My Familiars: The Gift Of Shaman Dogs

We all have gifts for each other.

Skeeter came into our life about two months ago. I saw him and knew that he was meant to join our pack. This came as a strong intuitive sense accompanied by the message, “he will bring you (myself, my husband and our other dog Gibbs) closer together.”

My shaman dog Loki had transitioned a little over nine months ago. He was a soulmate and had been on this journey with me for over fifteen years. Several times recently my husband had mentioned getting another dog “not anytime soon,” was my repeated reply.

Rewind to 2010.

Loki was plain wild when I brought him home.

One afternoon on the way home from work in soggy, downtown Chicago, my muddy boots walked me right through the door of The Anti-Cruelty Society. I wandered through a cacophony of barks, howls and yips and past many different sized cages and four leggeds. A snowy, hound-esque mutt hurled himself at the front of the last cage I ended up facing in the corner of the room. He barked in desperation and looked past me but telepathically he said, “it’s about time.” I waved over a busy, young volunteer, “Can I meet that guy?”

I waited for a while in a cramped room. Loki was eventually brought through on a leash which the volunteer handed over and then promptly exited. He was a little calmer but still paid me no mind, lifted his leg, and peed on the side of the bench I had been sitting on. Day 1 of the journey.

We spent a whole summer training each other. We both cried for nearly an hour under the bed at one point and ran and jumped around in glee at others. We lived many places, went many places, met many people and other dogs. Loki taught me about deep love and loyalty but also who to trust, how to have more fun and a connection to my instinct and senses beyond what I could have imagined-no one was going to hide or stand within hundreds of feet behind me on a city block without me being aware. We could sense you through the dark, sounds of cars passing and heavy, falling snow.

He tethered me to nature and reality and to my life, he gave it a structure and kept me grounded.

2025.

I picked Skeeter up after a surprise, urgent call from the rescue in the evening on October 8th, (happy anniversary Matt). Skeeter peered at me sideways from the backseat of the car and fell into a half sleep while I drove to a nearby park to meet Matt and Gibbs. The dogs got along swimmingly, Skeeter was friendly towards both Matt and I and seemed pretty confident given how much he had been shuffled around or returned to the rescue. He had also communicated with me telepathically, a couple of weeks before we met in person, “get ready for me.” I heard this loud and clear but hadn’t truly-yet-received the message.

In the first weeks, Gibbs (scrappy, skittish, loving and laid back, Matts familiar) was suddenly much more affectionate and present for whatever was going on-a little jealous. Already, this little guy was bringing us together, all cozying up on the couch in the evenings (I had been reclining in my reading nook in the meditation room lately and Gibbs his favorite corner of the guest room).

Fast forward about a month and a half…Skeeter is still adjusting to the pack, he got caught off guard one evening and nipped Matt in the lip, he’s reactive to brooms, water sprayed from the hose, cars, and bikes among other things. He’s also super smart and curious, loves to cuddle and play, affectionate, energetic and loving. He pushes every boundary but also responds well to the assertiveness he is calling forth from me and all of us.

I experienced a period of feeling I was meant to allow everyone in the pack to work out their dynamics but then realized that I was really meant to find and allow my own calm assertiveness. Actually that the whole motley crew need this energy and presence from me and that we would need to work together.

We recently had a great trainer (James with Bark Busters) come in and work with all of us. Matt and I are now working together as a team, one day at a time, to be good pack leaders; this is calling forth more, that is needed, for our relationship. There is depth here, to how we all are coming together.

Last night in the wee hours, I awoke and some fears rose up (what if scenarios, nothing real), suddenly I was visited in non ordinary reality by Skeeters mother Hattie. She showed up as a broad shouldered, greyish mutt, maybe mixed with some pitt bull. She was so loving and announced that she was merging her energy with mine, I felt a solid warmth and strength wash over me. She showed up to help me and to help Skeeter. I saw various scenes of how she had cared for him when he was only days or a week old-highlighting the importance of being stern and assertive while also loving. He curled up in a little ball in the crook of her legs with a little accordion of wrinkles by his neck. This was a shamanic healing but Hattie is also now merged and present as a guide.

We all have learning ahead of us, this motley crew, and the gifts that this new member brings have just barely begun to be uncovered. Like Loki, Skeeter is a familiar and Shaman dog who takes his role seriously.

All dogs call us to be loving and present but the opportunity here for us is limitless. Skeeter is asking for clear communication, leadership, relationships and roles. He has pushed me to consider-what do you want? Why do you do what you do? Does it need to change? Do you?

Thank you.

Thank you to the pack and motley crew.

Thank you Loki.

Thank you Hattie.

And thank you to all of my guides.