Animal Communicator, Cindy Smith

I am often asked, "What was your most interesting animal conversation for this week?" The stories are so varied and heart warming I have a hard time choosing which one to relate. I thought in this newsletter, I’d share a few stories that point to the many ways you can use animal communication to develop a closer relationship with your animal friend.

Past Life Partners
Sometimes the subject turns to past lives, ( If this isn’t part of your belief system, just skip this example). One of my California clients, Julie Hagerty Kagan, was talking (through me) to her horse Danny Boy. She was leaving town on a trip and wanted him to be assured that he would be well cared for while she was gone. She said to him, “ You’ll always be safe, I’m a warrior for you and I’ll take care of you”. Danny Boy replied, “ I’m your warrior, too. We were warriors together before!” He showed me a picture of himself as a jousting horse and she was his knight. We noted that and went back to the conversation about Julie’s travel plans. The next day she called to say that as she and Enrique released him in the arena for a little exercise, he walked over to her and nudged her as if to say, “Watch this!”. He then did something she had never seen him do. (He’s 25 years old). He cantered to the other end of the arena, reared up several times; then ran at top speed in a straight line (like a jousting horse) right to her. He stopped a few feet away and walked calmly to her and nudged her as if to say, “remember?”.

Negotiating
A lot of my work is what I consider family negotiations. There may be problems among the family animals and we work together to restore a sense of harmony in the household. Often the problem started with a misunderstanding and all that is needed is a neutral person to hear everyone’s point of view and to help work out a compromise. I love those kinds of conversations when the people collaborate with their animals to get to a workable solution.

I recently talked to a kitty and her person about restoring Miss Kitty’s outdoor access. One of the family’s cats had been hit by a car and now Miss Kitty’s mom didn’t want to let her out anymore. We talked to Miss Kitty about her friend’s death and explained why her person didn’t want to take that chance with her. Kitty insisted that she could follow the rules and her person opened the cat door as we talked. Kitty went in and out purring and agreed to come in before dark and to stick close to home. At last report, Miss Kitty was holding up her end of the bargain and so was her person!

Conversations About Medical Treatment
Sometimes people call to check to see if their animal understands some important message that they have been telling their animal. Grady’s person, Michelle, called me and asked, “Does he know what we’ve been discussing with the vet?” Grady responded by telling me,” They are going to take my leg off.” That was what was going to happen. Grady had understood what Michelle had told him and we got to explain the procedure and answer any questions he had. We checked with him as he recovered and explained how he could help with his recovery. At this point, he is doing well and has returned to his playful, pain free personality. Conversations about medical treatment can lead to end of life discussions and it can be so comforting to know what your animal feels about their quality of life and if they want assistance with their exit.

Compliments to many of my students who are sending me great anecdotal reports of their communication experiences. I’m so glad you are practicing and getting such great results!

How Your Pet Gets Your Attention
I say this often and it’s worth repeating. When your animal starts doing something unusual like peeing in the house, or bucking, or crying a lot, the first assumption should be that they have a physical problem that needs veterinary attention. Remember that this is their main way to get our attention and to ask for help. I suggest to animals when they are going to the vet to make it obvious to the vet what hurts, This is not a time to be stoic.

Upcoming classes (details will soon be finalized and on my site animalsmith.com)
Charlotte,NC March 29,2008 level 1
Asheville, NC April 26, 2008 level 1
Hilton Head, SC May 24, 2008 level 1
Boulder, Co and Durango, Co Sept, 2008 ( I’m thinking about these, if you are in CO and would be interested, please let me know and I’ll make the decision based on interest)

Animal Communication and training tips
I used to be a special education teacher and we had a saying, “catch them being good.” That is a great tip in dealing with animals as well as people. We all do better if we feel confident that we are doing the right thing. When you are working with your animal, pay attention to their behavior and reward the correct behavior, reinforcing what you want versus correcting what you don’t want. The same goes for the mental images that you send your animal friends. Your words create pictures in your mind and that is what your animal picks up first. Remember to state the behavior you want rather than the behavior you don’t want. For example use “Quiet” rather than “No barking” or “Feet on the floor” vs “ No jumping”. Play with this theory by sending a request to your anmal mentally and see if they get it. Be sure to reward the behavior if they pick up your signals. Pay attention to the self assigned jobs that your animals perform and compliment them for the work they do. They are all busy with their life purposes and it’s wonderful to show appreciation for their efforts.