By Shannon Wells, Elaine Bailey, Laurent Keller and Prof. Dr. Patrick Kim Cheng Low/Sik-Liong Ang, MBA
Cats: Live in each moment - Cats ALWAYS live in the NOW. They are fully present in the moment. Even when that moment involves napping! They enjoy the NOW and make the most of it, whatever the day presents for them. NOW is where life happens! Not next week or next month, it's always in the moment. Have you ever seen a cat worrying about workloads or their To-Do List?! How much time do you spend fully present in the NOW?
There is another valuable lesson we can learn from our feline friends: Teach others how to treat you - Cats live by the instructions in their own Operating Manuals. If a cat doesn't like something, it simply chooses not to participate and just walks away. Cats are independent decision makers. They decide and then they act. It's easy to live our own life by someone else's interpretation of our Operating Manual. We live by their perceptions of what we should do and how we should act. We become a People Pleaser saying 'Yes' when we really want to say 'No. 'Who's Operating Manual are you working from?
The Horse: In the Western tradition, there is always a wild horse in us and one in which we, as a person or leader needs to tame or put it under control. That wild horse can be our emotions and feelings. The leader should be emotionally stable, and in fact, possess high emotional quotient .It is worthy to note that horses also have a great sense of balance, in part due to their ability to feel their footing and in part due to the highly developed proprioceptive abilities(that is, the unconscious sense of where the body and limbs are at all times) (Thomas,1998). In this aspect, leaders need to be high in self-monitoring, with a good sense of balance and flexibility, mixing with all kinds of people. Having a good sense of balance and a wide area of interests, a leader would not be too rigid, lop-sided and easily stressed. Low self-monitoring, with limited options open, can often act inflexibly or be inflexible(DuBrin, 2007), and people who are flexible and skilled in networking and mixing with different groups of people usually score high on the self-monitoring factor.
Dogs: Avoid biting when a simple growl will do. If what you want is buried, dig deep until you find it. Never pass up an opportunity to go for a joy ride. And, when someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.
Geese: Now here’s a bunch that knows what synergy truly means. If you’ve ever seen a flock of wild geese flying overhead, you know that they do so in a V formation. Now V may stand for victory, but it also stands for common sense and practicality. The leader of the bunch is the goose at the tip of the V. All the other birds are able to fly easier because of the uplift caused by its wings. And each of the birds that follow fly assisted by the previous bird’s uplift. This way, by pooling their resources and helping the weaker ones, the geese are able to travel 71 percent more than they normally could. Also, when the leader tires, it falls back and another goose takes its place. So for synergy and cooperation, look no further than the geese.
Ants: Colonies operate through organised co-operation and task-sharing. Ants work together to capture prey that is bigger than they are; they can call up extra workers when an abundant food source is discovered; they can defend a colony by repelling invaders. Weaver ants use silk squeezed from ant larvae to “glue” leaves together for nest building. Nursemaid ants look after eggs, larvae and pupae, moving them from place to place each day depending on the temperature. Ants of Switzerland’s Jura region search out antibacterial spruce resin and distribute it within their nests to reduce the number of pathogens.
The secret behind such organised societies is communication and the innate ability to work together. It is these two qualities which are not only the key to the ants success but more specifically to their survival.
Dolphins: Dolphin trainers will attest to the fact that these beautiful beasts of the sea are not like other animals – they don’t respond positively to threats or punishments of any kind. Rather, if you want the dolphin to do your bidding, you must coax, cajole and praise. In our world too, praise and encouragement work much better in getting people to do your bidding willingly. The operative word here is “willingly” because any task done unwillingly is never well done.
Read more about leadership in the animal kingdom
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Halloween Costume Contest For Your Pets
Our friends at Feathers N Fins are hosting a Pet Costume Contest this Saturday, October 30th at GPO (3pm)
Dress your dog up as an ice cream sundae...
Or perhaps a pirate
And if you are lucky enough to have a "special" dog then NASCAR is really the only way to go
Dress your dog up as an ice cream sundae...
