Saturday

Can't You See ?


Gone from this dream that you call life,
Gone from the noise and the pain and the strife,
In Heaven's dimension I now make my home.
Meanwhile you seem to feel so alone.


Can't you see that it's me in the wind through the trees?
I'm the song of the sun and the hawk on the breeze.
I listen, I feel you, you think I am gone...
Oh can't you see you are never alone?
Can't you see...



Rainbows and feathers and all things that fly,
Songs on the radio, clouds in the sky;
I come in vibration or in through a dream.
If only you'd see things are not what they seem.

Can't you see that it's me in the spark of twilight?
Can't you hear it's my voice in the crickets at night?
My love surrounds you in all that you do.
Wherever you go I am right beside you
Can't you see?


In the sunlight, the moonlight, the starlight...
You see, I'm waiting for you to recognize me
Can't you see?
Like the sun is at night, I'm just Gone From Your Sight
Can't you see? 


Lyrics by Jack McAfghan
Music by Kate McGahan  

Click HERE to sing along with our YouTube Video.

Wednesday

When Your Senior Pet Stops Eating...



When a human being stops eating due to illness and decline towards the end of life, it usually indicates they are ready to give up the fight. When one is frail, disabled and infirmed, the only control one has is to clench their teeth and refuse the food. So many people who don't understand this. They force feed or think that the patient is being uncooperative or unreasonable. The patient is just communicating in the only way they know how. They are saying Enough Is Enough. 

Sometimes we just need to be diagnosed to find out if there is something physically wrong, but typically if we are older or if we have already struggled with various issues, us animals often do the same thing. This is one of the clues for you, of knowing when the time is coming to help us on our way.


Saturday

Did God Take Him Away to Punish Me?

Dear Jack, 
If it wasn't for my dog I would surely be dead or in prison. He had this little look he would give me like he was saying You Know You Shouldn't Do That, then he would come up and lick my face like he still loved me. He really turned my life around. He was a God send. I thought at first God took him to punish me for things I done but the Preacher told me God loves all the things we do and wasn't like that.
Pete



Dear Pete, 
God was not punishing you at all. He was giving you a glimpse of Him through your dog's awareness, forgiveness, love and acceptance of All That You Are. You are. You are loved. You are accepted. You are forgiven. This is what they come to teach us and this is why God sends them. 
I love you too, 
Jack 

Wednesday

Just Shadows in this World

Do you think your life is real?  Most of the life you think you know is just an illusion. The only thing that's really Real is the love between the beings who live there. Love is the only thing that lives beyond the mortal existence you call "life".  

We are all just shadows in this earthly world; silhouettes of Who We Really Are. In this photo, you can see Kate and Me only because the sun shines from behind and casts our image on the wall. Whether the sun is there or whether it isn't, makes no difference. We are there just the same.

Remember this the next time you think that I am not there; that your loved one is not there. Once in a great while conditions are right and we can Come Through to reveal ourselves to you ... but no matter what, we are there beside you. Always. 

Love, 
Jack 🐾

Tuesday

"MEMORIES of HEAVEN" Will Help You To Understand Life at Rainbow Bridge

Wayne Dyer's Last, Latest and Greatest Book

Kate is so excited that the "late" Wayne Dyer's final book is now available. It is a book full of the intuition and memories of children who are still young enough...and connected enough...to remember where they came from. If you read it, you will have a much better idea of where I am and where your four-legged and two-legged friends are!

I've met Wayne several times here. His presence is so big, he can do many things at once, and he does them all really well! He is one of my favorite people here over the Rainbow Bridge. 

It's kind of hard to explain what he "looks" like because we don't use our eyes to see and we don't have physical bodies, per se. We are energy beings and we all have a certain feel. The photo below is kind of what Wayne looks like me.  


