hiya,
Had to go rooting for this one, as i knew you'd asked a question darling ....I'll post it in your mailbox too.
I have a guide who i feel with me most of the time Charlie, an angel guide, a Reiki guide, (since i did my reiki attunement), a master teacher guide who is with me whenever i am learning something new, or need to change my spiritual direction, and an animal guide that works quietly with Charlie (a bear).
Also, whenever Charlie is trying to get my attention and i don't quite 'get it' he asks the animal kingdom to come forward as i always notice (pay attention to) nature around me and sometimes its easier for him to get me the message to me that way. So for example, if I was struggling to find time to listen to spirit and apply myself to my spiritual journey, I would probably notice different birds around me, or even notice that there weren't as many birds around me, as our feathered friends symbolise communication between the earth plane and the spiritual realms as they can fly between the two. So I would notice them in my day to day life, but maybe not perhaps as something i would see or sense around me in my home. I have only sensed my animal guide a couple of times, but each time it was a little like your seeing the wolf, he was just there, plain for me to see and there was a lot of purple swirls.
Hope this helps honey, if you wanted to learn more about the messages that animls can bring you both as a guide, or as a totem at a particular time when they just 'pop' up out of nowhere, there is an excellent book called Animal Speak, by Ted Andrews, I think you can get it on Amazon....
Love Erika xxxxxxxxxx