Can Dogs Teach Us Consciousness?

Dogs are conscious beings.

I’ve learned a lot from my dogs. I’ve learned that:

• their ailments are actually my unresolved issues — that’s a blog in itself
• they’re an external indicator of my internal state — if I’m relaxed, so are they; when I am unsettled, I see it manifest in their behaviour
• just like the old glow in the dark Ready Brek advert, we’re just one big energetic soup, blending and interacting with those we live & work with

science is beginning to evidence what animal owners have known for years: dogs are conscious beings.

I’m the sort of person who has to experience something for it to be true for me, and although I’m not totally sure, I believe Burt may have gifted me an experiential learning of morphic resonance in action. If you haven’t heard of Rupert Sheldrake’s concept of morphic resonance, I’ll let the experts Rupert Sheldrake Ph.D. & Bruce Lipton Ph.D. speak for themselves here (or an easy listening version of him talking about morphic resonance is here).

Here’s the most perplexing & amazing lesson that Burt, my 9 3/4 years old Labrador Retriever taught me last year:

I had a Skype call with a client. Both Burt & Charlie, my Labs were in the room. I guided the client to resolution of their issue, and once we ended the call, I got the dogs ready for a walk. Burt was 9 at the time. He loves balls, actually, he has a ball obsession, whereas, Charlie, my big brown bear, who has more flesh than he can ever possibly fill, loves people. Both of them enjoy their walks. So, as I left the house, leads in hand, I was surprised when my arm felt like it had been yanked backwards.

I looked back and Burt was stubbornly rooted to the spot on the driveway, with a look in his eyes I didn’t recognise. I pulled his lead; he refused to move. I was confused by this tug-of-war. He needed to empty his bladder, so I pulled harder. I was dragging him like a toddler pulling a toy dog on wheels, except more exertion was needed to pull a 30kg canine with a will of his own.

Finally, he conceded. I was shaking my head in disbelief. I didn’t know what had got into him; it wasn’t like Burt at all. It didn’t take long for me to find out. I got him off the drive onto the pavement and he immediately started walking across the road. I hadn’t motioned to cross; I was walking along the pavement. I had to pull him back. He was insistent that he was crossing the road. What on earth was going on? All I knew was that this was going to be an arduous walk.

Then, Burt started to walk on the edge of the kerb. Suddenly, my brain caught up and it all made sense. I didn’t know how it had happened, but Burt had somehow embodied the client’s issue we’d just resolved on Skype. The client didn’t like to be forced to do things against his will, but once he did, he found he enjoyed them.

We’d gone back to find the cause, which was rooted a half century earlier, where, as a boy, he’d walk along the edge of the kerb in the hope of spraining or breaking his ankle to avoid sports lessons at school. so not only was the issue still current and influencing the client, my dog had ‘tapped’ into my thoughts/the client’s thoughts/the energetic field.

The next day, we walked again and Burt exhibited the same behaviour. Each day our walks were the same… it wasn’t going away and I stopped enjoying taking him out. So, I searched online and asked a few colleagues how to resolve what clearly didn’t belong to my dog. The suggestion was to do some surrogate tapping aka EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique).

So that’s what I did. I tapped on me, on Burt’s behalf, while saying “Even though I don’t like going for walks, I love and accept myself completely.” I also acknowledged he was being “forced” to do something against his will. Then going for a walk was the acid test as to whether I’d cleared it in him or we needed to do more work. It took a couple of weeks in all.

I’ve tried to explore what actually happened on a non-physical level. I spoke to my trainers and even had the opportunity to ask Rupert Sheldrake during the Q & A section of one of his talks I attended. He’d run experiments of dogs intuitively knowing when their owners were coming home (the dogs were tapping into the owner’s intention to leave work for home) & cats disappearing, when their owners had booked vet appointments. My understanding is if the owners didn’t hold the intention in mind, the animals didn’t have anything to tap into. But, Rupert had never come across an example of my experience and therefore, couldn’t offer an explanation.

My reiki teacher was, perhaps, the most helpful in offering a solution. He said that because I was holding on to the client’s session — it’s true, I was reflecting on the session — and due to my close connection with my dogs, Burt was able to access it. He advised that by remaining present, as soon as sessions end, I “disconnect” and therefore there’s nothing for the dogs to tap into. I’d say that’s the best advice I’ve received, to date, that’s applicable to all areas of life.

So, when people talk about their dogs’ physical or behavioural issues, I’m reminded of their consciousness and that they’re probably reflecting their owners’ issues.