Or perhaps a pirate
And if you are lucky enough to have a "special" dog then NASCAR is really the only way to go
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
GAIN Gets Around
GAIN volunteers Cindy Bartels,Corinne Lopez and Julie Grady met with students from Tamuning Christian Fellowship. The kids lovedour mascots Wheels, Ebony and Macon and that admiration was mutual
Macon w/ Guam Fire & Rescue
If you don't already know Macon's story please click the photo below. It will really help you appreciate just how far he has come. He is our hero and this picture is a testament to the valiant efforts of all of the compassionate souls who have heard his astonishing story and stepped up to help him on his long road to recovery
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Suffolk approves animal abuse registry bill
The Suffolk County Legislature unanimously approved a bill to create a law establishing a county registry for animal abuse offenders, the first of its kind in the nation.
The new law allows the county to create a public registry of convicted animal abusers, in which the names, aliases, addresses and photographs of animal abusers would compiled in a searchable database, much like the state's sex offender registry. The convicted abusers would pay a $50 annual fee for upkeep of the registry, and those who fail to register would be charged $1,000 or face jail time.
A public hearing for a second bill, which would require pet stores and animal shelters to check the registry before allowing anyone to purchase or adopt an animal, was tabled for a later date.
If approved, that law would prohibit pet stores from selling an animal to a convicted abuser.
Roy Gross, who heads the Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said his group, which deals with over 2,000 animal abuse cases in the county per year, believes the animal abuse registry will help to save animals.
“Most serial killers began as animal abusers,” he said. “It's a known fact: people who hurt animals hurt people too.”
The new law allows the county to create a public registry of convicted animal abusers, in which the names, aliases, addresses and photographs of animal abusers would compiled in a searchable database, much like the state's sex offender registry. The convicted abusers would pay a $50 annual fee for upkeep of the registry, and those who fail to register would be charged $1,000 or face jail time.
A public hearing for a second bill, which would require pet stores and animal shelters to check the registry before allowing anyone to purchase or adopt an animal, was tabled for a later date.
If approved, that law would prohibit pet stores from selling an animal to a convicted abuser.
Roy Gross, who heads the Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said his group, which deals with over 2,000 animal abuse cases in the county per year, believes the animal abuse registry will help to save animals.
“Most serial killers began as animal abusers,” he said. “It's a known fact: people who hurt animals hurt people too.”
Lawmakers Consider an Animal Abuse Registry
California may soon place animal abusers on the same level as sex offenders by listing them in an online registry, complete with their home addresses and places of employment.
The proposal, made in a bill introduced Friday by the State Senate’s majority leader, Dean Florez, would be the first of its kind in the country and is just the latest law geared toward animal rights in a state that has recently given new protections to chickens, pigs and cattle.
Mr. Florez, a Democrat who is chairman of the Food and Agriculture Committee, said the law would provide information for those who “have animals and want to take care of them,” a broad contingent in California, with its large farming interests and millions of pet owners. Animal protection is also, he said, a rare bipartisan issue in the state, which has suffered bitter partisan finger-pointing in the wake of protracted budget woes. Read full article here
The proposal, made in a bill introduced Friday by the State Senate’s majority leader, Dean Florez, would be the first of its kind in the country and is just the latest law geared toward animal rights in a state that has recently given new protections to chickens, pigs and cattle.
Mr. Florez, a Democrat who is chairman of the Food and Agriculture Committee, said the law would provide information for those who “have animals and want to take care of them,” a broad contingent in California, with its large farming interests and millions of pet owners. Animal protection is also, he said, a rare bipartisan issue in the state, which has suffered bitter partisan finger-pointing in the wake of protracted budget woes. Read full article here
Are animal abusers properly punished? Area officials weigh in on use of Buster’s Law
By KATIE NOWAK
For The Saratogian
Chester Williamson was 16 when he killed Buster, an 18-month-old tabby cat, by dousing the animal with kerosene and lighting it on fire in Schenectady in 1997. Williamson received three years probation and court-ordered psychiatric counseling, a punishment that many felt did not match the severity of his crime.
