Sometimes the most revealing parts of an animal communication session are what the animals don’t say, or what they choose to leave out.
Some years ago I communicated with three Boston Terrier dogs who lived in California with their person and her husband.
There were two boys and a girl, and the girl was named Toffee.
Toffee shared all kinds of things about her life, including one brief statement about her toys. She said, “I like toys, and I want my very own toys.”
I waited to hear more from Toffee on this topic, but this was all she wanted to say.
The two other dogs, Vasco and Prince also shared in the first 20 minutes of our session.
Then I checked in with my client to ask if she felt each dog’s presence on my voice and if the factual things that they said made sense to her.
She laughed and said, “Oh yes! My gosh, I can’t believe how true everything they said is. And yes, their personalities definitely come through when you translate for them.”
But then she hesitated, and said, “But there was one thing though, that doesn’t make sense to me. It was what Toffee said about toys, I don’t see this. She doesn’t play with toys hardly at all.”
So I said, “Ok, let me ask Toffee about this.”
And Toffee explained, “Well, I like toys, but I don’t like the toys once the boy dogs get their spit on them. I like toys and I want my very own toys.”
At this, Toffee’s person laughed heartily and said, “Ah ok, now this makes sense! When I bring home a new toy, she plays with it for a minute, then after a while she ignores it and won’t play with it again. I really understand now.”
And then we went on to continue the session with their person’s questions, and took the whole conversation deeper.
Toffee was frustrated at the other dogs in her family for messing up her nice toys. And she was annoyed at her person for not seeing this problem.
In her state of emotional charge, she said the minimum on this topic; when you are really upset, sometimes you just say as little as possible to get your message across.
Whenever any of us communicate with emotional charge — when we are frustrated or sad or nervous or embarrassed — we leave out details. This is a natural occurrence in communication between any beings. Emotional charge makes communication less clear.
Meanwhile Toffee’s deeper feeling was, “Why do I have to spell it out for you? Isn’t it obvious to you how disgusting it is when the other dogs get my toys covered in their spit? I am upset that you don’t see how irritating this is for me.”
It seems humorous on a certain level, but not having her own toys was so important to this little dog.
Underneath Toffee’s frustration, there was a deep vulnerability.
The truth of the situation was that Toffee was feeling lost in the shuffle of a household with three dogs, and wanted more attention from her person, she wanted to feel special.
This request to have her very own toys was her way of distinguishing herself from the others, and an attempt to get more of what she needed from her person.
When you learn how to be an animal communicator, a translator for animals and their people, your job is to help bridge the gap where two beings aren’t communicating and understanding each other.
In addition to translating what animals are saying to their people, and what their people are saying back, you learn how to hold space for each being.
Specifically you learn how to bring calmness, warmth and neutrality, and this helps animals and people bring forward their deepest truth, even when it comes out a little wobbly or incomplete as it is being expressed.
After every communication, there is greater peace and understanding, and it becomes possible for undesirable behaviors and coping mechanisms to fall away.
The result is that everyone feels closer and more connected, and every being feels seen and loved more for who they really are.
