Your animals understand - talk to them

Last week, one of my clients mentioned that her older dog was doing something she hadn't done since she was young . . . she was coming into her bedroom and waking her up in the morning.  She was tickled that her dog was doing this again after so many years, as she had missed her morning wake ups, but she confessed to me that her dog was waking her up at 7am each morning and she really didn't need to get up until 8am.  

I suggested we talk to her dog about it.  :-)  I asked her dog if she could give her mom an extra hour of sleep and wake her up at 8am instead.  I assured her that her wake-up calls were much appreciated, it was just that her mom wanted an extra hour of sleep.  

A week later, my client reported that starting the morning after our visit, her dog had started waking her up at 8am instead . . . even letting her sleep in until 8:30 one of the mornings.  

I tell this story in the hopes that those of you who are reading this will be reminded that your animals ARE smart enough to understand what you tell them and smart enough to comply with your requests.  Heck, they can even tell time!   So, keep talking to your animals.  They will continue to surprise and delight you with all the things they can understand!