How to Harness the Amazing Gifts of Your Wood Element Dog
By Elizabeth Anne Johnson.
After the cold darkness of the winter Water Element, the season of Wood makes its long-awaited entrance. Each spring day cultivates more of the vibrant essence of expansion and potential. Like the trees around us bursting forth with life and leaf, so it is with our Wood dogs, and our Wood selves. We can feel the shifting and intense energy of dynamic change in the air.
No matter where your own personal Wood element is in your archetype profile, this strong season will awaken your inner most Wood energy. You may sense an inner desire to grow, to learn something new. You can feel generosity towards others as you now have enough of yourself to share. You return to a feeling of abundance of your own vital energy and face challenges with ease. Our dogs also feel this same dynamic alchemy of having enough and wanting more – more movement, more learning, more intense connection with you, more fun! This fast-paced thawing out from our winter torpor and the welcome warming of our spirits can be intensely satisfying for both of us.
Our dogs feel all the wild essences and constant changes nature provides, especially the entry into this season. Wood is strong, resilient, dynamic, always growing, and very shapeable. And you are the artist of your dog’s potential.
A Wood dog will look to you for more learning, more movement, more connection, more shaping. Wood dogs love being moldable. They regularly ask for guidance. The key to this time is to embrace your own Wood element – big or teeny – and step into the role of your partnership as a fair and confident leader. If you can find your leadership, your Wood dog will thank you.
If you can’t find it, they will surely step into the leadership role. Wood elements are natural born leaders and will take charge if no one else does. Not pretty… This can create an imbalance in both your Wood dog and your relationship. Your Wood dog is asking you to step into your own true gift – your leadership. In recognizing your own potential, you can create the balance and harmony that a Wood dog and human relationship needs.
Being a leader is part of a working partnership. Leaders provide safe boundaries for learning, expansion, and play. Boundaries are not a bad thing. Undirected Wood potential can be like an open water tap gushing and overflowing when there’s not a vessel to catch it or a lever to stop it running. Wood’s potential is a precious commodity that can and should be directed towards its highest potential. That is what fulfills the Wood dog’s ultimate feeling of purpose and partnership.
For your Wood dog to enjoy and excel at learning they must practice. Boundaries allow practice. Boundaries allow solid growth and learning. They direct potential. And boundaries are movable when the time is right.
When we stretch to a new boundary with our Wood dog, they absolutely love the new challenge! They get the game your leadership provides. Practice helps them get really solid with the teachings you impart. When they are ready to move on to the next boundary, they will become restless and possibly frustrated because they know there is more to learn at the next gate. They will look at you and say “I got this Mom!”. This process of holding and moving their learning boundaries fulfills their powerful need for embracing challenges. Wood dogs are very fast learners and always want to be the very best they can be at whatever they do.
Your solid, kind and caring leadership is the gift you can give back to your talented, intelligent Wood dog. It will fulfill all their needs and wants and create balance in their life. It will enhance your partnership tenfold. This ensures a strong and balanced relationship and a deep bond between handler and this amazing athlete, working dog, and family member.
Allow their Wood to grow, fertilize it with meeting the needs, wants and potential for these dogs and savor the intense desire they have for more learning. Allow yourself to grow too. They will be the best partner you’ll ever have.
And you will be the strong, proud heartbeat that made that happen.
Elizabeth Anne Johnson has been working with small, large, exotic animals, and wildlife for 35 years as a holistic animal healer, animal empath, and veterinary technician. She is the author of Know Your Dog’s True Nature, Understanding Canine Personality through the Five Elements and a TEDx Speaker, adventurer, and howling partner of Wilbur and Pretzel. ElizabethAnneJohnson.com