That act of violence, and the subsequent fallout from public demand that more be done to punish people like Williamson, directly influenced the state Legislature’s passage of Buster’s Law in 1999, which makes some acts of animal cruelty felonies.
The fervor surrounding Buster’s death more than 10 years ago was echoed in recent weeks with the news that Robert Clow — who allegedly killed his girlfriend’s dog, Daisy, by tying her to a tree and shooting her three times with a .44 caliber Magnum — will not be charged under Buster’s Law.
In defending his decision not to charge Clow with a felony, Rensselaer County District Attorney Rich McNally previously told The Record in Troy that the statutes of Buster’s Law do not comply with this case because Clow’s conduct was not “intended to cause extreme physical pain or carried out in an especially depraved or sadistic manner.”
Instead, McNally said Clow killed Daisy because she was feeding on or playing with the carcass of a dead cat on his girlfriend’s porch. If done to specifically cause his girlfriend pain and suffering, as some animal rights activists claim, then it would have been elevated to a felony, he said.
“I get a lot of calls on almost every one of these cases,” McNally said. “People feel very strongly about animal abuse, and that’s understandable. And I think some folks would like to see every animal abuse case be a felony, but that’s just not the status of the law.”
Indeed, though it has resulted in hundreds of convictions throughout the state since its inception, the law has not often been applied within the Capital District. A survey of local district attorneys found few convictions under Buster’s Law throughout the past few years, compared with a larger number of misdemeanor animal cruelty cases.
Rensselaer County has had only one Buster’s Law case under McNally’s watch, when Hoosick Falls resident Michael Lohnes killed a stranger’s pet horse, named Skye, in 2008 by stabbing it as many as 20 times and slitting its throat. Initially charged with a misdemeanor, Lohnes was eventually convicted of felony aggravated animal cruelty and was sentenced in February to up to seven years in prison.
McNally said the conviction was “a pretty hard one … probably the biggest one I’ve seen in this district.”
Another high-profile Rensselaer County case was that of Matthew Beck, the Hoosick Falls dog warden who in 2009 shot several stray dogs in the head and buried them in a manure pile on his property. Beck was not charged under Buster’s Law and instead pleaded guilty to several misdemeanors. He spent only two weekends in jail and received three years’ probation at his sentencing in March.
The most recent Buster’s Law case in the Capital District occurred earlier this month when Justin C. Taylor of Ballston Spa allegedly killed his girlfriend’s Chihuahua during a domestic dispute.
Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy III alleges that Taylor, a member of the Air National Guard, punched, kicked and then threw the dog, Kelvin, against the floor and wall, causing severe head trauma that eventually killed the tiny animal. In addition to assault charges against his girlfriend, Taylor faces two years in prison for the death of Kelvin. The case is pending.
Murphy said he has used Buster’s Law in a number of other cases, “in instances of severe and significant abuse. Studies show that when someone is willing to batter, torture, harm an animal, it’s not unusual for them to take the next step and harm a human.”
That was one of the driving forces behind the passage of Buster’s Bill, said the man who championed it, state Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, R-Schenectady.
Williamson killed Buster in Tedisco’s district, and Tedisco said he was inundated with phone calls from constituents and animal rights activists after the crime, clamoring for more to be done. Tedisco called the chief of police, who told him that while the crime was a misdemeanor, it should be considered a felony, since the FBI lists animal cruelty as a bridge crime, leading to other harmful activity in the future.
Williamson himself illustrated that grim concept. Over the next 10 years, he served a half-dozen stints in county jail, went to state prison on two felony charges and, in 2008, pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a 12-year-old mentally disabled girl he lured to a park near her home. He’s currently serving a 12-year prison sentence.
After Buster’s death, Tedisco sought to protect the world from people like notorious serial killers Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy, both of whom had backgrounds of animal abuse.
“It’s important not only for our family pets, it’s important for our families and children to get these guys off the streets and get them some counseling and straighten them out,” Tedisco said. “I think a number of people across this state, the nation and the world will understand that these pets are part of our families. They give us unconditional love, and if we have that much disregard for these creatures, we tend to see that we have disregard for even humans later on, because that’s what directions these individuals take.”
Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney agreed with McNally’s assessment that not every case of abuse falls under Buster’s Law.
“It has to be fairly egregious conduct, but we’ve had that, unfortunately,” he said.
An example of that conduct is Thomas Hendricks II, who was sentenced to two years in county jail in May after he killed his wife’s two dachshund puppies, both less than a year old, and severely burned her toy poodle. He held one puppy under water and squeezed it to death, and beat the other with a pool cue. The poodle survived its injuries and was later readopted.
While heinous acts of animal abuse are ongoing in the Capital District, Tedisco is hopeful that Buster’s Law can eventually be amended and expanded to encompass all manners of abuse, and that the law can be applied appropriately. He disagrees with McNally’s decision not to apply the law in the Clow case, and thinks it’s representative of an overall misunderstanding of the law.
“We’re making headway, but these high-profile cases, where they pooh-pooh the law and have these misdemeanors and the low penalties, take us one step back,” Tedisco said. “We have to speak out when we see these types of things where the reality suggests this is a felony.”
Tedisco is pushing to further educate law enforcement officials, district attorneys, judges and the public about the dangers animal abusers pose to others. He also has several bills in the works that would set up a hotline to report abuse and animal hoarding, expand the definition of “companion animal” set forth in Buster’s Law and create a registry that would prevent an abuser who didn’t undergo mandatory counseling from adopting or purchasing a pet.
“I think we’ve come a million miles, and I think we’ve got 10 million miles to go,” Tedisco said. “I’m not totally displeased with the effectiveness of the law, but I think we have to continue to do more
For The Saratogian
Chester Williamson was 16 when he killed Buster, an 18-month-old tabby cat, by dousing the animal with kerosene and lighting it on fire in Schenectady in 1997. Williamson received three years probation and court-ordered psychiatric counseling, a punishment that many felt did not match the severity of his crime.
That act of violence, and the subsequent fallout from public demand that more be done to punish people like Williamson, directly influenced the state Legislature’s passage of Buster’s Law in 1999, which makes some acts of animal cruelty felonies.
The fervor surrounding Buster’s death more than 10 years ago was echoed in recent weeks with the news that Robert Clow — who allegedly killed his girlfriend’s dog, Daisy, by tying her to a tree and shooting her three times with a .44 caliber Magnum — will not be charged under Buster’s Law.
In defending his decision not to charge Clow with a felony, Rensselaer County District Attorney Rich McNally previously told The Record in Troy that the statutes of Buster’s Law do not comply with this case because Clow’s conduct was not “intended to cause extreme physical pain or carried out in an especially depraved or sadistic manner.”
Instead, McNally said Clow killed Daisy because she was feeding on or playing with the carcass of a dead cat on his girlfriend’s porch. If done to specifically cause his girlfriend pain and suffering, as some animal rights activists claim, then it would have been elevated to a felony, he said.
“I get a lot of calls on almost every one of these cases,” McNally said. “People feel very strongly about animal abuse, and that’s understandable. And I think some folks would like to see every animal abuse case be a felony, but that’s just not the status of the law.”
Indeed, though it has resulted in hundreds of convictions throughout the state since its inception, the law has not often been applied within the Capital District. A survey of local district attorneys found few convictions under Buster’s Law throughout the past few years, compared with a larger number of misdemeanor animal cruelty cases.
Rensselaer County has had only one Buster’s Law case under McNally’s watch, when Hoosick Falls resident Michael Lohnes killed a stranger’s pet horse, named Skye, in 2008 by stabbing it as many as 20 times and slitting its throat. Initially charged with a misdemeanor, Lohnes was eventually convicted of felony aggravated animal cruelty and was sentenced in February to up to seven years in prison.
McNally said the conviction was “a pretty hard one … probably the biggest one I’ve seen in this district.”
Another high-profile Rensselaer County case was that of Matthew Beck, the Hoosick Falls dog warden who in 2009 shot several stray dogs in the head and buried them in a manure pile on his property. Beck was not charged under Buster’s Law and instead pleaded guilty to several misdemeanors. He spent only two weekends in jail and received three years’ probation at his sentencing in March.
