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Dog Died In His Arms
Communicating with animals and understanding what they need
I was at a friend’s house this morning. She recently had a baby so I stopped by to give her a treat and to coo over the child. While I was there, Tonks, my friend’s cat, just loved all over me. She kept rubbing herself against me and purring.
It’s obvious that she was communicating her approval and affection for me.
Every dog I’ve had, every cat, every other type of animal I’ve ever known — they communicate with us. In fact, many types of therapy use this information to help those who are sick or disabled.
When I volunteered at a ranch that paired retired horses with troubled children, veterans suffering from PTSD, and the disabled, I saw how this worked.
Instead of randomly assigning a horse to the person, the volunteers would introduce the person to a group of horses. They would let the horses decide which one would work with the new person. The horses usually milled around at a distance at first. Then, after some time, one would walk straight over to us. Sometimes it would push its muzzle into the person. Sometimes it would just stand close by.
My dog Annie was very communicative. She would grab my hand if I was doing something she didn’t like She also made a beeline towards any…
