Synchronicity and the strange story of Houdini the dog

[Tobin S.]

I found this definition of synchronicity over at dictionary.com- "the coincidental occurrence of events and especially psychic events (as similar thoughts in widely separated persons or a mental image of an unexpected event before it happens) that seem related but are not explained by conventional mechanisms of causality —used especially in the psychology of C. G. Jung"

I ran across the term recently in a book by Daniel Pinchbeck. He's a good read. I recommend his stuff.

My fiancee and I have a dog named Swifty. We've posted pictures here of him before. Jen found the dog at a shelter about 6 years ago and they thought the dog to be about 5 years old at the time. They had named him Swifty because they didn't know his original name. He had been found one morning tied to a tree outside the shelter. Whoever left him there had wrapped a coat around him. Swifty was unusual in that he only had three legs. One of them had been surgically amputated.

Jen fell in love with the dog at the shelter and brought him home. But she still didn't know Swifty's history and she wouldn't until today.

Jen works at a bank and today a customer came in and asked her about a picture she had of Swifty at her work space. The woman said that she used to have a dog that looked just like that. Jen explained her knowledge of Swifty saying that he only had three legs in the process. The woman said Swifty used to be her dog. She knew him as Houdini because of his wily way of escaping. She had also found the dog at a shelter that Houdini had already escaped from once. In the process of breaking out of this equivalent for maximum security for dogs, Houdini had lost several of his teeth and broken one of his rear legs. The leg had not healed right and apparently had died, so after she adopted him she had it removed.

She said she could not keep Houdini from getting out of the house and running away. He seemed to be unhappy with his new home. So one day she took the dog to the no-kill shelter where Jen had found him. They said they could not take him because they already had a full house. So she left Houdini out front.

It turns out that Houdini's former owner had also bought her house from Jen's grandma.

Houdini, now known as Swifty, lives with us and is happy to be here. He no longer tries to make his magical escapes and is a very affectionate dog. Here he is:

[jme0318]

1. My Swifty...

Until I met Tobin S - Swifty was the love of my life. I have often wondered what happened to Swifty's leg and who had him before - now I know and am convinced that Swifty aka Houdini was meant to be my dog!

The fact that he lived at the farm where my father grew up and where my parents had a dog that was unfortunately hit by a car - just gave me chills to think about how some things just fall in to place in our lives.

I am happy to know what happened to his leg and know why the person left him there like they did. I am also glad that I was able to thank that person for saving Swifty's life by taking him to a no-kill shelter where he found someone to treat him like a king!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. My dear Tobin!

What a great story! How wonderful to have those details filling in all the mysteries of Swifty's life...

How lucky for him that Jen came along and took him home!

Thanks for sharing this with us!

:hi: to Jen!

[warrior1]

3. incredible story

thanks for sharing

[snagglepuss]

4. I'm very interested in synchronicity. Great story. Great doggy. Great owners:)

[driver8]

5. That is a great story! What a cute boy...

I agree -- he was meant to be your dog!!

[ceile]

6. That is amazing...

Truly amazing.