If you've read my book, you know how fascinated I have been with language and the study of English words and their origin. Wayne fit easily into the rainbow lifestyle. I saw him come over the bridge and it was like he already knew everything. He didn't need an orientation like some humans do. Of course he wouldn't. Wayne was good at everything and, of course, he would be good at dying too. After all, he was Wayne Dyer!  He came into the earthly realm with a name that would see to it.  

I have learned that when one lives well, one typically dies well.  If you don't learn anything from Wayne (but you will), it is to live a good life. That's what all of us are all trying to teach you even now.  

Love Finds You When You Least Expect It



One day we were driving along, minding our own business.



Then, in a most unexpected place...



My life changed in a heartbeat. I knew she was there. 
I sensed her spirit. I smelled her presence....



I saw her face; her soft apricot locks...
Her name was Sophia. 



She told me she had been waiting for me all of her life.



I felt the very same way about her.



Soon, all too soon, it was time to go.



Kate somehow knew that the memory would be worth saving. 



I'll never forget Sophia.  

...Sophia...  



Sophia. 

I'll see you in my dreams. 

Sunday

No Matter What, I'm Always Near



During the first week when Kate brought me home, she was out working on the property. I was 12 weeks old. She was cleaning the easement in front of the house which was littered with construction debris from nearby homes. 
She worked so hard she didn't notice our front door slip open. All of a sudden she stopped, looked up, saw the door open, shivered and called,
 "Jack! Oh my God, Jack!!" 
She ran around the one acre yard like a crazy person! She looked all around, but she couldn't find me ANYWHERE. 
I guess she thought maybe I wandered off or ran away. Grady and I were just sitting quietly on the porch (just like I am in this photo above) the whole time, just watching her.
I reassured her from a very early age that she could always trust me to stay near.

Love, Jack 🐾

Saturday

The Day the Chair Chased Me Around the Parking Lot 🐾


IT'S KIND OF EMBARRASSING LOOKING BACK ON THIS, BUT ONE DAY WE WENT TO MEET OUR FRIEND TYLER AT THE LOCAL COFFEE SHOP. WE HAD A TABLE ON THE PATIO SO THAT I COULD BE THERE TOO. 

SHE PUT THE HANDLE OF MY LEASH UNDER THE LEG OF THE PLASTIC CHAIR WHILE SHE WENT INSIDE TO GET HER COFFEE. AT ONE POINT I MOVED AND THE CHAIR JUMPED AT ME! SO I RAN FROM IT AND IT CHASED ME ALL OVER THE PARKING LOT! THE MORE IT CHASED ME THE HARDER I RAN FROM IT! I DIDN'T REALIZE THEN THAT I WAS TIED TO IT AND WAS DRAGGING IT BEHIND ME THE WHOLE TIME. I DIDN'T STOP REACTING LONG ENOUGH TO BE ABLE TO MAKE SENSE OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING.

SOMETIMES LIFE IS LIKE THAT. YOU CAN THINK SOMEONE OR SOMETHING IS ATTACKING OR CHASING OR THREATENING YOU WHEN IT'S REALLY JUST THE THOUGHTS INSIDE YOUR HEAD...

...BUT NO ONE CAN TELL YOU THIS UNTIL YOU LOOK BACK ON IT AND REALIZE IT FOR YOURSELF. 

LOVE, JACK  🐾

Thursday

What's On Your Heart Today: The Battle Over the Mind 🐾

Dear Jack, 



Two months ago today my Teddy was taken. So many thoughts and so much anguish. I know it was already set in motion. I couldn't have done anything to stop it, but still doesn't keep me from thinking I might have jinxed things. 

Last year we were fostering a dog from a rescue and I really wanted to keep her, I went back/forth-told myself we didn't need 3 dogs. Did end up adopting her, and now Teddy is gone, so maybe I really wasn't supposed to have 3 dogs! I have used tanning beds in the past, but early this summer I read a story about a girl with cancer that was enough to make me stop tanning. Someone asked me about it and I said I didn't want to get cancer, so maybe OK not me, but then my dog gets it!?


