I found a much greater degree of satisfaction in my work.
That is how I have been working since then.
This can lead to very rewarding results both for humans and for canines, BUT ONLY IF the human is willing to learn, willing to leave her/his comfort zone and willing to discover a new kind of consciousness. If the human is not willing to take those steps I will unfortunately not be able to help her/him.
How long does it take before we see results?
Sometimes a couple of sessions with me, but sometimes it takes more than a year, depending on the client’s willingness to learn, to leave her/his comfort zone and start discovering new territories.
If you want to make an appointment just call.
In the mean time I invite you to visit my website and my blog.
Kindest regards from Bruno

Mil Amores

Dear friends,

Twelve years ago, it was on a Monday evening, I got a phone call from a Dutch lady.
- "Am I speaking with Bruno?"
- "Yes you are," I said.
- "I have a Labrador who attacks everyone and every dog. People told me to have him put to sleep. Before I do that I am looking for someone who would be willing to adopt him. Can I come and show him to you?"
- "Yes you can. Please come right away," I answered.
When she arrived the lady could barely control a pulling and barking "monster" standing on his hind legs at the end of a tense leash. I handed her one of my leashes with a half-check collar and asked to switch it with the leash she was using on her dog. Taking my leash from her I witnessed the most amazing transformation of a "monster" into a dog who responded to everything I asked him to do. Immediately I told the lady I was more than willing to adopt the beautiful Labrador.... if my other dogs agreed to adopt him too. Taking him inside our compound I asked my wife to take our other two dogs to the very end of our training grounds. On my signal we both took off the leashes, our two dogs approached the Labby and immediately they all started to "play". Everything was more than ok for them.
Whereupon I told the lady her dog could stay.
"Can I say goodbye to him ?", she asked.
I explained to her the best thing she could do was to send me the papers of the dog and leave without having another look at him.
That is exactly what she did.
My wife baptized our new Labby "Baerli" what is the Swiss-German word for "small bear" or "Beerke" in Flemish and "Osito" in Spanish.
Observing every move of our new dog it became quite clear to me how he reminded me of my father.
The way he ate, drank, slept, breathed, walked, jumped, looked, ran, sat, lied down, stood, barked, always brought back memories of my father who had died in 1978.
Eight months after his adoption Baerli, who had been destined to be put to sleep, became champion in an agility competition in Alicante.
Later on he would obtain another four titles in agility, beating the Border Collier opposition during other competitions all over Spain.
Unfortunately he was then infected by the sand fly and I had to retire him from competition. The Leishmaniosis illness attacked his joints what prevented him from jumping.
But we kept on living and working together as a real team. I always felt good to have him with me and he always wanted to accompany me. His former owner had described him as a dog who attacked everyone but with me he was a most stable dog. Many, many times I took him along when working with clients and their dogs.
One day my wife had a session with a tarot lady. After the session she was so enchanted that she prompted me to go and see the same lady for a session.
I was not surprised when this tarot lady told me how my father was contacting me with the help of my Labby. I confirmed it and said that I knew that already.
The years went by and Baerli's walks became shorter and shorter as he was suffering from arthritis.
When it became impossible for him to walk I took him along to the vet and sent him to the eternal hunting fields.
I was not afraid to show my tears to the vet. Although we have known each other for years he hugged me for the first time.
Having buried my dog in a clean white sheet, I put a big bunch of wild flowers on his grave.
These flowers are called "Mil Amores" in Spanish.
The English translation of the Spanish name is "A Thousand Loves".
I am very grateful for everything Baerli/Beerke has given me.
He gave me A Thousand Loves.

With love and blessings from Brunothedoglistener