A Request for More
When pets ask me to stay longer, I will do the best I can to accommodate their request. I look at it as respecting the relationship I have built during our visits along with the time and patience they have offered as I learned how they spoke their needs. Often, there is some change coming either for them or in their family that may not be apparent yet.
You may wonder, how do they ask?
Some will not let you leave. For instance, several cats have continuously circled me as I walk to the door to block my exit. In one case, it was due to a text coming in from a person that lived nearby. Had I left when I initially started to, I would have missed connecting with that person as I do not have access to my calls/texts in my car. As soon as that message came in, the cat moved further into the house to watch me leave. In another case, one of the elder pets was nearing their time and they wanted to spend as much time together as they could. Any time a seasoned dog does not automatically go into his or her crate/kennel when I am leaving and they have done so every other day, they are needing some extra love, time, or connection.
In some cases, they will come over and sit upon my lap when it is typically time for me to head out to let me know they want some more connection because this is not done all the time, I know something is different. They also know when I have another sitting or appointment directly after theirs as they will rarely ask on those days. What that looks like for some of my clients is more Reiki, certain music that puts us all in a meditative-like heart space together or lots of love, gentle touch or companionship.
Others may not want to return home from a walk. I had one lady pup who when I first met her would do a quick fifteen-minute jaunt around the block. Then one day wanted to be out for seventy-five-minutes. While we were out, I saw a visual of her sister pop into my mind who had passed the year before. The girl I was out with was honoring her.
It is important to be observant to what is different. For some, they share that an ending is coming by sitting in the end/completion direction of the yard. They often know what I understand or will later question and investigate. Others it can be the way they walk around a yard that feels different like they are acknowledging areas of it. If they always lay a certain way in the yard for instance always look east and one day it is different, it can be an important message. The directions, I have learned are based on the medicine wheel which can be utilized as you work through projects or life. East can be about infancy, spring, birth, and a new start. North can be about completions of a cycle, end of life, winter, and elders.
Intuition, being observant and truly listening are important when working with animal friends in whatever shape they take. Just as we often need more time with a friend, so too do they. Likewise, we do not ever know what is around the next bend in the journey.
