Pets are Talking

Allie's emergency

Please note: All of the photos in this blog post are courtesy of Lisa Teso, an amazing Portland-based photographer. Thanks Lisa! If you need pictures, her site is here: Portland Child Photography

Katie and RIchie have a knack for finding super-cool spotted dogs. Their dog, Makani is a Visla and Australian Shepherd mix who is so fleet and fast that it's hard to count her spots. 

They started looking for a playmate for Makani, and found a sweet dog named Allie Pocket.

Here's when Makani and Allie met. 

They've since become buddies.

Allie's Early Days

Allie is about four months old. She was at a shelter from her puppyhood, then stolen by someone for about six weeks, then dumped back at the shelter. Then she was adopted by Katie and Richie.

In the same week that I heard about the theft of Allie from the shelter, I heard about a completely unrelated dog shelter thievery in another state. This dog was brought back and dumped too. Very disturbing. 

Allie Contracts Parvo

Anyway, Allie's new family had her about a week or so, when she got sick. During that time that she had been stolen from the shelter, she had picked up the Parvovirus.

Parvo is about 80% fatal in puppies who are not vaccinated, but only 20% fatal in those who have been vaccinated. 

She had been in the local hospital's ICU for a couple of days when Katie called me. Allie was to the point where she wouldn't even lift her head up anymore. It looked like the end. 

Katie said, "Could you please talk with her? I'm not sure that she knows what's going on."

I tuned into this little pup. She felt very sick, and she had the energetic distortion that comes when a soul is disconnecting from the body. I had only felt this a few times before, like when a friend's cat caught a baby bunny in the yard,  and we helped that bun pass over. 

Energetic distortion feels terrible to the communicator. It feels like you're touching a live wire. It's not a good sign of prognosis. 

She was also quite scared, though not scared to talk with me. That was an encouraging sign. 

Allie didn't understand why she was at the hospital or what these people were doing to her. 

She felt sick, but she thought that maybe these people were making her that way.

She knew that Katie was really upset, but she thought that it was because Allie had been taken away from her and put here in this place and Katie was trying to get her out. 

She missed her new family, and she thought that she'd never get back home to live with them.

She was giving up. 

I sat with her a bit, in my mind. I just gently sat with her, and then I said, 

"Well, actually, your body is sick, and these people are here to make you better, and when you feel better you get to go home to your mommy and daddy and Makani."

She said, "I don't know how to make myself better." 

I said, "You don't have to know. Your body will do that on your own."

She paused for a minute, and then she asked, "Do you think I will get better?"

I knew the odds against her were pretty high. But, I felt like she'd make it. 

I said, "Yes, I think so. I think you will get better and then you will go home and it will be very good." 

I sent her pictures of her playing in the yard with Makani, and snuggling with Katie and Richie. 

Allie said that she didn't like the smells of this place, and that she missed the smells of her family. I told her that I'd ask Katie to bring in a t-shirt or a blanket that smelled like them. 

Then I disconnected for a few minutes. I was feeling sick to my stomach from her parvo.

I tuned back in, to find a lighter, happier dog. She felt more hopeful. The energetic distortion was gone. 

Allie Turns the Corner

Allie made the choice to stay. She asked the questions and took the brave step of believing that she could get well.

That night, Katie visited and Allie lifted up her head, and ate some food. Katie gave her a blanket that she had rubbed all over Makani and Richie and herself. Allie buried her nose in it and soaked in all those good smells of her family. 

The doctors went ahead with a plasma transfusion.

Katie hired Ming and Candy at Reiki Fur Babies to provide healing to Allie.

Ming said that Allie told her how much she loved her mama. I burst into tears when I heard this. Sweet little puppy. 

Allie Goes Home

I didn't hear from Katie for a day or two, and then I got a note saying that Allie was home! 

She is still possibly contagious for the next 10 days, so they've cordoned off half their house, and separated these two bouncy dogs. 

But..Allie is home, and she is recovering and soon she and Makani will get to play together. 

Reading of the Week: Scruffy

This is Scruffy. 

Scruffy is kind and sweet. Scruffy is awesome.  Scruffy barks a lot. 

That's Trixie, there, in the background. 

Scruffy is a cairn terrier/ poodle mix.  You get this kind of dog when you want a challenge.

Cairn Terriers have iron wills. They like to get their way. They drive to closure.

And Poodles? Poodles are smart. 

So Scruffy's owners, Bridgette and Chona, did everything right with this dog. They trained and socialized her. They spend quality time with Scruffy.

But, Scruffy, you know, she barks a lot. So Bridgette and Chona asked me to help.

