Preparing animals for change

Many of my animal appointments in recent weeks have been focused on helping prepare them for upcoming changes, whether it is a foster dog going to a new home or a family moving to a new house.  I am always happy to assist with these types of communication sessions because I know how much easier it is on animals when we set their expectations and help them mentally prepare for how things are going to be different.

The animals always appreciate knowing how things are going to change and often times, they have very sweet requests, like the dog who was moving from a house with two other dogs to a new house where she would be the only dog.  Her mom wanted to make sure she understood and that she would be OK not having the other dogs to play with while she was at work.  This sweet little girl asked if her mom could buy her a stuffed dog that she could hang out with, so that she wouldn't be lonely.

With one of the foster dogs, we needed to explain that his new family didn't want to have a dog sleeping in the bedroom with them, as he had been at his foster home and asked him if he would be alright with the different sleeping arrangements.  His question was "But will it mean they don't love me as much as my current mom if I am not sleeping in the bedroom with them?"  I assured him that it was no indication of how much they cared about him and reminded him of how excited they were to have finally found the perfect dog for their family.  That seemed to calm his concerns and he said he would be OK with the new sleeping arrangement.

Helping them understand how things are going to be different - from the lay out of the house, to the sounds they may hear in their new neighborhood, to how their daily routines may take shape - all help them make their transition go more smoothly.

Over the last few weeks, I have had the pleasure of receiving updates from all of these clients and it warms my heart to hear how smoothly all these transitions have gone.  The animals are adjusting quickly to their new surroundings and new circumstances and there hasn't been any problems at all.  It reaffirms my belief that the more we can do to manage an animals expectations about upcoming changes, the easier it is on everyone.

And as a bonus, my client whose foster dog was initially concerned about not sleeping in the bedroom with his new parents emailed me the other day to tell me that the adopters were so touched when they heard about his concern, they decided to change their rule of "no dogs in the bedroom at night" and their new boy is now happily sleeping in the bedroom with them.

Communication Challenges

Even though I am confident in my abilities as an animal communicator, I am tickled by the instances when Kino doesn't seem to understand what I am telling him.  Many of our miscommunications lately have occurred around people visiting the house.  Since nothing makes Kino happier than having company, I don't know if it's his sheer excitement of someone coming over that makes him less able to understand me or if it's something else entirely. All I know is that when these moments occur, it's hard not to be entertained by them.

I have learned that Kino doesn't understand what the word "later" means.  Several times I have made the mistake of telling him that someone is going to come over later, thinking that it would be helpful to set his expectations for that day.  The first time I did it, I said, "Today we're going to do this and that, run this errands and then after that, Joe is going to come over."  He dropped his toy and immediately ran to the window.  I said, "No, Kino, he's coming over later" which only made him stare out the window more intently.  No matter how many times I told him that Joe was coming over "LATER" he wouldn't budge from the front window.

There are times when even though I haven't said anything, Kino thinks we might be having a visitor and he will excitedly run to the front window and start looking for the mystery person to arrive.  I have learned that if I say, "Kino, no one is coming over" he gets even more wound up and I finally came to the conclusion that he must think we have a friend named "No one."  Each time I say, "No one is coming" or "No one is visiting us today" the frenzied excitement at the front window escalates.

Another one of our communication pitfalls happens because Kino can't seem to distinguish between an in person visit and a phone call.  I discovered this error on my part when I said, "We're going to take a break from playing because I need to call Karin."  He immediately ran to the front window to look for her.  No matter how many times I showed him my cell phone and said, "No, I am going to CALL her" it didn't make a difference.  He continued to sit at the front window looking for her car.

I'm not sure if this is an indication that I need to invite people over more often or if Kino just needs a little more time to learn that we don't actually know anyone named "No one."  If nothing else, it provides some comic relief at our house and since I always welcome opportunities to smile, I can't really complain too much about this particular set of miscommunications we've been having.