Sheba, Wonder Dog

My dog Sheba is one of the most allowing creatures I know. When she sees me grab my keys, she immediately starts this little primitive dance and jumps and twirls like a ballerina or a Cherokee medicine man. She wants to go, so she sends out this positive vibration. She is not attached to the outcome; she just knows she is going!

With the Universe on her side, I can’t help but let her go with me, so I motion her out the door, into the garage. I open the car door and watch with a smile as she jumps over my seat into “her” seat by the window.

I have to put down the window just a bit as soon as I turn the key or she gives me “that look.” Then, she sticks her head out the window and begins to smile as we travel down the driveway and down the street toward rest of our small town.

For most of the places we want to go, I can forego the freeway and take surface streets, so I do. This enables Sheba to put her head out and enjoy the cool breeze and smells that are everywhere and not get her lips blown off! (Freeway driving can be hazardous!)

She will hang her head out the window for about a minute, then she brings it back in, shaking her head and letting her ears fall back down into place. She knows when she’s had too much wind and she ducks inside for a few seconds and then she’s out again.

Her smile would light up our entire town, if we could hook up a generator to her energy. She is happy, ecstatic and on a true spiritual high when she is riding in the car with me.

Sometimes, she turns to look at me as if to say, “Thanks, Mom,” and I feel her gratitude. Even more, I feel the love we share. Her love is unconditional and I am learning to return that unconditional love, even when she chews holes in her towel or drops mouthfuls of dog food on the carpet with no plans to eat it all.

Sheba is a German shorthaired pointer who is sleek and beautiful in her chocolate coat with chocolate and white ticking. I call her my “chocolate chip ice cream girl,” because her patches look just like that. We rescued her from a center up in Denton in 2004 and she has been a part of our family ever since. A few years ago, we decided (translation: I decided) that the other dogs were picking on her, so she gets to be the “inside dog” now. She sleeps on a towel on either the couch or the loveseat and graciously moves over to allow Steve and me to watch TV when we are home.

She sees spirits and alerts us when one of our relatives is visiting. Lately, she is seeing dog spirits and she finds this troubling. I have to reassure her that she is safe and Steve asks the Spirit to leave after a bit. Sometimes, I open the door and escort the dog spirit out of the house, so Sheba can watch TV in peace. (Yes, she loves our big screen TV, except when pigs, lions or particular animated creatures come on the set.)

She is my earth angel. I love her and I love the love that the two of us share. She can ride shotgun anytime she wants, except when I’m leaving for the office.

One day she was doing her dance on a Saturday as I was getting ready to leave for a client. I told her, “Sheba, sorry, but it’s not take your ‘Daughter to Work Day’ today. I’ll see you tonight.”