Conversations with dogs.

I have never met a cat that couldn't calm me
by walking slowly past my chair.

Rod Mckuen.


How does a Jack Russel know to disappear the exact moment you begin thinking of bathing it?
How does any dog know to start yapping and bouncing like a rubber band man the same moment you first think of a walk?

Precisely what transpired one night between Xai-xai our cat and our sick baby? The cat softly leaped onto the bed of the screaming, squalling infant, touched noses then went outside to vomit in the flowerbed. Immediately and for the first time in some ten hours the baby fell silent and went to sleep.
We had left the wilderness earlier than planned to get help for the sick child. Whatever happened between them, it led us to change our minds about taking the child to hospital.
Instead we went to bed and slept through until morning. The following day went on as if nothing had ever been wrong in the first place.

What is it about our domestic animals that 'connects' us to them? Do they really know what we are thinking and feeling, and could that be reciprocated?

The science of Quantum Physics has nailed a new set of colours to the mast of modern living – thought is energy, as is everything else in our Universe. All is simply boundless, limitless energy constantly moving in and out of shape and form – never lost or created, always was and always will be.
Modern science is continually finding more and more evidence that proves that we are all just fields of energy moving within other larger fields of energy, all connected by energy.

None of this is really new knowledge however.
Historically, most Ancient cultures had observed that humans were simply a part of Nature, integrated with and connected to a Greater Whole. Native Americans would ask for prey before even commencing the hunt, then take the time to thank their Gods for success before finally thanking the Spirit of the prey for surrendering to death, that they might live.
Aboriginal Australians on desert walkabout 'become water' to find water.
African oral tradition clearly teaches that what Western languages call instinct is really knowledge, and that all of creation is joined and linked.

It seems there is much that we as humans might have have forgotten in our quest to have dominion over the Earth. Could communicating with animals be one such forgotten ability? Is it possible to connect with animals living or dead, seen or unseen – can we know what they are thinking or feeling or remembering? Can they 'tell' us things that we don't know?

It was with these and other similar questions that I recently joined fifteen other people on a two day Animal Communication workshop with Wynter Worstholme, a South African recently returned from some years in Europe and the UK. Trained and taught over years by a sangoma, various mentors and healers and most significantly by animals themselves, she is a reminder that there is invariably much more to things on this glorious Earth than can be seen by the naked, human eye.

First, understand that I am no 'light worker'. I belong to no coven. I light incense only because it smells interesting and makes me think of distant places, Zanzibar or Khandahar. I have little to no knowledge of Reiki, dowsing or clairvoyance. I have never seen an aura.
What I have learned over forty years is that much of what my generation had been led to believe was education was really designed more to ensure that things in the world remained as they were, rather than changed for the better.

Wynter operates from the standpoint that it is fear that runs society, that fills the waking hours of too many people, and fear that gets between people and animals. By replacing that fear with love we can re-open the pathways and re-connect with our animal co-inhabitants. Drawing an analogy with radio, she explained that love is the frequency into which the Universe in tuned, except we humans have re-tuned ourselves to a frequency of fear and thus fail to establish a connection. By retuning to love, we re-connect with all that is around us.

The obvious progression of that theory extends to a contemplation of just how badly the fear and negativity so prevalent in the world must affect the animals that share the planet with us. We know that animals love unconditionally, it is precisely that which allows them to continue to interact and operate among humans even after having been horribly mistreated. One wonders how our conditional kind of love affects them?

To illustrate how animals are able to sense our real thoughts and feelings Wynter described how clans of the Masai tribe in East Central Africa still today use dogs for the early diagnosis of illness in tribe members. She drew our attention to the Pollsmoor Cat Project where the unconditional love offered by animals was being used to successfully reduce the incidence of anti-social behaviour within the confines of a prison. As the line extracted from the Rod McKuen verse above illustrates, animals do have a calming and de-stressing effect on our world and in our lives.

Another example of someone who has taken the time to develop alternative modalities of communication with animals is Monty Roberts – the original horse whisperer. The more he remained still and in an attitude of love and respect, the more horses revealed and taught him about their forms of communication and interaction.

