More than anything, I see my relationship with my dogs as a spiritual experience. Training is not about obedience, it is a spiritual connection to the animals we love and that love us. We get the dogs we need, and if we are open to it, they will enter into our lives and be partners, magical helpers and guides on our spiritual journeys. I felt this so powerfully today when I walked up a nearby hill with Red and Lenore and I paused at the top of the hill, to rest and drink up the silence, and I had this strong sensation that they were there with me, they were not just walking alongside of me, but they were entering into my experience, my meditation. I look up at the hill a few feet next to me, and I saw Red and Lenore sitting silently, their heads bowed, as if in contemplation. I was not meditating, we were meditating, I felt it in my body and my soul as the sun dipped behind the clouds and the wind whistled up the hill. Silently, we stood together and then we walked down the hill together. Magical helpers, spirit guides.