I received an unusual request for Dog Support yesterday; a semi-retired college professor wrote me and asked if she could speak with me about an otherworldly experience she was having with her dog, a three-year-old border collie.
She said she knew this sounded strange, but she believed her dog talked to her and could hear her speak in her voice; she also thought the dog was sending her some beautiful poems.
She thought it might be some creative telepathy or psychic transference.
The professor is a writer and a poet.
The Dog Support program is off to a beautiful start; I’m meeting the most excellent and engaging people with exciting and challenging problems.
So far, so good; I’m batting almost a thousand (some cases still work in progress, they will take a while). This request rattled me.
I told her that this wasn’t something I felt qualified to handle, and I was careful not to dismiss or ridicule her call for help in any way.
I’ve learned that I don’t understand and can’t explain many things in my life with dogs, and I’m the first to say so when I don’t think I can help.
She sent me some of the poems. They were perfect, I think, although I’m not a poet. In all of these years of working with dogs, this was something I hadn’t heard.
People always tell me their talks are talking to them, but they never claim they are talking in our words. And no one has ever suggested their dogs wrote poems.
I suggested some spiritual animal writers and asked if she had considered a therapist to help figure this out. I also asked her why she had chosen me.
She said she read two of my books – A Good Dog and Talking To Animals. In the latter book, I did write about visualization and other ways to communicate with a dog.
She said she was impressed that I charged $50 for a consultation; she knew I could charge more.
She also said I would be honest and tell her the truth.
I said I didn’t think she was crazy or odd for thinking this, and nothing would surprise me about a border collie.
It was possible, I said, that the dog was triggering some creative impulses, which were coming through to her as a voice and poems.
That wouldn’t surprise me, I said; our attachments to dogs are very powerful, but I’m just not qualified to make a judgment like that.
I wouldn’t be comfortable taking her money for help. I wasn’t confident about this kind of issue or willing to pretend I knew more than I do.
It’s just not for me to tell her this couldn’t be true or that it could be true. Perhaps an animal communicator could.
She was disappointed but courteous.
I have to say I liked her, she was intelligent, rational, and grounded (home, kids, partner, work), and I had this itch to talk to her longer and more thoroughly.
She was easy and pleasant to talk to, and her request for help was interesting.
She came across as quiet and thoughtful. I called a vet I know and respect and told her about the request, and she said without hesitation, “tell her to find a therapist.”
I agreed with her, but it still nags at me a bit.
I’ve talked to many dog lovers who were much more unbalanced and off-center than she was.
Still, her request is over my head, experience, and skills. I don’t trust myself to know the answer to her question.
My dogs and I talk to one another all the time, but not in that way.
Zinnia and I talked twice today while doing Dog Therapy work at the Mansion Memory Care unit.
We communicate through nods, blinks, gestures, and expressions. She follows my requests and goes where she is needed.
The professor asked if she could try one day again to contact me one if she could not find someone who could or would help her. She’d struck out so far.
I said sure, but I doubted I would change my mind unless I learned something I don’t now know.
I’m very much enjoying the dog support work.
I feel like I am helping people and doing some good with the things I have learned and experienced. I’m also learning a lot, which I love.
Part of that is choosing the proper requests. I’ve turned very few down.
I’m enjoying getting paid for my work as well. You can apply for dog support here if you have a problem with your dogs. It’s $50 per half hour.
I’ll be happy to try and help.
