How Much Do Our Animals Understand Our Thoughts

In my last post, "Do Our Dogs Read Our Minds," I shared a question I asked of our DogRead book group last month when discussing my book. As I promised, this post is a continuation of those beautiful stories. Here was the question:

"Have any of you had experiences with your dogs, past or present, where they seem to understand you or read what you're thinking where you can't attribute it to training?"

I'd discovered these experiences with my black lab, Maggie, and wondered if I was alone in my experience of my dog having telepathic abilities. Many thoughts and statements I found that Maggie "knew" or understood were not earth shattering in themselves--it was her knowing that rattled my foundation of what I'd been raised to believe about dogs and animals in general.

From DogRead Nancy K. shared the following:

"I've certainly had the experience you've asked about. Check this out- I'm lying on the couch with the dogs- it can be any time of day- and I've just had the thought, "Hmmm, maybe I'll take them for a walk." Now, mind you, I have not moved a muscle, much less put on my sneakers. All of the sudden, the dogs are up and excited just as if I've asked them, 'Hey, do you guys want to go for a walk?'"

Suzanna had this to say:

"When my Belgian Tervuren Cowboy was about 4.5 months old, I had a few dogs out in the front part of the property swimming in the creek while he was behind the fence in the back yard with a few dogs. He was standing at the gate pitching a fit because he wanted to play in the creek. I walked up to the gate and said, 'Cowboy, if you want to come out and play in the creek, go around to the back door and through the house to the front door and I'll let you out.' He turned around and ran toward the house and by the time I got to the front door, he was there waiting. I thought that was pretty clever for a puppy, especially since I hardly ever let the dogs out the front door and had never let Cowboy out the front."

And then there's Nora:

"I have a Golden Retriever. He's 18 months old and he was born with an old spirit. He's always been rather quiet, reflective and laid back. He seems very tuned into my husband.

He does not like his nails being trimmed, the hair on his feet being trimmed or having his ears cleaned. He doesn't act aggressive, he just goes to hide. In recent months he seems to know when I'm about ready to mess with his feet or ears. I'm not quite sure if somehow I'm sending signals such as a certain behavior that I do. It started where I'd use the word ears and he'd run. Now he knows with no words."

So how do they know? Communicating intuitively with nature and animals is, "the first language, the foundation of spoken and written words, and the common link between all species," according to Marta Williams, author of Beyond Words: Talking With Animals and Nature, who I quote in my book."

Stay tuned for more on animal telepathy, on the sixth sense communication between we humans and our beloved animals.

Dawn Kairns
Author of MAGGIE: the dog who changed my life
www.dawnkairns.com
www.maggiethedogwhochangedmylife.blogspot.com

Why I Wrote "Maggie: The Dog Who Changed My Life"

Maggie was a very special being I was blessed to share my life with. The depth of our love for each other, of our human-canine bond, was deeper and beyond anything I imagined a bond with a dog could be.

Maggie's way of being so present in the moment brought me more into the present moment. She reached out to people and brought them into our circle. Maggie's genuine, loving way brought people into their hearts, and so my communication with others became more genuine and from the heart. Through her I learned the power of now, of living in the present, and that the most important things in life are love, connection, and following our hearts.

My journey with Maggie helped me make important personal and professional decisions about who I wanted to be and how I wanted to live; to honor my wants and question my shoulds. She taught me the importance of being over doing and to follow my intuition.

Maggie showed me that she read my thoughts somehow and understood me more than I thought possible in a dog. Call it telepathy. Call it a sixth sense. I wrote MAGGIE: the dog who changed my life in the hopes that you the reader will tune more into your own dogs and see them through the eyes of beings who understand you, their human, and read your thoughts and energy more than we realize; and in the hopes that you will look at animals as different beings, not lesser beings. Tuning into your dogs at this level deepens the experience of being a dog whisperer with your own dog.

I also wrote Maggie: the dog who changed my life to encourage you, the readers, to listen to yourselves, to your intuition, and to question veterinarians when your gut feelings disagree with a vet's diagnosis. I also encourage you to evaluate the information available about pet food and vaccination frequency and ask yourselves as I did in Chapter Nine in Maggie: the dog who changed my life, "What's Really Best for Our Pets?"

Finally, my hope is to help you know that the deep grief you feel when you lose your precious pet is normal; to help you feel supported and understood, and most important, to not feel isolated in your grief.

Now you know a few things about why I wrote Maggie: the dog who changed my life. To learn more about my book, visit www.dawnkairns.com. Do you have a special dog story you want to share, past or present? Your own special once-in-a-lifetime dog? Let us hear from you. Go to sharedogstories.ning.com and tell us about your special pet or share your comments on this post.