Animals as Vehicles and Teachers in the Dream World

The story and life of my beloved dog, Krishna, has become another chapter in my ever growing spiritual evolution. It has taught me a new way of viewing the death of our physical bodies and has given me a new theory to the Dream World.
When I arrived at the Humane Society where I live a year ago to choose my new pet, I was overwhelmed. I was with my polar opposite Pisces sister, who has always known and appreciated my spirit. Every kennel I peeked in was difficult. I wanted them all! I wanted to bring them all home with me and start a family with these pups! I felt a connection with all of them, thinking I would NEVER be able to make up my mind! I loved them all.
My adventure to find a friend included a desire for a German Shepherd or Husky, though I was open to anyone who made me feel "right".
"Andrea, you don't have to look anymore," my friend said with an adoring tone.
I walked to the next kennel where my friend was kneeling, and caught a glimpse of the Love of my life. There she was, blue eyed, blond and smiling. So excited to have contact with people. Licking through the cold metal at our hands. So happy. Germand Shepherd/Husky mix.
This was my dog. This was my little girl. I knew it.
Krishna was 6 months old when I adopted her. We spent every day together and I watched her grow from a typical puppy- chewing everything from cables to childhood toys- to the most wonderful, energetic, friendly, loving pup I had ever known. I was honored to be her mother.
Krishna loved to explore. She loved car rides and went wild at the dog park. Not once did I ever see her growl in anger or show her teeth in jealousy. Never did she harm anyone. She would often get out from our fenced in yard and travel. Sniffing everything and jetting full force the opposite direction when she was approached. She would always come home. Often, covered in mud and exhausted from her adventures. She loved the mud.
In June, my friend and I took off for a festival in Arkansas and then decided we would cruise to the West coast and check out the scene for as long as we could afford. Krishna came with us. She is the only dog I know who has seen so much of the country at such a young age :) I would often tell her, "Krishna, you wont appreciate how lucky you are until you're older."
From Arkansas to the downtown streets of Boise, Idaho and the Redwoods in northern California, Krish made her way, sniffing day by day, tree by tree.
She was a happy dog. Always smiling. I mean, really, smiling. More facial expressions on that dog than any other human I've ever met. You knew how she felt by her expressions.
There was the:
Mom, I want to come inside now, expression
Look at that amazing rabbit, expression
PLEASE can I have my alone time, expression
and my favorite
I'm about to burp in your face, expression.
I always knew my connection with this dog was something special. I loved her unlike any person in my life. I had taken the role of the Mother. Something I never thought I would be. We were best friends. I didn't leave the house much without her and I didn't care to go places that wouldn't allow my companion to accompany me.
Before I met Krishna I was on a slow road of spiritual development. I was introduced to meditation and energy work through my school for Massage therapy. I was slowly learning of other dimensions but still spent most of my time ignoring the Spirit and focusing on the booze.
Though I still continued my partying through the days with Krish, I was limited. I didn't want to spend too much time at work or at a friends house because I needed to make it home to my dog. I was her mother, of coarse I had to care for her.
I always knew I wanted more of myself, though. I wanted to spend more time reading, studying and growing spiritually. I wanted to spend my days with my nose in books learning of Shamanism, mysticism, etc. I was always busy though, if not with work or friends then with my dog. I got more work done with her around than anyone, she was patient.
Two weeks ago, while on vacation with my family in New York, I recieved a call from the Nebraska Humane Society. Immediately I thought she had gotten out and was picked up. After transferring me to three different people I finally said to a woman on the other line.
"I just want to know if my dog is there so someone can come and pick her up!"
She replied, "Yes, we have her, but unfortunately she was hit my a car."
My world seemed to crash immediately, as the only thing I could do was scream and yell "NO NO NO NO NO!"
I threw the phone and collapsed. My little girl, my best friend, gone, and I wasn't even there to be with her.

Before I had left to meet with my family to head for NY, I was backing out of my parking spot when I looked over at the gate to see Krishna, sitting there staring at me. I had said goodbye to her already, but for some reason I felt I needed another one. I pulled back into my spot, got out of my car and went into the yard. I knelt down beside her and we shared a long goodbye. I was going to miss her. Something inside of both of us must have known that this was going to be it.
I got back in my car and watched from the rear view mirror. We both watched each other disappear in the distance.

The next couple hours after hearing of my dogs death I sat inside of my head. Thinking about what my roommates must be thinking, did they even know? I knew not to blame anyone. There had been a hole in our fence that Krish would escape from. Many attempts to cover it couldn't keep her out. Part of me didn't mind leaving it available for her escape. She loved it! And it wasn't like her to play in the streets. It was normally a near by park or neighbors yard and then directly home. I thought about if she hurt, if she went looking for me when she was hit, if the person who reported her had been the one to hit her, and if so, why didnt they take her to the hopsital? Did she wish I was there? Did she want her mommy to comfort her in her time of pain? Things I will never know for sure. The Human Society assured my father-who spoke with them due to my inability to converse with anyone about the event-that she was knocked out and unconsious when they arrived and most likely did not feel anything. She died on the way to the Humane Society.
I was miserable. I couldn't believe it. What now? What do I do now? That dog was my escape from humanity. My diversion from the part of the world that I couldn't bare most of the time. She was my independence as well as my dependence, and the closest being to me I had ever lost.
The night that my baby died I had gone to bed around 7pm. I had driven all through the night and was exhausted from the day spent at a water park. I had a dream. A close friend of mine and Astrologer, Mojo, was consoling me. We hugged briefly and that was all I remembered. My assumption is that the dream occurred at the time of Krishna's death, which was around 10:46pm.
After I had heard of the disaster I called Mojo to tell him of the dream and the event. He was the only person I could bring myself to discuss with. He resonded with loving words and told me,
"Think of a bigger World, Sweetheart."
When arriving in New York, most of the family we met there had heard of what happened and all gave words of love and compassion. My aunt, who is from the Philippines, said to me.
"We believe that when a loved one dies, weather human or Animal, it is to protect you from harm."
The words from Mojo and my Aunt were the most comforting at the time and even though I took them in, they didnt mean much. My dog was still dead.