I seem to be distancing myself from our other 2 dogs. I take care of them, it's not like I"m ignoring them, and I do snuggle on the couch and play with them but on some level I suppose I don't want to go through that heartbreak again by being so consumed by my love for the dog that it hurts this much. I love them of course, but not like I did Teddy. He was MY baby. And I suppose I resent them a little, that they are here and he is not. I know they are grieving for him too, so we all need to be in this together. I truly am usually a sensible person but all this is thinking from my heart and not my head. 


Love,
Olivia 


Dearest Olivia, 

THIS IS NOT COMING FROM YOUR HEART, THIS KIND OF CONFUSION COMES FROM YOUR HEAD. 'I know it was already set in motion,' you say. This is coming from your heart. 'It doesn't keep me from thinking (!) I might have jinxed things.'  This, as you reveal by your words, is coming from your head.

I am not being critical of you, but I must tell you that when things come from your heart they are always clear, loving, accepting of all present past and future. You heart is unconditionally supportive of YOU and any decisions you have made; actions you have taken. This is the spirit us dogs live in every day of our existence. Everything is okay when you live from the love in your heart. 


When I turned 8 years of age, Kate decided to get another dog as a companion for me...but also as a "back up plan" for someday when I crossed over the Rainbow.  Enter Joey.  I had been the only "child" since Grady crossed the Rainbow Bridge in 2009. Now it was 2013. Joey was needy and demanding and jealous. Kate was trying to balance the two of us and, while I was never very demanding, she believed that I was being pushed out. She felt like I felt like I wasn't the priority to her that I was before Joey came into our life. It actually made her resentful of Joey too, for "pushing me out". This, of course, was her MIND at work. She was projecting her feelings onto Joey and me when it was not the case at all.  

Joey and Me -- in that order
When it came time for me to leave,  Kate wondered if I left so that she could "have" Joey all to herself. She felt guilt and shame and blame, thinking that something she did caused me to want to leave her. My leaving her had nothing to do with any of that. Dogs aren't like people. We don't sit around remembering the so-called Good Old Days. We don't think thoughts like: "Gosh, I wish my life was different than the one I'm living." "I wish we didn't have this other dog in the family." "Why can't I be this, do that, go there, have that?" We take things in stride. We accept life and what it brings us at face value and we appreciate everything we have. We are what we are, we live with What Is and we love who we love. Everything is accepted and unconditional. We live in The Moment all the time. 

My Favorite Spot --
She Always Thought I Was Thinking About Stuff (because that's what she'd be doing if she were me)
but I was just watching and living fully in the moment. 
Please honor your remaining dogs by letting go of this guilt and shame and making room for the love and compassion in your heart that you have for them. The love is there, but your own feelings cloud your relationship with them right now. They may not be your Heart and Soul dogs, but they are yours and they love you and they need to know you still love them. We are very sensitive to the feelings of the ones we love and, like children, we need to be told what is going on and we need to know that you still love us...even though things are different now. 

It is natural to think about all these things, Olivia. You are only human. What if? How come? Maybe this and maybe that. The fact is, things happened the way they did and you cannot keep beating yourself up about what you might have done or could have done differently. You can only accept things as they are; you cannot turn back the clock. You cannot change the circumstances. You never could change them. They were set in destiny, in the fate of the Rainbow Time Schedule. Even things that might seem to be accidents were pre-destined. You need to love yourself as much as your pet loves you ...and forgive yourself for everything. You are not guilty of anything. 

Nothing Can Change My Love For You
We are not watching you from the Rainbow thinking: "Jeez, if only she hadn't done that!" We are only loving you, accepting you, wanting you to be at peace and free of the thoughts that torment you so that you can live and love again. We think from our hearts and not our heads, we always have, and we want you to do the same. 

Love,
Jack 🐾

Tuesday

Just Shadows in this World



We are all just shadows in this world; silhouettes of Who We Really Are. In this photo, you can see Kate and Me only because the sun shines from behind and casts our image on the wall. Whether the sun is there or whether it isn't, makes no difference. We are there just the same. 

