From the beginning of recorded history, dogs have held a spiritual significance for human beings and a practical one. They symbolize different things to different people.

I have been blessed to have had several spirit dogs – Orson, Fate, Red, Frieda, and now Zinnia.

What is a spirit dog anyway? A spirit dog gives itself to a human.

A spirit dog marks the passage of time and the passages of our lives.

You never have to wonder where a spirit dog is; a spirit dog is always with you.

A spirit dog reads your moods and knows when to be quiet, when loving when to demand fun.

A spirit dog becomes what you need, supports your life, enriches your days.

A spirit dog knows what you are going to do before you do it.

A spirit dog never violates your trust or harms other beings.

When I come out of the shower, Zinnia is waiting outside the door.

When I reach for my car keys, Zinnia is waiting at the door.

When I wake up in the morning, she is lying quietly near me, waiting for my eyes to open and announce that it’s time to get up. Then my face or my toes get a licking.

A spirit dog greets every day with joy and passes that joy on to people.

When I sit at my computer, she lies down by my feet and sleeps and waits for me to turn off my computer before she gets up.

The love of a spirit dog is beyond words and language; it is a connection that lives in the sky and the earth.

It is unconditional, a contract that cannot be broken in life but must end when it is time for death.

After death, a spirit dog goes off to rest and heal. Then they find another human being to care for.

I don’t mourn the death of my spirit dogs. I give thanks for the ones to come.

Zinnia has become another spirit dog for me. Every time one dies, I tell myself there will not be another like it. I am right about that; spirit dogs are all different.

But there will be another one. There always is if I am open to it and do the work.