Okay, lets see.
So the methods I first were using were right before bed.
Inducing OBEs before going to bed works, but it is better to do this in the early morning, when you had some sleep but are still a bit tired. That's the best time to induce an OBE. Because you are more alert, more watchful and concentrated. In the evening you are tired, and it is not so advisable to have an OBE when being tired. This is because the state in which you get out depends on the physical state, too. So when you're tired, the OBEs will be rather heavy, tiring, and with little consciousness. In the morning you are mostly far more conscious.
I would relax my body then feel my heartbeat and feel the heartbeat in my hands, feet and whole body.
Then I began to concentrate on the visual sight- looking at my closed eyelids, then switch to listening, then switch again to my physical body. This was to help my concentration level.
Then I would picture myself getting up and walking across my room. Feeling the carpet under my feet and touching objects i know very well like my dresser or closet.
Well, this sounds like a good method. You have mixed up several methods, but if this works for you, it is good. I myself mostly just use a simple method like listening to the heartbeat, then I will fall asleep, and then I will awake some minutes later in the etheric state and get out of the body. Are you going directly into the state where you can come out or are you falling asleep for some minutes before? (I ask this just because I am interested :-))
BUT what is interesting is that the concentration on my dog was enough that i was able to roll my body out again- heavily and walk to my living room.
Yeah that's great! You see, when you are focusing on something your concentration is growing, too.
Everything was dim vision because it was night.
Well, shortly after going out of the body it is normal that everything is like “night-sight”. When you are getting out of the window or a door, it often happens that suddendly the vision is clear and everything is bright and coloured like in daylight.
So I attempted to walk out to my backyard and I felt myself being stopped by the back door. I pressed my head against the glass and tried to figure how to get out.. THEN i pretended to open the door and was able to get out.
Taht's great! In the astral layers, even near to the physical world, the astral matter reacts easily to your thoughts and feelings. This is why you can change things with just thinking/ imagining. If you just imagine you are able to go right through the wall, you will be able to do it (but also depending on the state in which you are). As you see: you PRETENDED to open the door and suddendly it was possible to open it. This is how it works. The first time I did this, I was standing before a closed glass door, and it seemed solid, and I just thought: “But I think it is possible to go through the matter!” And then I could glide right through the glass :-)
Now this is where I think I went into a dream state and lost my ability to keep consciously in control. Because i was soaring up and looked down at my horse corral and all the gates were open. I panicked thinking my horse was loose but then I found her and floated down to her where i hugged her... BUT then I awoke in my body on my bed and was unable to AP again
It happens quite often that you are conscious firstly, and then you lose concentration and consciousness and the surroundings get more dream-like. The more you concentrate on something, like the ground over that you walk, or some surroundings and details, the easier it is to hold up the consciousness.
But it is not “a dream”. You cannot expect that in the first astral layers everything looks like in the physical. It does not! It mostly is a vague copy of the physical surroundings, but the farther you go away from your physical body, the more your surroundings are changing. So, this means: not everytime when the surroundings do not look exactly like the physical it has to be a dream or more dream-like. This is not true! Even in a fully conscious OBE surroundings can be quite different. E.g. you said you saw your dog but in the physical he was in another room. So this means: it can just be that your dogs astral was in your room. And it could be that your horse's astral is running free. You said you hugged her – did you feel anything when you did this? It seems that the meeting has caused you to get drawn back - this happens quite often, too. Maybe the meeting has stirred you so much.
It is VERY important in the astral to SENSE other creatures, beings, humans etc. You always should try to sense how the creatures are which you meet: are they friendly towards you or not, are they in a bad mood, just how they feel like etc. (called vibrancy, or vibration). It is very easy, you just have to concentrate a bit on them and you will sense how they are. This sensation ist the MOST IMPORTANT thing. Not seeing! Do never trust in what you see, always sense what is behind! It's just a normal sensation of the astral body which you should always use, not only with creatures and humans but also with surroundings (how does the place feel like etc).
One more thing --- it seems like a majority of this feels dream like... is that how astral travle feels? Sort of like a dream? But i can remember most of it and sort of have control... It's gaining complete conscious control that is hard
What do you mean with “dream-like”, do you mean that the surroundings are not exactly like in the physical, do you mean the consciousness?
It can be, as I said, that you are fully conscious but the surroundings are different and seem strange. It just because the astral matter is easily formed by thoughts, and especially by the subconscious. The astral surroundings are not like the physical world, not a ground to live on, but it mainly is a communication element. It means, what you SEE depends on your state, mood, condition, your world of thoughts and feelings, your view to see the world. Other people will see it in a different way. But you can always SENSE what is true.
And yes, complete consciousness is hard. The longer you are out of the body, the more you lose consciousness. But gradually it is easier and you can always concentrate on something, especially details, which will keep you more conscious.
ONE more thing.
Why is it whenever I ask for my spirit guides they don't show up? Actually no one shows up.
I don't see any other entities or anything.
Am I not out long enough or am i not ready for it yet?
Well, I cannot say why they don't show up - it's not that they just always come when you call them
It can even be that they are actually there, but invisible. You never know. But don't worry about that now. You will meet other persons soon enough. If you are so eager to meet your spirit guides or however you call them, just “ask with your heart” if there is someone who guards you and if this one could show up because you want to meet him/ her. Just try asking and wait if something happens. But whatever happens, never forget the "sensing and not seeing"-thing.
I hope I am not writing too much, but I think this is getting quite interesting and I hope you will be able to explore more things :-)