The Question of Love

How to write of flowers
opening in winter, gray and cold;
the world on verge of war;
you: unfolding with touch of lip
and hand - delicate, yet firm -
tiny, first buds of spring, rising to push
back snow; then the rose, lustrous in full bloom,
opening, receiving, responding!

Ours: this journey to be here; embraced
against this winter - this war that rages round
and would be in us, were it not for love
we shelter here, beating heart to heart,
lips brushing, exchanging breath for breath.

A Guide Dog for Peace

My guide dog, Reggie is a virtual ambassador of peace. Perhaps the most beautiful part of this attribute is that Reggie probably has no idea of his contribution; he simply does what he does. I became increasingly aware of this wonderful quality of his nature only as I began to contemplate the idea of peace while preparing to write this article.

I initially filled page after page with intellectualized explorations of the idea of peace, while becoming increasingly conscious that I was missing the great heart of peace that other writers communicate so fully. I then realized that my beautiful dog guide communicates peace in his every action, even in his aggressive play.

Reggie is a three year old black Labrador retriever who began his life at Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Raphael, California. I first met Reggie at their Boring, Oregon, campus when he was twenty months old. To me, Reggie initially appeared to be a rather non-descript black Lab, and I have to confess I felt disappointed at first. I wanted a big shepherd: a power symbol! It took observations from my classmates and comments from trainers who had housed him and cared for Reggie before and during his training before I began to raise my estimations. Even then I failed to come even close to understanding the depth of his true nature. Perhaps I am not close even yet!

I had to deal with what I quickly recognized were my own issues before Reggie and I began training together. I was succumbing to qualities that were largely visual in valuing a dog guide, when I mostly operate in a non-visual environment with my restricted sight. I also realized that whatever I thought about this dog, he wanted to succeed as much as I did, and he deserved every chance. I was the one who could give him his chance, and he would also give me mine.

We left Guide Dogs for the Blind three weeks later with the promise of becoming a great team, and after a little more than a year of working together, we have lived up to that promise. We have become a smoothly working duo, thanks mostly to Reggie, sharing a deep communication I would never have thought possible between human and dog. We are together nearly every moment of the day, sharing more time together than my human partner and I can share. Fortunately, Ruth loves Reggie too, and he is happiest when we are all three together.

Reggie brings peace through his calmness and his quietness. Like most dog guides, he seldom, if ever, barks; he is never aggressive toward people. But I now sense these well-trained behaviors as only the gateway to something deeper within his nature. Whenever we encounter exuberant or aggressive dogs while on a route, Reggie simply stands, without response, until excessive barking and frenetic activity subsides. I intervene whenever possible, of course, but Reggie has taught me by example to keep it calm, friendly and positive, never returning aggression for aggression, but simply maintaining a calm stance that allows no compromise. This is the ideal to strive for, even if not perfectly achieved every time. Reggie's constant example provides me with an unerring model.

People invariably respond to Reggie, wanting to talk both with him and about him, sharing treasured feelings they have about either their own dogs, dogs from their past, or other dogs they know. Recently, while we visited my mother, who now lives in an Atlanta nursing home, Reggie elicited response from a man with brain injury who usually refused to talk with anyone. We had several extended conversations together in Reggie's quiet presence.

We go everywhere now with an accompanying chorus of appreciation for Reggie's handsome beauty. I sense those offering such enthusiastic responses are attempting to credit observed canine qualities for something arising within themselves during the encounter. Reggie causes the critical, complaining mind to release its grip on the responsive heart and the natural love within each person is set free. Suddenly there is an interrelatedness with the surrounding world where before there was a sense of otherness. Awareness of our essential interrelatedness provides us both the foundation and the necessity for peace.

Some people ignore Reggie, of course, and he appropriately ignores them in return, forcing his presence on no one. He responds to people when allowed, and then only when he senses they want contact. He is aware when anyone is afraid and chooses to confront fear with quiet presence. He never overstays a welcome or asks for more attention than he senses a person wants to give. He gives attention to others when asked and allowed, and then returns to work.

Essential to Reggie's message of peace, then, are his calmness, quietness and sense of inner composure and balance, energizing his entire presence with a perceived feeling of peace. He is fully centered within himself as he greets the world, having the composure to know that disturbances can swirl around him without his needing to react in self defense. His balanced composure in the midst of stress gives him ultimate control so that peace prevails. Such qualities are prevalent among dog guides of course, and Reggie is certainly not at all an atypical canine in his profession in terms of attracting public interest. However, like all dog guides and well trained service dogs, Reggie brings peace anc comfort to our world in his own special way.

Play time allows Reggie an outlet for aggression, and then he reveals his alpha-male personality to the full. He is an aggressive chewer, capable of destroying any chew toy known in the civilized world while never touching a household article. He is really undefeatable playing "tug " in a direct trial of strength, susceptible only the first time to any new trickery. His most aggressive game is what I describe as "football," when he runs circles and then charges to crash against me with all his strength, growling like a Rottweiler (he was raised with two) and with his teeth bared as though my life has reached its end. A short bout of this combat will usually suffice for his energy release, and he will always stop immediately with the command: "that's enough!"

I sense, then, that Reggie teaches me to greet the world with inner composure and calm no matter what agitation outside circumstances might otherwise provoke. I can only do this by remaining centered within myself so as not to be drawn unwittingly into conflict. Most of all, my experience with Reggie reminds me on a daily basis that all beings are interconnected, and we are all therefore part of one family. Personal and community growth are possible when we recognize our interdependent relationships with each other and work together to solve common problems.

Peace brings us together, allowing us to pool creative energy for the common good. Conflict tears us apart, alienates us from one another to the extent that we believe separateness is normal. We can achieve comparatively little when we hold ourselves in isolation from each other.

And what about the power symbol I wanted my guide dog to be? There can be no greater power than calmness in the midst of any stress, especially when that calmness shows the ability to exert its influence on all disturbances around it. An influence like Reggie helps us to focus on who we really are as beings within this world rather than focusing on what we fear in the world around us.