04/04/2026
๐ฉท ๐๐ข๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ค๐๐ซ๐ฉท
First, and most importantly, in the picture you see the sweet and gentle Canelo, who is patiently waiting for his new family. He is a 5 year old German Shepherd & Australian Cattle Dog mix and Iโd say he weighs around 45 pounds. He is a gem to spend time with and I know that once he makes his way out of the shelter, he will really open up and shine even brighter. Learn more or stop by the Humane Society of Carroll County today!
https://humanesocietycarrollcounty.org/dogs/
๐พ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ช๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐๐ ๐พ
As a regular volunteer at the Humane Society, my Animal Reiki practice helps me stay relaxed and grounded in gratitude when I am the walking dogs.
The shelter can be loud. Dogs can be strong or high energy. They can have sad stories or be struggling with their somewhat abrupt transition into shelter residency or start to shut down because they have been there for too long. It can weigh in your heart.
The good news: The Let Animals Leadยฎ๏ธMethod of Animal Reiki guides you to see the true light of each and every animal and person. The practice also reminds us that animals are so sensitive to energy, which includes our thoughts.
In the shelter, this helps me not get bogged down in stories or the stress and instead focus on offering calm, loving energy. It invites me to move slower and spend genuine presence with each dog. Creating this positive and relaxed energy with them can in turn help them relax and release tensions they may be experiencing. To be able to offer them any form of relief and happiness is a gift to us both.
Over the last year, I return to similar phrases to keep me and my walking meditation partner grounded in gratitude. Give them a try with any of your animal friends and notice how the energy changes!
๐พ Always being the walk with a greeting & request: โ๐๐ช ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ/๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ฅ! ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฉ ๐ข๐ช๐ณ?โ
๐พ Move intentionally, noticing if they are shy or you need to change your approach. Some critters are so ready to get out and go p*e and stretch, you might have to sp*ed up a little and then slow down once you are outside.
๐พ When you walk with them, just smile. You donโt have to talk at all. Feel the Earth under your feet, notice the fresh air, how they trot along and move through the world, and soak in the blessing of being able to help your canine community though this simple act of walking. They can feel the love and safety radiating from you. Even if they arenโt engaging with you, they still absorb and benefit of calm, consistent presence.
๐พ If you are feeling the weight of the challenges the dog is facing, you can say, โ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ต. ๐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ, ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ,โ ๐ฐ๐ณ, โ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ตโ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ข๐บ. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ.โ You an offer a nice stroke or pat if they want one. We usually have this part of the conversation if need sitting down somewhere outside.
๐พ โ๐๐ฐ๐ธ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ! ๐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ..๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด, ๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ญ, ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ถ๐ต๐บ! ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต!โ It is fun to notice all the unique things about each individual.
๐พ On our way back inside, always ending with gratitude.โ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ฆ. ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ.โ
And lets face it, how could we ever be anything buy grateful when we are spending time with dogs?