From her theory that we have been conditioned by fear and negativity to the point of no longer being able to communicate with animals, Wynter took us through a meditation the intention of which was to connect with our animal spirit guides. These guiding spirits can best be described as an energy that would have attached to ourselves at an early stage in life, the purpose of which is to assist us to connect with the animal world. Owls, eagles and cats are some of the more common guides, though amongst the group there were lions, crows and buffalo as well!

Wynter explained that key to communicating with animals is the ability to visualise the desired outcome we seek, as animals are able to receive and interpret the visual images we see in our imaginations. This would explain how problem animals often respond so well to a strange, unbiased handler who has no 'recorded picture' of the particular problem, and so is not by thought 'pre-programming' the animal to misbehave.

With a caution that this was really a learned skill and not to be too disappointed if we failed, we were let loose on a trio of unsuspecting dogs.
After asking permission to interact and mentally explaining our intentions to the three dogs, we enthusiastically set about finding out from them their histories, their likes and dislikes, their percieved purposes and their complaints if any.

It was certainly interesting.
There were tales of abandonment, the suicide of a previous owner, the indignity of too infrequent trips to the parlour, of love for particular children and frisbees. It was fascinating, especially when the owner of the dogs then checked and corroborated the information. There were some inaccuracies, definitely. There were also some surprising revelations, the details of which could only have been imparted by the animals themselves. I had to admit to having being impressed.

It is obvious that such interactions could be emotionally very intense, and so one's intentions might need serious examination before making the connection with the animal, particularly with regards to the place and state of the ego. On the other hand however, it is also clear that animals have a great understanding and tolerance of our many foibles.

At a later stage of the workshop Wynter assisted us to connect with animals who have passed on. To my great joy and surprise, I was reminded by the spirit of my late and very Great Dane of a sort of breath swapping activity we used to do. I had honestly not thought about the activity since she died many years ago, and was most pleased to learn that it was something that she used to particularly enjoy doing! I was very moved by that paticular experience, I have to admit.

In discussions about missing animals, Wynter told of using pictures to connect with animals who had disappeared, explaining that a generally light, joyous and peaceful energy usually denoted that the animal had died, whilst any pain or sadness usually meant that the animal was still alive. When connecting with missing animals, situations are understandably highly charged with emotion and trauma. Owners can be desperate, and animals perhaps unwilling to be found, unwilling to return home. There are naturally many instances where sounds, smells and sights can be used as excellent clues to locate missing animals, with the animals themselves able to explain injuries and problems facing them.

At the end of the weekend, I had to ask myself if I were convinced.
Had I really communicated with an animal?
The answer was unequivocally yes, without a shadow of doubt.

At a stage of the workshop participants were working with photos of animals that they had brought with them in lieu of the animals themselves. I hadn't brought a photo with me, so Wynter gave me a picture of her cat Sunshine, at that time about 1800km away in Cape Town.
She suggested a few questions to ask Sunshine; favourite food, layout of her house etc.
Sunshine showed me tinned mussels and showed me around her house.

Wynter verified the layout of the house as I described it, right down to the whereabouts of the sunniest spot, although the pale bark of the tree outside was not that of a plane tree but of a gum. In mitigation I must state that Sunshine never drew my attention to the tree as such, I simply noticed it off to one side at a slight distance.
The mussels from the flat rectangular tins were not something that Wynter ever gave Sunshine.
It took a while and a bit of thought for Wynter to remember that tinned mussels were a favoured treat of her fiancee, invariably shared with Sunshine, and unseen by the cat since his return overseas!

Yes, I am absolutely convinced.

There is still more of critical importance left to learn than has yet been learned, about matters and processes more relevant to the world today and tomorrow than there is time left to devote to their learning.

Can we really afford to close our minds to anything anymore? Like many of us, you might also fall beautifully and soundly asleep at the mention of the word 'meditation'. There is however much happening all around us in the world which, though invisible and thus difficult to understand, is no less real than that which we can see and thus easily understand.
Animal communication is real, and thanks are due to both Wynter Worstholme and Sunshine for letting me see just how real!