I have never heard a dog talk as fast as Scruffy. Nor have I ever seen a dog narrate her story with pictures so well.  It was like The Wonder Years.

Here's a snippet:

Bridget: Let's talk about barking at people outside. 

Scruffy: Oh my god, it's so fun! 

Bridget: it's fun? 

Scruffy: It's great. They see me. They think I'm awesome. Some walk by just to see me!

Bridget:  So, are you telling them to go away? 

Scruffy: I'm telling them, "This is my house and I am awesome!" 

Bridgette and Chona confirmed that their neighbors do, indeed, walk by to see Scruffy's little face in the window!

Dogs that are raised with love and confidence building activities are so quick to say, "I am Awesome." They know that they are a wonderful creature and they act accordingly.

What a gift we give our dogs when we do this for them. 

We're getting the barking under control at Chona and Bridgette's house, without limiting the extent of Scruffy's awesomeness. 

I'm back...

Thank you for being so patient with me. And thank you, clients of mine, that have asked me to talk with their pets in the past six weeks. I think I'm through my funk.

The statistics are still there.. Bad stuff is happening to animals every day. 

But... good stuff too. And as long as God sees fit to bring puppies and kittens and foals into this world, I'll be here to talk with them, and to bring peace and comfort and understanding to their owners. 

There are a couple of things that clicked with me in the past month, that made it okay to come back. 

A few weeks before my rant, I had put a request on "Help a Reporter Out" for positive stories about dogs. And the day after I published my rant, I got about 20 stories from people, saying "Let me tell you about my dog." 

Those stories brought me such hope. I'll be posting them during the next month on Olive's Heroes. 

Ed's Better

And then, remember Ed, my horse. My elusive and sweet horse, the one who doesn't trust anybody, including me? Remember him? 

He's not much of a talker. 

Remember his story? He was severely abused by his previous owner. He chose to deny his training and his gifts and ignore or fight all humans. So much so, that he narrowly escaped the slaughterhouse. 

And we've had four years to change this attitude, and very little luck. I mean, he didn't hate me. We were kind of friends. He liked it when I visited. 

I've struggled all summer with him. He is very happy in his field with his buddies. He has a new girlfriend. She's a palomino with some Fjord in her and the longest eyelashes I have ever seen. But, he didn't want much to do with humans, to the point where he had to be tricked and bribed to be haltered. I would reach out to pat his shoulder and he would twitch at best, and move away at worst. 

I've met so many kind horses, at peace. Horses that actually like people. 

I worry about what will happen to Ed should anything happen to me. Every horse should be ridable and somewhat amenable in case the person who pays their bills gets hit by the beer truck. Not that I'm planning on any beer truckage in my near future. 

So, I asked my friend, Sarah Tymeson, of Healing Horses, to work with Ed's energy. She worked on his energy at a subconscious level. I wasn't sure what to expect. 

She said that the first time she worked with him, he told her that he believed that all humans were evil. She asked him if he was willing to give up that idea. He said NO. 

The second time, she worked through a bunch of energetic issues with him. She told me that she got about half-way through his belief that humans were evil. She told him there were two kinds of creatures on this earth that pass for humans: humans and humanoids.  And that if he felt that humans were evil, okay, but did he know that Bridget was actually a humanoid?  He thought through that logic and said OKAY.

She told me this and I wondered what I'd see in his behavior. 

I carefully walked out into the field with my bag of carrots. He approached. He looked different. His eyes were clear and soft. He took a carrot out of my hand. He and his buddies crowded around me. There were about seven in the field, and they hadn't worked out their new hierarchy, so there were lots of hooves flying and teeth biting, and me yelling "HEY!"

Luckily, Janie, the barn owner brought out a box of apples, and everyone but Ed and his girlfriend went for them. 

Ed let me pet him without twitching. He followed me around the field, even when the carrots were gone. He let me scratch his neck and then he groomed me. He nibbled my shoulders and my arm. He chuffed my hair. He was at peace in my presence. This is what I've wanted for four years. 

I said, "Thank you, Ed." 

and he said, "You're welcome."

I said, "You know, Janie is a humanoid too." His head went up. He wasn't having any of that. 

So we're halfway there. 

Many thanks to Sarah for changing Ed's mind. 

If you are at a point with your pet where things need to change and you're not sure how to get there, try animal communication, try reiki, try other forms of spiritual or energetic healing, try respectful training. Don't give up on your friend. 

The right modality is out there, and working together with your pet, your relationship can strengthen.

And one more thing, If you need to work on yourself...work on yourself. There's no shame in that. 

Your animal communicator is back. I'm here for you and your pets, and I'm looking forward to a new good time.