The most recent Buster’s Law case in the Capital District occurred earlier this month when Justin C. Taylor of Ballston Spa allegedly killed his girlfriend’s Chihuahua during a domestic dispute.
Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy III alleges that Taylor, a member of the Air National Guard, punched, kicked and then threw the dog, Kelvin, against the floor and wall, causing severe head trauma that eventually killed the tiny animal. In addition to assault charges against his girlfriend, Taylor faces two years in prison for the death of Kelvin. The case is pending.
Murphy said he has used Buster’s Law in a number of other cases, “in instances of severe and significant abuse. Studies show that when someone is willing to batter, torture, harm an animal, it’s not unusual for them to take the next step and harm a human.”
That was one of the driving forces behind the passage of Buster’s Bill, said the man who championed it, state Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, R-Schenectady.
Williamson killed Buster in Tedisco’s district, and Tedisco said he was inundated with phone calls from constituents and animal rights activists after the crime, clamoring for more to be done. Tedisco called the chief of police, who told him that while the crime was a misdemeanor, it should be considered a felony, since the FBI lists animal cruelty as a bridge crime, leading to other harmful activity in the future.
Williamson himself illustrated that grim concept. Over the next 10 years, he served a half-dozen stints in county jail, went to state prison on two felony charges and, in 2008, pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a 12-year-old mentally disabled girl he lured to a park near her home. He’s currently serving a 12-year prison sentence.
After Buster’s death, Tedisco sought to protect the world from people like notorious serial killers Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy, both of whom had backgrounds of animal abuse.
“It’s important not only for our family pets, it’s important for our families and children to get these guys off the streets and get them some counseling and straighten them out,” Tedisco said. “I think a number of people across this state, the nation and the world will understand that these pets are part of our families. They give us unconditional love, and if we have that much disregard for these creatures, we tend to see that we have disregard for even humans later on, because that’s what directions these individuals take.”
Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney agreed with McNally’s assessment that not every case of abuse falls under Buster’s Law.
“It has to be fairly egregious conduct, but we’ve had that, unfortunately,” he said.
An example of that conduct is Thomas Hendricks II, who was sentenced to two years in county jail in May after he killed his wife’s two dachshund puppies, both less than a year old, and severely burned her toy poodle. He held one puppy under water and squeezed it to death, and beat the other with a pool cue. The poodle survived its injuries and was later readopted.
While heinous acts of animal abuse are ongoing in the Capital District, Tedisco is hopeful that Buster’s Law can eventually be amended and expanded to encompass all manners of abuse, and that the law can be applied appropriately. He disagrees with McNally’s decision not to apply the law in the Clow case, and thinks it’s representative of an overall misunderstanding of the law.
“We’re making headway, but these high-profile cases, where they pooh-pooh the law and have these misdemeanors and the low penalties, take us one step back,” Tedisco said. “We have to speak out when we see these types of things where the reality suggests this is a felony.”
Tedisco is pushing to further educate law enforcement officials, district attorneys, judges and the public about the dangers animal abusers pose to others. He also has several bills in the works that would set up a hotline to report abuse and animal hoarding, expand the definition of “companion animal” set forth in Buster’s Law and create a registry that would prevent an abuser who didn’t undergo mandatory counseling from adopting or purchasing a pet.
“I think we’ve come a million miles, and I think we’ve got 10 million miles to go,” Tedisco said. “I’m not totally displeased with the effectiveness of the law, but I think we have to continue to do more
Friday, October 22, 2010
Dear Dogs and Cats (post at snout height)
1. The dishes with the paw prints are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Please note, placing a paw print in the middle of my plate of food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.
2. The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Beating me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.
3. I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort. Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.
4. For the last time, there is not a secret exit from the bathroom. If by some miracle I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge and try to pull the door open. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years --canine or feline attendance is not mandatory.
