The Conical Glass: If I could talk to the animals

Monday, July 20, 2009

If I could talk to the animals

After we adopted Hobie, I was always so curious about where he came from -- he was a stray who had been picked up and taken to an animal shelter -- that I used to say to Joe that I wanted to take him to an animal psychic, so I could find out about his life before we adopted him. Surely such a loving dog must have had a good home for at least a few years. (He was thought to be between 4 and 7 when we got him; I'm guessing he was at the upper end of that scale.) However, I had my skepticism about the alleged psychic link between people and dogs. OK, I pretty much figured it was B.S. Then I read an outrageously funny article by Harmon Leon in the SF Weekly (available online!) and decided my instincts were correct.

Still, I couldn't quite shake my desire to find out more about the world of animal communication. So when I had the chance to take Bibi to a 15-minute session, in exchange for a small donation to our local Humane Society, I figured I had nothing to lose. I mean, I give money to them anyway! It was a win-win!

The "animal intuitive" doing the fundraiser was Napa-based Barbara Martin, who says on her web site that she was not born with the ability to communicate with animals, but learned it through workshops. She does not describe herself as a pet psychic. "All humans have the ability to communicate with animals," she states in her FAQ. But what do they have to say, other than "Feed me!" and "Is it time for my walk yet? Is it? Is it?!?!?!" Let's find out!

Barbara asked me how old Bibi was and how long we'd had her. Then she stopped me before I could reveal anything further, saying that she wanted to listen to Bibi. She put her head in her hands for a couple of minutes and said that Bibi described herself as "brave" and "tough." I guess that's fairly accurate -- she can be pretty scrappy.

Here are some of the other things that came up during the session:

Bibi does not like very young children -- now, keep in mind that I had not said anything about the circumstances in which we adopted her, but she was surrendered to rescue because she had nipped the child in her previous home. That home was more "chaotic" than ours, so leaving wasn't as stressful as it could have been.

When she arrived at our house, Bibi thought, "This is where I should be," and realized she had to be on her best behavior because she wanted to stay here, and knew it wasn't necessarily going to be a permanent situation. (True: we had initially only agreed to foster her.) False: Barbara stated that it took about two months for us to decide to adopt her. It was more like two days, because Joe fell in love with her almost immediately. It probably would have taken me two months.

She is "fussy" and "bossy" about food. That is true. She would not eat the kibble we had fed Hobie, and we finally settled on a mix of Nutro dry and Trader Joe's canned food. Bibi also has a refreshing tendency not to eat food she finds on the street during our walks; once, she even trotted right past a discarded bag of fast food French fries!

Barbara said she saw an area in the yard that Bibi was not allowed to go in, because of a loose plank or board. That was true -- shortly after we got her, Bibi escaped through a hole in the fence that we hadn't realized was there (it was covered with ivy), and was returned by a neighbor who had found her before we even knew she was gone. However, we were so freaked out by the incident that we replaced the entire fence, so now she can come and go as she pleases.

I was told that Bibi liked doing agility with Joe, which isn't true -- he takes her to the dog park every weekend, but she pretty much just runs around; nothing as organized as jumping through hoops.

I was asked if I had any questions for Bibi. I was curious if she knew there had been another dog in the house previously. Barbara asked if the dog's name was "Honey," which isn't all that far off. Anyway, Bibi is aware, but she's fine with it; she knows we're genuine "dog people."

I also said I would really like it if she would sit on my lap once in a while, which she never does. According to Barbara, Bibi's immediate response was, "Why?" Well, what do you say to that? Because it would be pleasant. Apparently, lap-sitting has just never been her thing, but Barbara said she would ask Bibi to give it a try. "Invite her onto your lap," she instructed me. "Just don't grab her or pick her up."

On the whole, my impression via Barbara was that Bibi is a pretty well-adjusted, happy dog, which is pretty much what I had already figured. (Hobie was a lot more neurotic; his various personality tics seemed to give him more depth somehow.)

That evening, Bibi sat on my lap for about 20 minutes.

posted by 125records @ 8:11 PM

5 Comments:

At 7:02 AM, jfruh said…

Our cat was also adopted as an adult from a shelter, having been dropped off there while it was closed, so we are very curious about her previous life and the origins of her various tics. When we were in Tucson a couple of years ago my wife ecountered an animal intuitive (I guess this is the standard industry name!) at an art opening who did a 2000-mile remote reading of Hoagie and said, among other things, that she had been left at the shelter because the previous owner (an ex-stoner, according to her) hada reformed and had a kid that Hoagie didn't like. It's true that Hoagie doesn't like kids; I wasn't there for this conversation, but I've wondered whether the intuitive managed to extract this detail from my wife Crossing Over style, or if it's just an extremely common reason animals get brought to shelters (or, of course, if she's genuinely psychic).
At 7:16 AM, Jeff said…

If you're really interested in learning more about animal communication, I recommend any of Temple Grandin books--particularly her latest, "Animals Make Us Human: Creating hte Best Life for Animals". Temple is pretty interesting in herself--she's revolutionized the way slaughterhouses are designed, has several pieces in the Museum of Visionary Art, and is autistic.
At 10:19 AM, vallerose said…

I often wonder what Chloe our tortoiseshell cat would say. She was adopted from Hop a Long Cat Rescue. Chloe always looks like she is about to talk. It's unnerving at times. But there is no doubt she communicates.What I really want to know, is her DNA. She either has Manx or kangaroo in her genes. I have never seen such long hind legs on a cat.
Adorable photo.
At 7:35 PM, spanghew said…

Interesting. Did you read the NYT Magazine article on whales recently? If I recall there are parts about animal communication that seem relevant here...

Our former kitty Spin came from Rose's grandmother's farm - and he was definitely full of quirk and character, and some things we wish we knew about him.

I guess for me, while I don't believe in any sort of "psychic" hoohah, I do believe animals communicate and do come to know much about us, whether in language conventionally described or in other ways. So it's plausible that someone could learn to "listen" to animals and get some of this info...so long as the animal understood the situation well enough for the human to find words to express it. (Imagine an utterly alien society: even though we have language, it would sometimes be hard to describe it simply because we might lack words or concepts adequate to the situation. For that matter, just look at some people's failed relationships!)
At 7:21 PM, Sue said…

Since mankind and womankind have been cohabitating with these amazing animals for eons, it's not too far fetched to assume that our two species can communicate. I'm not sure I believe that this can be done over the telephone, though, as many animal communicators claim to be able to do. I think one would have to be in the presence of the animal. I'm a rather skeptical person by nature, but my dogs and I connect on a deeper level than I do with most humans. Even after they are gone! I am convinced mine have visited me from beyond the Bridge in my dreams to reassure me that they are well and happy.