Animals respond to images and emotion, and by consciously using these tools, we can create positive outcomes in our pet’s behavior and more

By Joan Ranquet

Whether we are watching gazelles making a clean getaway from a lion on National Geographic, or observing our puppy get its butt kicked by our elderly cat, both situations involve something signaling the “prey” to get out of the way. It could be a loud hiss, a bark, a blocking of the hallway, a squeal, or it could be something much more subtle.

As an Animal Communicator, I use telepathy to find out what is going on with my client’s animals. Simply put, telepathy is the transference of pictures, words and feelings. People flock to my classes in hopes of learning how to receive images, including pictures and words. And the piece that usually fuels the pictures and words is feelings. 

At some point, anyone who has felt empathy for another person has picked up a feeling from them, and I believe everyone has the ability to communicate with their animals in this way.

In the case of the gazelles running from the lions, those gazelles could have been grazing on a lazy Sunday, when something in the energy field of one gazelle put the energetic antennae on alert. Suddenly, they are all running with the soundtrack of “Born Free” blaring in the background. Okay, I made that last part up! But that herd has to rely on each other in a way you and I don’t understand in our day-to-day life.

They are in a fight or flight mode, and as humans, we may be in a state of “survival,” but this pales in comparison to how they function in their fight or flight world. When we look at fight or flight, we understand it is a state of panic, of survival, and those things all fall into the fear spectrum. Therefore, one of the fundamental pieces of survival for an animal is a giant fear radar.

If telepathy is the transference of pictures, words and feelings, we are in a constant state of telepathy with our animal companions, whether we are in compliance or not. It is built into their DNA to be on the lookout, and so they are constantly looking to us to know what is next. It’s as if they have constant “feelers” out to check out any situation.

And, what might they find? They find their human is so busy. We are busy looking up directions on Google. We are mad at our boss. We think our friend’s boyfriend is an idiot. We forgot to do laundry. We wish we could stop by the cupcake store, but we’ve sworn off dairy this week, and the mind goes on and on and on.

That is the kaleidoscope of meaningless crap they are picking up on while urgently searching for energetic and emotional safety. If they are still suffering from separation anxiety, or traumatized by their last home, Google won’t bode well. We could be googling “gardening in pallets,” understanding whether basil would do better in a certain light . . . meanwhile, they are in alert because, oh no, there is a UPS man standing on the porch!

Making Animals Feel Secure
How can we calm down our animals and help them be more secure, while still attending to our needs as a human being? I call it being in a state of Emotional Leadership.

Emotional Leadership means you are centered, grounded, aware of your animal’s needs, but aren’t taking on their stuff, or allowing them to take on your stuff. Ultimately, while the energy fields of each individual are merged, there is autonomy.

I talk about Emotional Leadership in my first book, “Communication with all Life, Revelations of an Animal Communicator” published by Hay House, and in my new book “Energy Healing for Animals, published by SoundsTrue and coming in summer 2015, I go into even greater detail. We are the emotional thermostat in the household. If we are generally happy, our animals are happy. If we are experiencing lows, our animals will sulk with us. Sometimes they will even do wacky, fun things to get us out of our state or rut.

Our emotional life can create a great deal of stress for their emotional life. If we are experiencing emotional highs or lows as a result of something outside the home, or experiencing stress with other humans in the household, the animals will feel this. It is important to maintain some sense of self and take emotional responsibility. That’s not to say when you are upset you can’t cuddle with your cat or your dog, or allow your horse to take you for a long relaxing trail ride to decompress. However, make sure you thank them and let them know how much they helped. And then pull yourself together as much as you can so they can see you are fine.

Emotional Leadership allows you to drop the unnecessary emotions that clog the clear communication. Taking emotional leadership in your household is also important so you don’t feel guilty because you have to leave them at home while you work or feeling frustrated because you can’t spend more time with them. It is also saying no matter where they are in health, they are O.K., rather than putting unreasonable expectations on them.

Using Visualization
Emotional Leadership is also about taking the bull by the horns, and one way to do this is through visualization, where you see exactly the behavior you want and replay the image in your mind. For example, if you have three cats that don’t get along and your dream would be they all sat with you on the couch, then visualize this. Every time you picture them or remember them not getting along, immediately replace the image with the desired outcome. And, follow it up with how that would feel, adding in a sense of love and gratitude for their newly loving behavior.

This is also a double-edged exercise (or necessity). Let’s take negative behavior to begin with, such as having a dog that gets leash aggressive every time it goes outside and sees another dog. Not only do we remember the last event, but also our body, mind and voice remember on a cellular level, and our reaction is to become strained. Later that day at work, or at lunch with friends, the event flashes in our mind of that scene. Our bodies may even respond the same. We may feel a momentary panic. We are then deepening the reality that this event will repeat itself.

Reliving this in our mind, we have accidentally sent the image to the dog that when they are on the leash, this is what happens. Whether we are in Tukwilla, Taipei or buying a toothbrush at the store, make no mistake, the dog will get this message with the embedded feelings involved.

To undo this, you need to see this image appear in you mind screen, take a moment, breathe, and remember one of the best moments of your life of joy, excitement, pride — when the impossible was possible. Feel that for a moment and then imagine walking down the street with your dog poised and friendly, or imagine sitting on the couch with all three cats happy, or your horse entering the show ring or the trail with complete confidence as a team. Or even you pulling your bird out of the cage with confidence.

If it is a dog show or a horse show, really allow the desired feeling to come up first, and then visualize the preferred outcome by playing the entire class, test or trial out to unfold in the best interest for both parties.

If you have inherited bad behavior as a result of an adoption, this is the perfect time to rewrite the story for this animal. You have the chance to rename, and recreate the future of this animal’s story. And, do it with a sense of enthusiasm.

You will find, once again, your animals are great spiritual teachers. As you step into this role of Emotional Leadership, not only will your animals respond, but so will the world around you.

Joan Ranquet is an Animal Communicator and author of “Communication with all Life: Revelations of an Animal Communicator,” published by Hay House Inc., and the founder of Communication with all Life University. She conducts private sessions, teaches Animal Communication in teleseminars, weekend workshops, and wildlife trips, and recently released an ebook, “Animal Communication 101.” Her upcoming book, “Energy Healing for Animals,” will be published by Sounds True in 2014. Ranquet was chosen by MSN for “Top 25 People Who Do What They Love,” and has been featured on Dateline, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Animal Planet, The Los Angeles Times, The Sun Sentinel and The Palm Beach Post. She can be reached via her Web site at www.joanranquet.com.