5. The proper order is kiss me, then go smell the other dog or cat's butt. I cannot stress this enough!
To pacify you, my dear pets, I have posted the following message human high on our front door:
To All Non-Pet Owners Who Visit & Like to Complain About Our Pets
1. They live here. You don't.
2. If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. (That's why they call it "furrrr"niture.)
3. I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.
4. To you, it's an animal. To me, he/she is an adopted son/daughter who is short, hairy, walks on all fours and doesn't speak clearly.
Remember: Dogs and cats are better than kids because they:
1. Eat less
2. Don't ask for money all the time
3. Are easier to train
4. Usually come when called
5. Never drive your car
6. Don't hang out with drug-using friends
7. Don't smoke or drink
8. Don't worry about having to buy the latest fashions
9. Don't wear your clothes
10. Don't need a gazillion dollars for college, and
11. If they get pregnant, you can sell their kids.
2. The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Beating me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.
3. I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort. Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.
4. For the last time, there is not a secret exit from the bathroom. If by some miracle I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge and try to pull the door open. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years --canine or feline attendance is not mandatory.
5. The proper order is kiss me, then go smell the other dog or cat's butt. I cannot stress this enough!
To pacify you, my dear pets, I have posted the following message human high on our front door:
To All Non-Pet Owners Who Visit & Like to Complain About Our Pets
1. They live here. You don't.
2. If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. (That's why they call it "furrrr"niture.)
3. I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.
4. To you, it's an animal. To me, he/she is an adopted son/daughter who is short, hairy, walks on all fours and doesn't speak clearly.
Remember: Dogs and cats are better than kids because they:
1. Eat less
2. Don't ask for money all the time
3. Are easier to train
4. Usually come when called
5. Never drive your car
6. Don't hang out with drug-using friends
7. Don't smoke or drink
8. Don't worry about having to buy the latest fashions
9. Don't wear your clothes
10. Don't need a gazillion dollars for college, and
11. If they get pregnant, you can sell their kids.
SECOND CHANCES: A dog gets a one (and so does the soldier who adopted him)
The video was meant to simply make some Facebook friends, and his mother in particular, smile.
Steven Boyd, 39, had taught his dog Djaingo how to "say grace," and one late September morning, camera in hand, he coaxed the sleepy pup out to the living room and into prayer.
Front paws on Boyd's thigh, head bowed, man and dog offered up these words:
Thank you for allowing us to be the man and puppy you've allowed us to be. Father, thank you for our friends and family, their prayers and support and energy that they give us… Father, I do ask a special prayer that you help me to not chase the neighbor's cat and to listen to my master whenever he asks me to do anything.
What began as a post on Boyd's Facebook page was passed on and shared. It's popped up all over YouTube, appeared on numerous other sites, and it even got play on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."
But the story behind Djaingo the praying dog is deeper than it is cute.
Boyd found his way to the dog just when they needed each other most.
The man was sick - had been for more than a year and a half - when he strolled into an animal shelter looking for a temporary escape. It was September 10, 2003, the day before the second anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the memories of that day weighed heavily on him.
For 12 years, Boyd says, he served in the U.S. Army. He says he was, among other things, a sniper, a paratrooper and, subsequently, a counter narcotics operator. He'd been fearless professionally and personally. He'd jumped out of planes, rappelled down cliffs and mountain biked his way across dangerous terrains.
Now, though, he was losing everything. The hospitalizations kept happening. His career was shot. The relationship with the woman he thought he'd marry had ended. The medical questions loomed large. He was dying.
At the pound that day, he simply offered to walk some dogs. He had no plan to adopt an animal. But then, three hours into his visit, his eyes and the dog's locked. He knew, in that instant, they were meant to be together.
The only problem was the dog was already scheduled to die. It was set to be euthanized the following morning. It was too aggressive and could not be trained, the shelter workers insisted. Boyd didn't care.
He begged. He pleaded. And $75 later, the best investment he says he ever made, the duo went home.
The former military man, who lives in Austin, Texas, put that pup through its own boot camp. The dog began to trust his owner, show affection and within six months he'd been transformed. He was happy, loving, sweet.
"He saved my life as much as I saved his," Boyd says.