The words I received from most people about my girl were mainly
"That dog loved you so much!"
"You showed that dog such a great life, it was a short life, but it was a great life."

Slowly I wandered if the event happened for a reason. It was hard for me to make sense of it, and hard for me to say, but saying it felt right. When I returned home, I found myself at the local coffee shop, every day, all day. If I wasn't there I was giving a brief massage at the spa I work at and then returning back to the coffee shop to read. Read, read, read, read, read. I had no four legged friend to walk or care for anymore and no desire to see anyone else. I wanted to distract my mind and I was doing it and also doing everything Ive always wanted to do. Learn, read, relax.
I started to study dreams a lot and wondered if I would dream of Krishna. I can remember for years always wanting to have Lucid dream. Though, I never accomplished it. I became infatuated with other realms, different worlds and often thought of the Dream world as a separate life rather than symbolic pictures and events in our minds.
Then, I dreamed. I had awaken around 2 am and couldn't go back to sleep. Finally I did and this time, I was woken up by the panting of Krishna. I could feel her heavy breathing moving my bed up and down up and down. I smiled and flipped around to see my lovely pup sitting above me on my bed. It was at this moment, that I realized, I was dreaming. Krishna was my symbol, my realization that I was awake in the dream world.
We then had a wonderful reunion. We played with joy and smiles as I stroked her beautiful body and pet her cute little head. I could feel her. I could feel every curve of her head and bend in her ears. I felt the thickness of her neck and the hair underneath my fingernails as I pet her ecstatically. At one point I had her pinned on the bed- like I would often do when we would play- and said "I miss you."
There was a part inside of me that-since I knew I could now control my dream- was fearful of hearing my dog speak in my language. I thought that after my statement to her, she would respond to me and speak as if she was a talking animated animal from some creepy Disney movie. I was so fearful of this, in fact, that I thought my fear would be what manifested it, and I would have no control.
But she obeyed my wish, just as she always did. Instead, I had a telepathic understanding of
"I Know"
The dream continued with me traveling to different rooms where certain members of my family were. With each member I would show them I was dreaming by making them levitate (Never making my own self do so). My dad proposed that this had something to do with me wanting to "raise" peoples levels of consciousness. I suspect his theory is correct.
With each room I moved, Krishna would appear. Laying on the ground, looking up at me with those eyes and that face. She was my guardian, my tour guide in this Dream World. First person I saw was my sister. She was lifted off of the ground by my powers and pretty impressed. Then, my father. He and I spent some time trying to wake me up from the dream. I would go lay down in my bed and say "Come wake me up!"
He would come in several times and tickle me, pinch me, nothing worked. I then started screaming into the pillow thinking that if I did, I would wake up. It obviously wasn't time for me to do so. My dad, was intrigued by the entire thing. Acting almost the exact same when I told him about the dream as he did in the dream.
My sister and I walked into another room, where my father was in a different role. This time getting ready for work while my mother was crying, but only for a short time.
I then tried to levitate my brother and mother and both grabbed the frame of the door to stabilized them back on the ground.
After some conversation about the wild event that was taking place, me being the center of it, I exclaimed, "Man, am i STILL dreaming??"
My brother looked at me with reassurance and said something along the lines of, "I know! isnt it crazy? It fits you so well."
I then peeked over at my sister to see she was crying. She was scared. I dont know of what exactly, but the feeling I had was that she was scared I would not wake up. I believe she was feeling my fear, which is a typical act of my sisters empathetic self.
I looked down to see sweet Krish appear below the dresser, curled up looking up at me. Eye to eye, dead contact between us, throughout this entire dream.
"Look at Krishna."
Then, my phone vibrated with a text message. I eagerly picked it up, finding it to be a clue. Hoping it was going to be some kind of a sign for me. The only thing I read, was the sender. Jretch Jennings.

I awoke to a text message at 530am from a friend. "Hola."

THe dream helped me realize Krishnas place in my life. She was truly here on this Earth as a vehicle for my spiritual growth. Without her, I would not have gotten from A to B. And B, is exactly where I need to be. She touched the lives of everyone who met her.
"Everyone loves Krishna," I would say to her.
She was too much for this World. She was beyond the levels of this physical materialistic body of life. She was loved my so many and loved just as much in return.
She IS my little girl, my best friend, my Dream World Guardian. Just as a pinch grounds you in the physical world, my dear, sweet dog grounds me in my dreams.
I believe she is running among the Dream World. Acting as my protector, my guardian. Maybe, like my Aunt suggested, she was protecting me from my physical materialistic life and introducing me to more, such as the World of Dreams.
Her physical body that I missed so much now holds its mold in a higher leverl of being.
"Think of a bigger world, sweetheart"

"We are asleep. Our life is a dream. But we wake up, sometimes, just enough to know that we are dreaming."
— Ludwig Wittgenstein