She’s a stunning, soft blond German Shepherd. A hint of black peppers her back, and a pale white, crescent moon–shaped choker frames her chest. When she found her way to rescue, she was battling a horrific ear infection so severe that one eardrum was ruptured. The poor girl was in severe pain. Terrified, alone, and unsure of her future, Blondie shied away from volunteers’ attempts to befriend her and win her trust. So we socialized her by using other dogs to win her trust and bolster her shattered confidence. In time, she warmed up to her rescue playmates and slowly, surely, our beautiful girl began to come out of her shell. Volunteers continued to rally around her. Her ears healed. Confidence and joy began to replace her fear and pain. She gained trust in bonding with other dogs during playtime. And she frolicked in the play yard, bounding over hay bales and racing side by side with our other rescues.
During her photo shoot, she posed politely, and with each lady-like image, seemed to know that she was being captured for posterity. It was as if she knew that each photo posted on the website was a beacon to bring the right family to her.
When the day came to meet the resident cat at the rescue kennels, Blondie slowly approached him as he lounged nonchalantly in the arms of one of our volunteers. She sniffed and then sweetly licked the cat through the chain-link fence. Our gentle gem was also good with small dogs. Both of these traits would make her easier to place. She grew to love and crave her time with humans, seeking their affection and loving touch. But still something was missing. Still she yearned for a place and a family to call her own.
One day, a gentleman came to one of our adoption events and talked to a counselor about his wants and needs in his next dog. He had lost his long-time companion dog just weeks earlier. He was still grieving, but Blondie was an imprint of his dog, and the resemblance between them activated the part of his heart he’d closed off after the loss of his beloved Shepherd. A few days later, he put in an application for Blondie.
A meet-and-greet was arranged in order to get a glimpse of the life this gentleman and his GSD companion had had. He is a retired military flier and took his dog everywhere, including Oregon, where he spent summers vacationing and volunteering at the state parks. He and his dog provided tours for the children that visited, and the pair taught visitors from all walks of life how to enjoy and get the most out of park life. A long-time Southern California resident, he’d lived in the same neighborhood for years, and everyone who had known him fell in love with his dog. He knew Blondie would have the same effect for she’d stolen his heart and begun to help him heal within minutes of meeting her. It was an excellent fit. Blondie’s new name is Cheyenne. The neighborhood has already all met her and announced her wonderful. Blondie is well and happy and has her forever home. And her human? He adores her. And he has a companion for his trips to Oregon. He has a companion for life.
When I pondered the importance of their fated meeting, I think it is far more than Blondie finding her forever home and he a lifelong companion to fill the empty void in his heart. I tapped into my intuition and heard the following message.
They are pathfinders for one another. Showing each other the way and bringing each other back to center.
Their relationship is like a mathematic extrapolation of the old adage: Home is where the heart is. I think their union serves as a navigation system of sorts, a beacon to help each other find their way through the world’s energetic structure. Like sonar or radar or an internal homing device, together they will help each other navigate through life and return to center, to home base, and to heart.
