Getting to Know Your Pets
As a pet companion I have experienced several times when pets have pushed past their own perceived characterizes to help teach a person what they need to hear in the moment. On day one of any new pet assignment, it is about listening to your animal companions with my ears, eyes, what I am feeling or sensing in my body and the thoughts that come quickly in as nine out of ten times it is from them. They too are beginning an inventory list of who I am through my energy, smell, and what they sense about me. Just like with any relationship, no two beings are alike – so I do not go in with assumptions or expectations of what I may experience on that day or subsequent ones.
I often feel like those first few visits together are like being at a networking meeting in that we tell or show one another who we are and what we are about on the surface...the quick 30-second commercial. Then subsequent visits are working our way past what we are understanding on the surface to go deeper within to gain even more information of who they are and what they may or may not show others depending on the level of investment they sense from the person. With me, I go in with what ways can I be of service to them where they are at that day. For it is who they are in the present moment that depicts how they are feeling or handling this new experience of having me visit with them.
Often, I am learning things about myself or my body in the first few moments. With one pup friend, she came over to me during the meet and greet to give me love and kisses to my right calf several times. Me, being me, wondered what that was about as I did not feel anything out of the ordinary in sensing that area. However, when I reached down and gently pressed on my calf, I was surprised to realize it hurt. She was sharing her innate knowledge with me during her initial review and inventory of who I was and what all was going on in my body. I learned that she was a very sensitive soul, a healer in many ways, and she would continue to show that side during the course of getting to know her. I also knew she and her brother, both pit lab mixes wanted to be accepted and loved for who they were.
During a discovery call with a pet parent, I learned that a dog and her sister, a rabbit were playing in their yard one day during a normal game of catch me if you can, when the dog injured her leg. In that moment, I intuitively sensed that the rabbit was very worried about her sister. In the meet and greet with the family, the dog upon seeing me headed to the sliding glass door that led out to her rabbit sister’s domain as she wanted me to help her worried companion. Within our first official visit together, I was led outside any time I asked verbally if they wanted Reiki. Initially, the rabbit hid herself nearby to receive. However, by the end of the assignment, she came over and tapped me on the foot acknowledging and thanking me for the emotional support and companionship.
We often hear that the best learning tool is when we teach what we have learned, heard, seen, or experienced first-hand. As it is through the educating that we learn about ourselves. Every pet, regardless of the species, that I connect with is teaching and opening the door to building a relationship with love, respect, and mutual trust.