Remember this the next time you think that I am not there; that your loved one is not there. Once in a great while conditions are right and we can Come Through to reveal ourselves to you ... but no matter what, we are there beside you. Always. 

Love, 

Jack 🐾

Monday

Visit Us on Pinterest - Where the Journey is Just Beginning

Follow Kate's board The Wisdom of Jack McAfghan on Pinterest.

Seasons Are Changing



It's October now and changes are in the air. We prepare to say goodbye to the leaves on the trees and the wildflowers in the meadow. Many birds, butterflies and other animals migrate or go into hibernation. Don't be sad! Cherish this time of retreat. It's all By Design. We all need to rest to be filled with life again. It's never goodbye. I'll see you soon. 
🐾

Sighthounds and DNA: Does It Really Matter What Breed Your Dog Is?

Hi Everybody. It's Jack here. I'd be the first one to tell you how important it is to be unique. 


Does it really matter what I was?  She always said it didn't. I was advertised as a Collie-Poo and that's what she came to accept. If it was any different than that, she said it didn't matter. She loved me no matter What I was. She loved me.


They said my Mom was a Bearded Collie.

They said my Dad was a Standard Poodle.

Some people would argue with her. "No," they'd say, "I can tell he has Afghan Hound in him from the curl in his tail... the length of his hair."  
"It doesn't matter," she would reply, 
"Whatever he is, I love him." 

But it did matter. 
One day she took me into the vet when I was about 5 years old. I had a small tumor growing on my eyelid that was bothering me. They scheduled surgery with general anesthesia to remove it.  
"Come back for him at 1 p.m," they said. 
At noon they called. 
"We've had a delay. Come back for him at 5 p.m." 
Eagerly she went to pick me up at 5. They had to tell her what happened. 
"He must have sighthound in him," they said. 
"He is definitely Afghan Hound."

Sighthounds are a certain group of dogs who have keen eyesight because of the way their eyes and noses are formed. In a puppy, the sense of smell develops first, but in a sighthound pup, the sense of sight comes first. The nose is long and thin and allows for greater peripheral vision for hunting and targeting. This is one of the things that makes sighthounds unique. They also have lean forms and can ran faster and longer than most other breeds. 

Here are some examples of sighthounds:
Borzoi
Greyhound
Saluki
Whippet
Afghan Hound
Sighthounds metabolize medication/anesthesia differently than other breeds. This is in part due to a lower percentage of body fat. Sighthounds also have a unique liver function and cannot process drug substances as quickly as other breeds. It takes them longer to recover and it is part of good veterinary care to manage this. 


I had a very bad reaction to the level of drugs they gave me. What started out as a routine surgery turned into an emergency. They almost lost me! But they didn't. They saved me and they documented in my permanent record that I am Afghan Hound; sighthound.  

For $60 you can order up a DNA testing kit. It may not matter to you what your dog is or how it came to be bred genetically through the years. As more and more people are adopting pets with unknown histories, it is not a bad idea to check it out. The more you know about breed-specific issues, the more you will be ready to handle them if and when they arise.  

Me - Afghan Hound - Collie Poo


Click HERE for a good article on the topic of Veterinary Care and the Sighthound

Love, Jack 🐾

Saturday

I Come To You in Dreams 🐾


She had a dream last night. In her distress she turned and I was there and then she knew she'd be okay.

We use dreams to connect with you. We find our way into your unconscious mind to remind you that we're always there. I know it's hard to believe right now, but someday you will find that nothing of the world was really worth being so upset about. One day you will wake up in Paradise just like she woke up from her dream today. You will see that it was all just a silly ride!

Hang in there. It will fly by in the blink an eye. Don't simply endure it; find a way to enjoy it. I'll see you in your dreams... and on the other side when the time is right for you to return to me.

Love, Jack 🐾

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