Google My Dogs

For grins and giggles one day last week, I did a search on Google.  My search words were, “Duke the dog homeless emergency project” and was surprised to see that my dog Duke was there with hits spanning two pages.  Of course, not all the search hits were him on both of those pages, and some were because of his mention here on my blog, but I thought it was pretty cool much came up at all.

If you know me or are a regular follower of my blog, you know that my two dogs—Duke and Amore— have been such wonderful helpers, teachers and companions during their 12 years here on this planet with me so far.

Our story has been printed in the Tampa Bay Times, Dunedin and New Port Richey Patch, Project PUP’s newsletters, and the HEP newsletters.  They are both painted on Murals for Mutts’ murals in St. Petersburg, Dunedin House of Beer and Skip’s.  They are also supporting characters in my book, because they have been supporting characters in my life.

One of my dogs, Duke, has worked as a therapy dog since May 2010.  We visit the Homeless Emergency Project and there, he has become somewhat of a rock star.  Staff and clients keep treats handy for his visits, and he loves the attention and the treats.

Duke, unlike his brother, loves to have constant attention and he seems to know who needs him the most in a room full of people, so he goes there.

Because of my history with HEP as a homeless outreach therapist and resident, it is even more special to me that Duke and I go back there together.  Because of my desire to make a difference in as much of my corner of the world as is possible in my lifetime, I love that Duke has touched so many lives during his working time.

While I haven’t mentioned much outside of walking my dogs in a power chair as I cope with my current situation, it goes without saying that my dogs continue to keep me grounded, sane and moving forward despite the challenges.  My biggest concern with my decision for removing the pump was honestly my dogs.  They motivate me to keep trying harder and inspire me to both move forward and be present.

Of course, they will live forever in my heart.  But I was happy to have them painted on murals to immortalize them, and now it is even nicer to know that when the murals fade or business ownership changes, that they are also immortalized in cyberspace.

 

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Finding Presence

In recent days, I have often lost my presence.  I keep catching myself completely immersed in my thoughts and completely unaware of what is happening in the present moment.

One of my greatest gifts right now is taking my dog Duke to work at the Homeless Emergency Project (HEP).  He and his brother have taught me all about the benefits of being present and not living in the past.

Yesterday afternoon, I took Duke to work.  We sat in on a psycho-educational group and then hung out with some veterans from one of the veteran’s programs.  Each moment, I was present.  Duke was full of himself yesterday and spunkier than usual, so I had to be.  Even more than that though, I lost all track of time talking with the veterans.

You may recall my post on how you know when you have found your passion.  Losing track of time while doing it is certainly on the list.  The same has happened week after week since we’ve been going there.

When you go into one of HEP’s programs, you cannot take your pets with you, so Duke is often a welcome sight.  I was fortunate enough to get my boys (dogs) back after my stay there in 2004-2005, but most aren’t so lucky.  Duke helps them through that loss the same as Sammy did for me.

Just like the rest of us, sometimes the folks living in the HEP programs get stuck in their own heads with no awareness of what is happening in the moment.

Duke and I help them to find their presence.  As soon as they see Duke, he becomes their focus.  The moment with him is now.  He often insists on it with his incessant pawing to be petted.

After coming home later than I had planned, I realized how much more focused and present I was feeling.  I had a different perspective on several stressful situations in my life.  Duke helped me find my presence while he and I both helped dozens of people find some as well.

I thought that made for a pretty good afternoon.

How do you know when you have lost your presence?  What does it take to get it back?