Adventures of a Mushroom Forager

“How soon can you be here!?”

This was the urgent message I’d just received from the vet after sharing a photo of a 2 inch mushroom stalk. I pulled the slobbery stalk out of this half Border Collie, half Golden Retriever’s mouth after he’d just engulfed the cap of a white mushroom. A lot can happen in 8 seconds.

After cleaning up a yellow foaming pile of puppy vomit, I rushed to pack up the vehicle with the half-eaten mushroom and this poor poisoned pup. It was time to make our first ever trip to the vet.

“We recommend he stays here for a few nights as we monitor him.” The veterinarian explained they’d hook him up to IV fluids, have those pumping through him while feeding charcoal that’ll hopefully clear out any toxins that’ve been ingested.

I don’t remember whether I even said anything, but the vet filled whatever silence was in the air. “It might cost you close to a grand to do this… And I’m sorry, but there’s no guarantee. He does have at least a 30% chance that he won’t make it.”

My heart sank. I looked over at this puppy with sunken eyes and he had to have been just as depressed as I was. I had only been his human for 8 days, but it felt like a lifetime. Tears welled up in my eyes and the vet gave me a few minutes alone with him to decide what I wanted to do.

When I first saw this little pup at 8 weeks old, I knew amongst all of his siblings that he was the one. He was different. Physically, he was the only tri-colored puppy next to all the black and white ones, but he was also a wanderer going off on his own to explore things undiscovered. It’s as if he was a part of the pack and yet walking (or waddling) down his own puppy path.

My heart expanded and my breathing grew slow and deep. I also had to remind myself to breathe at the thought of caring for a dog for the first time! It was in between such inhale and exhale that his name quickly went from puppy, to Alo.

In Native American, Alo means ‘spiritual guide,’ and in Maui, I was told that the ‘alo’ in aloha means presence, while the ‘ha’ stands for breath. I held Alo and cradled him like baby. The Amish children that lived on the puppy farm sat attentively next to me on the green grass. As I rocked Alo back and forth, they giggled, and I smiled at the thought of taking this pup home.

At the vet, I cradled Alo in my arms just as I had that first day we met. With 8 minutes in passing, I heard the vet’s footsteps getting louder. I looked down at Alo to ask what he thought we should do. He brought his one white paw up to my heart and in that moment I knew we had to do whatever it takes.

It was hard and downright challenging to leave the vet that morning. Saying “I’ll see you soon buddy,” at least 8 times didn’t seem like enough. With high hopes and admittedly wishful thinking, I picked out a few toys and tasty treats for when we’d reunite and when Alo could be cradled back in my arms once again.

I waited next to my cellphone for any and all updates to come through. The blood tests were off, and my sleep schedule became off too. I had to detach from the thought of whether or not he would make it. Instead, I tried to just focus on all the memories we shared, and that alone had to be enough.

Suddenly, my phone vibrated like the sound of a semi-truck passing by. I woke up a little startled, and became even more wide awake when I heard it was time to pick him up! Simply elated, I couldn’t get back to the vet office soon enough.

The vet gave me a report that Alo was back to his normal puppy self, starting to eat and play with toys again. They also indicated that he had heavy traces of parasites found. In fact, if he wouldn’t have eaten the mushroom in the first place, we wouldn’t have known, and he would’ve more than likely died.

That’s when it hit me. Could it be that this happened for a reason? As I shook my head from side to side, I thought to myself that this mushroom forager really is my little spiritual guide.

What if these little animal spirits choose their humans just as much as we choose them? What if they perhaps have medicine for us as we do for them? One thing I know for sure is that Alo’s gentle and kind nature invites me to judge less, love more, and see things from new perspective.

Life went back to normal pretty quick, other than the jet black poop from the charcoal. Countless adventures continue to happen since I first met this 8 week old animal that's now 8 months. I can’t imagine what's in store for the next 8 years, let alone the next 8 seconds…

All that remains constant is cradling this pup even though he’s over 50 pounds now! For a moment, it’s as if the whole world is in my own two hands even when my world is turned sideways. Like the number 8 turned sideways into an infinity symbol, it’s a forever feeling.