Along the way, the Australian Cattle Dog was given a proper name - rather than his given name, "Chip." His owner thought back to the time when he'd done some training with the 3rd Royal Australian Airborne. The men had taught him the term "djaingo" – to "go djaingo," Boyd explains, means to go out, get drunk and rowdy, pick up women and have bar fights. And so that tough little dog was named.
Since he first was hospitalized on February 19, 2002, Boyd has struggled. Because of multiple traumatic brain injuries - sustained through military exercises, a car wreck, a rappelling accident and a grenade detonation - he says he suffers from gastroparesis, a paralysis of the gastrointestinal tract. It makes eating and drinking a form of "Russian roulette," he says. It can cause food to sit in his stomach and rot. He has starved himself, unintentionally. For days on end, he can vomit 10 to 15 times an hour. He's broken ribs in the process.
As a result of this illness and repeated, extensive dehydration, he says his weight - 175 when healthy - has dropped to as low as 98 pounds.
By his side, in sickness and in health, has been Djaingo. Boyd's parents live three hours away, and his mother, Cheryl, says she takes solace knowing the dog is there.
He sticks by her son and keeps watch. When Boyd is too sick to take the dog out, he can leave the apartment door open. The dog will run outside on his own "to do his business," she says, and then guard the open door. If her son is in need of medical attention, the dog will alert neighbors.
Having Djaingo has been source of comfort to Boyd. But there was one time when the animal just wasn't enough.
After several days of vomiting four years ago, he thought he'd end it all. He'd had a friend who years ago had committed suicide by drinking Clorox, and from the bathtub's floor, where he was curled up, Boyd eyed the nearby bleach bottle. With the cap off, he prepared to drink.
"I heard it as distinctive as I hear your voice right now," Boyd, his own voice shaking, says by phone to CNN. "I heard, 'Don’t do this.' It was my father God, and I broke down. I get teary-eyed now talking about it."
He'd grown up in a Christian home, "a proverbial 'Leave It to Beaver' family," he says. His dad had been the deacon of their church. His mother is a Sunday school and Bible study teacher. And though Boyd always considered himself Christian, up until that moment he realized he'd been living the Christian life, as an adult, on his own terms.
The debilitating illness that can leave him homebound much of the time, the loss of everything, had in fact saved him, he says.
"It changed everything. I truly feel as if it was God using a 2-by-4, smacking me in the head and telling me to wake up," says Boyd, who described himself as "callous" after his years in the military. "It's softened my heart in so many ways. It's made me realize the things you take for granted in life are sometimes the most important things in life."
He got involved in church. He attends Bible studies when he's able. And as last year's Christmas gift to his mother, who describes herself as a "prayer warrior," he taught Djaingo how to say grace.
"He's a disabled veteran on a very limited income," his mom says. So in lieu of buying each other gifts, she told her son last year that instead they'd "do something, write something or make something" for one another.
What her son and Djaingo did for her touched her heart, she says. And, with the release of the recent video, she's not alone in receiving this gift.
The response has overwhelmed Boyd. He's received more than 5,000 messages from around the globe - including Australia, Russia, Thailand. The friend requests on Facebook have poured in by the hundreds. Djaingo, now with his own Facebook page, is racking up new friends, too.
Boyd has gotten marriage proposals. A grandmother who is going through chemotherapy and lives alone says she watches the video every morning to help her face a new day. A mother whose son has lost faith is hoping that by teaching the dog to pray, her son will feel the connection again, too. Pastors are using the video in sermons.
And all of this, including what it's done for her son, Boyd's mother says, is proof of "God's hand" at work.
"Steven told us he was so lonely. So much of the time, he's apartment-bound. Now he's getting emails from all over the world," she says. "It's given Steven such a boost to his morale. God can take the tiniest thing and use it for good."
Every evening, Boyd and Djaingo say grace together. It's not that the man believes the roly-poly dog, who's actually been mistaken for a pig before, is actually praying. He knows his faithful pet is just doing what he's told so he can get his dinner.
"But it's an affirmation of my faith to have my dog be able to participate," Boyd says. "Who would have thought God would use my fat dog to spread His glory?"
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