I wanted to share a truly fascinating story about a kennel of healing dogs.
Liz and her husband, Bob, have been Border Collie owners/breeders for a good many years. Drawn to the breed for the intelligence and energetic nature, their kennel is filled with diverse personalities. Last fall Liz contacted me about some unusual things that were going on in the kennel. She didn’t go into much detail in her message, but clearly, she was flummoxed by the situation.
When we connected by phone, Liz informed me that the dogs had recently begun singing at the same time, every day. It had become very predictable and no amount of chastising seemed to lessen the problem. As we got deeper into the conversation, she mentioned that one of her girls, Whisper, had been having some health issues. The dog had developed a cancerous condition in her mouth and was being treated with some alternative therapies, but the prognosis was troubling. Liz went on to say that she had told the rest of the pack that they needed to do whatever they could to help Whisper.
“Well, there’s your answer to the reason the dogs are singing!” I went on to explain that the vibration of voice is a very powerful thing. In fact, I require the vibration of voice to a person who has a strong bond with the animal in order to facilitate a communication session. Vocalizations come about when energy is pushed over the vocal chords. One vibration (that of thought energy, transmitted through the nervous system) begets another form of vibration, that of the vocal chords moving to create sound. And those, in turn, create a vibration in the ears of those receiving the sound when the eardrum responds to the incoming sound waves, creating another energy in the nervous system that is interpreted by the receiver’s brain.
Vocalization is one of the most powerful ways we communicate precisely because of the amount of energy involved. The old adage, “she who sings, prays twice,” is a powerful reminder of just how potent the energy of voice is! Prayer is an ancient tradition that has true power behind it in that it creates an energetic vibration. We all remember Newton’s law about for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This is also true of energy, even down to the energy of our thoughts (yes, there is a lot of electromagnetic energy happening in our brains when we birth a thought). When we add the vibration of vocal chords to the thought energy, we have, in effect, compounded the force of energy.
We both had a good chuckle when Liz described how she had explained to the dogs about Whisper’s condition and they should do whatever sort of “doggie prayer thing” they could to help her. And that is precisely what they did.
I couldn’t resist pointing out to her that it was not a coincidence that the dog whose very name implies voice, would be afflicted in the mouth and, in turn, be sung to as part of her healing journey. I suggested to her and her husband that they try to find some manner of recording the singing of the pack as I suspected there were bound to be researchers out there who would find such vocalizations intriguing.
Over the next few months, Liz would touch base with me and confirmed that the dogs were still singing. In a recent update, she told me that Whisper had gone in for a check-up and it appeared that the treatment had been working as she was now in remission. She went on to say that the kennel chorus had not been as active lately, their once-predictable songs had become much more sporadic. I said that this was no surprise; she had given them the task of assisting their friend with healing and now that she was definitely on the mend, their assignment fulfilled.
There are so many takeaways from this story, that it almost boggles the mind: the dog’s name and her condition; how she was healed; the literal response of the pack to their owner’s urgent plea; the visceral response of the body to a canine soliloquy.
There is so much richness in our relationship with the animals and we are just beginning to scratch the surface. Here is to the power of love and a sung prayer!
