Animal Communicator Karen Anderson

As I was watching television the other night, a dog in one of the commercials started barking wildly. My dog, Wrigley, immediately jumped up and began turning her head from side to side until the commercial was finished.

"What in the world was she thinking?" I asked my husband, to which Dr. Doolittle responded ,"Who knows, maybe they were telling our dogs how delicious their new and improved food is." Although I am pretty sure my husband was kidding around, he may have had a good point. If dogs and cats communicate with each other, certainly they try to talk with the hairless humans who feed them.

Enter Karen Anderson, a world-renowned animal communicator whose latest book, "Hear All Creatures," has turned this pet-obsessed country on its ear. Karen has communicated with thousands of animals, from horses to hounds; she claims to have the ability to hear what your fuzzy friend is saying. I was intrigued, so I contacted Karen and learned the real meaning of the saying "cat's got your tongue."

CM: How did you realize that you had the ability to communicate with animals?
KA: Well, I realized as a child that I could connect with them, but I didn't think that was unusual or different, I just thought everyone could do this. Animals were my best friends. I spent all of my time studying them and reading books about them; they just came first in my life. For instance, I knew when the dog was happy or if the cat's tummy hurt, little things like that. But I thought this was a normal thing that everybody could do. When I was 7 or 8, I realized that my parents didn't want me communicating with animals because they didn't understand it. I think my gift scared them, and they didn't know how to support me, so they discouraged it. So that was when I first understood that not everyone could communicate with animals.

CM: Do you actually hear the animal's voice, or is it just a feeling that you get from each animal?
KA: Let me explain how the animals send messages to us. They send messages in three different ways. They can send you the image of something or literally flash it before your eyes. Almost like a thought in your mind that you didn't think of. For instance, if you are driving to work and all of a sudden you get a flash of your dog's or cat's food bowl and you weren't thinking about feeding them, that's how they talk to us. It's just a thought that appears in our minds that we didn't think of. If the animal doesn't know the name of something, they will send the image of it.

Another way that animals send us messages is that they will send us a feeling or an emotion. It's almost like you have this gut feeling. Women are very sensitive in this way and often have a sense or a knowing of what the animal needs or wants. This is similar to women's intuition and is more finely tuned in women than men.

The last way an animal can communicate is by sending words or sentences. Sometimes their words are in my frame of reference and I know exactly what they are saying. They talk to me just like I am talking to you. Then sometimes they will put a series of words together because they don't know exactly how to say what they are thinking.

A great example of this is a story I talk about in my book regarding a dog named Misty. Misty told me her favorite treats were meatballs. She was so excited about her meatballs and was wagging her tail and hopping around. I was certain of her message and told her person that Misty loves her meatballs. Well, the person told me that they didn't eat meatballs and they had never fed Misty meatballs and that I was wrong. I was so disheartened and humiliated because I was sure that I had heard Misty so clearly and she said that she loved meatballs.

A few days later, I received a call from Misty's owner and he apologized because he had figured out what Misty's meatball message meant. Misty's owner works from home, and every day at 3 o'clock, he and Misty go downstairs to have an afternoon snack. His favorite treat is salami. He'll cut a piece for himself then cut a piece for Misty, and that day as he was cutting that piece of salami is when he realized that it was round and made of meat! These were the meat balls that Misty was referring to. Sometimes animals will put words together to describe something for me.

CM: Can anyone communicate with animals, or is this something you have to be born with?
KA: I think we are all born with the ability to connect with animals. But some people are so fearful and others so narrow-minded that they block their ability. People are fearful of the unknown and tend to block what they don't understand, sometimes subconsciously. You don't play golf once and become Tiger Woods. You have to practice and make mistakes and learn from them.

CM: Let me give you a situation and find out what you would do to help. My dog, Wrigley (German shepherd/border collie mix), is one of the smartest and sweetest dogs that I have ever met. But there is one habit that she has that drives me crazy – pawing. Every night, after the dogs have had their walk and have eaten their dinner, I'll lay down on the couch to watch television. Wrigley will get right in my face and paw at me like she's trying to tell me something. She is relentless. It is very annoying, and I have tried everything to get her to stop. What can I do?
KA: I have learned from many animals that it is really hard to go against Mother Nature. The best thing to do is to try and figure out how to go with Mother Nature. If your animal is displaying a behavior that is driving you nuts, then have them do that thing in a way that you choose, in a focused and directed way. Come up with some sort of game for this behavior that relays the message of when it is appropriate to display that behavior, but only at that time.

You have a girl that wants to work. She is a mix of two working dog breeds with this great big ball of energy that has to come out. It's similar to what the police do when they are looking for a search and rescue dog. The police will go from shelter to shelter looking for dogs with very high toy drives. The officers will take this drive and teach the dog how to focus their energy toward certain things, using the toy as a reward for the dog when they find and complete the task they are given.

When I talk to animals about behavior problems, they'll tell me, "I can't help it." It's a compulsion. I have a name for dogs that don't have enough to do: self-employed dogs. If you don't give them a job to do, they will find a career of their own, and you are not going to like it. They will become landscapers and pull up all of your trees and shrubs as well as dig holes in locations that they see fit. Some dogs will become interior designers, chew the legs off of your couch and your dining room table. Choose a career for them and give them things to work on.

I like to take low-sodium chicken broth, equal parts water, peas, carrots, cooked slices of lean beef or chicken and stir it all together. Pour it into a large, rectangular Tupperware dish, then freeze it. When you know you are going to be gone for hours at the time, take this giant ice cube out of the dish and give it to your dogs to "work" on. They will be so busy that they won't have time to dig or redecorate. Just remember, there are no quick fixes. It takes time to learn a behavior.

With cats, you become their entertainment center. You need to bring home new and interesting things for them. Boxes, empty bags, tissue paper from gift bags – sprinkle a little cat nip in and they'll have a ball.

The next time Rover is ruining the recliner or Ms. Kitty is clawing the couch, don't get impatient, get informed – there's a message you're missing! Believe it or not, Karen Anderson has satisfied thousands of pet owners' curiosities about what their four-legged family member is thinking.

For more information about Karen Anderson and how to contact her, go to www.animalcommunicating.com.