My journey began when I started training to receive a service dog. I had all kinds of beautiful ideas in my mind, how my dog would help me every day and be my faithful servant. We would breeze through our days, him or her, walking easily and carefully beside me and ready to meet my every command. A true Lassie story come to life. Then real life happened and a real dog.
Lassie did not appear at my side, instead a gorgeous, strong, serious female Lab mix named Tessa entered my life. As my training began, I worked on the training floor with a variety of dogs so the staff could see which dogs interacted well with me and how they responded to my needs. I was sure that one of the pretty little full Lab dogs was to be my service animal. They were docile, smart, calm and bred purposely for service work. I could not have been more wrong. As I worked hard to learn the commands and how to work with a service dog, I kept finding myself looking for Tessa, where was she? Who was she working with this week?
I began to notice that as I found her on the floor, she was often looking at me at the same moment. I began to feel a pull, a bond, an unspoken hello pass between us. I could not stop looking for her and I always watched Tessa work. I began to feel that she was my match, my dog. The Universe agreed and Tessa and I were matched as a service team. The gorgeous cream colored dog was now my dog. Life was good.
Life really was good, for a second, but then real life and real world training began with Tessa. It was not seamless and often, it was not pretty. I tripped trying to go through doorways, she was not sure of where I needed her to be and I confused commands in the heat of the moment. There were tears and frustration. I had no idea what she was thinking, she did not always act like a calm service dog and I was confused. Why was she pulling the leash, why was she not listening as she should?
I knew she was my dog, we were meant to be together but we were not on the same page. How were we supposed to get onto the same page, or even the same book? What was the missing piece of the puzzle?
Luckily, a friend who had her own service dog suggested animal communication and though I knew nothing of the skill it was worth a shot. I was willing to do anything to get back on track with my dog. We had to learn to be out together easily on a daily basis.
The communication was life changing, I got to hear Tessa's thoughts on me, our partnership and life in general. What a gift, what a joy. I was now able to ask her about the behaviors, why was she pulling, what did I need to do to help her. Suddenly, the bumps in the road were not so huge, I understood what she needed and now she knew what I needed from her. We finally had the same page in front of both of us. Miraculous is too small of a word. I felt it, my friends could see it, we were back and we were a strong working team. We could stay together, forever. I did not get the service dog I dreamed of, I got the service dog I needed.
Linda Jo Nelson & Tessa
