A Little Communication Can Go A Long Way

Last Saturday night, I got home after being out for the evening. I decided to check email before I went to bed and I found an email from my friend Judy. We consider each other good friends, as we have known each other for probably 11 years, although we have never met in person.

We first connected when she and her husband adopted a german shepherd puppy named Angus from a rescue organization. Angus was having some issues but they weren't getting any support from their rescue group, so they decided to try another german shepherd rescue group. I happened to be volunteering for a group here at the time and worked the "hotline" (picking up messages from our main number and returning people's calls). We hit it off immediately and I became friends with Judy and her husband, and of course, developed a connection with Angus too. Over the last 11 years, we've stayed in touch, sometimes more than others, but always knowing we'll be there for each other if one of us needs something.

So back to the email . . . she said she was very concerned about Angus, because he hadn't been wanting to eat for the last week or so. She asked if I could do something to help them. It was late and I was tired, so I knew it was best to do an official session with him in the morning after I got some rest, but I decided to at least check in with Angus before I went to sleep.

When I connected to him I felt some pain in my lower right jaw that felt like a tooth ache. I made a mental note to mention that to Judy the next day and then focused on telling him what was going on. I explained that his mom had contacted me and that she was very worried about the fact that he hadn't been wanting to eat, fearful that it was something serious. I told him that I was going to check back in with him in the morning for a 2 way conversation, but wanted to give him a heads up that I was going to do that and let him know his mom wanted to know what was going on with him.

The next morning, when I got on the computer there was an email from Judy waiting for me. She said she was sure that I must have already communicated with Angus because when she got up in the middle of the night to use the restroom, Angus followed her in there and then kept pushing his face into hers. At first she was slightly annoyed but Angus wouldn't let up. Eventually, she looked more closely at his mouth and noticed some puss on his gums. Upon closer inspection, she realized his tooth was infected.

After reading the email, I immediately called her and we compared notes. Sure enough, the tooth that looked infected was in the lower right part of his mouth, where I had felt some discomfort. She asked what time I communicated with him and I told her it was around midnight. She laughed and said, "Well that makes sense, I think it was about 1am when I got up to use the restroom." We laughed over the idea that Angus must have decided he could handle the communication with his mom and didn't need to wait until the next day when I connected with him again.

After thinking about it, Judy realized that Angus had been "getting in her face" a lot lately but she didn't put it together until now. He had probably been trying to show her his tooth, but she didn't get "the message" he was trying to deliver . . . that is until the night before when he was even more insistent than he had previously been.

It reminded me that animals really do try to communicate on their own. Sure, it's great that there are animal communicators out there to assist in delivering messages, but I think they would probably prefer to be able to talk to their guardians themselves. If only we could "hear" them better! :-)

Understanding things from their perspective

I have a friend whose dog developed an aural hematoma on his ear (a hematoma occurs when blood collects between the skin and the cartilage of the ear flap). They have had to drain it a couple of times and until it completely heals, his poor dog has been forced to wear a cone (e-collar) around his neck.

Recently my friend told me he had been teasing his dog about how funny he looked and how uncoordinated he was, trying to maneuver around the house with the cone on. He probably wasn't really teasing his dog. I think he told me that because he knew he'd get a rise out of me. (All my friends know that I don't believe in ever teasing animals or saying unkind things to them). We have the kind of relationship where we kid around a lot and give each other a bad time, so this was more playful banter than serious conversation.

I suggested that he try the cone on and wear it around the house for a while, and see he how HE liked it. :-) I thought he might develop some more empathy for his dog, if he knew exactly what his dog was experiencing with that awful thing around his neck. I jokingly told him I thought it was important for him to know how a cone affects how things sound, how challenging it is to do just about everything, things as simple as walking and eating, and suggested he not just try the cone on, but wear it for a whole day.

He emailed me a week later and told me he had worn the cone (although he didn't say for how long) and had been properly educated about what an unpleasant experience it is. He vowed to never tease his dog about the cone again. I told him I wouldn't believe he had worn the cone unless I saw it for myself. That wasn't really true, but I thought it would be funny to see if I could get him to wear the cone in front of me.

Last weekend, a mutual friend of ours had us over for dinner. I suggested he bring the cone and wear it during the evening. Amazingly, he did bring the cone with him, although understandably, he was hesitant to put it on at first. After dinner, he was a good sport though (after much goading) and put the cone on. He even let us take pictures. We were all laughing so hard, I am surprised any of the pictures turned out.

I didn't feel too bad about giving him such a bad time because I personally have worn a cone before. I did it because I wanted to understand why it scared Lucky so much. After that experience, I got it and from them on, I went out of my way to avoid making Lucky wear the cone. When she had hot spots on her hips, I put boxer shorts on her to keep her from licking the hot spots. I figured wearing boxers was a far better alternative to the cone and she definitely seemed happier.

For as silly as we all were being, I do think it is very important to understand things from our animal's perspective. I know they appreciate it when we put forth a little extra energy to see things through their eyes.