Your Thoughts on Animal Communication?

It's an interesting notion, and whilst some people definetley have more empathy with animals, I can't say I believe in an "animal-whisperer." I did once meet a rather interesting woman who claimed she could tame down a horse gone wild by the simple expedient of sitting drawing pictures in the sand for them. She claimed that after a few days or so, the horse would get curious enough to come see what she was doing, and then eventually, through repetition, she'd be able to start touching it and taming it down. Interesting idea, but I didn't get the opportunity to verify it.

Hmmmm...I am not too sure if I could particularly believe that but I certainly believe some kind of non-verbal communication is possible between us & animals...

Most of us who live with animals can 'talk' with them to a greater or lesser degree. We blink at our cats, hiss at them, copy their body language which is the way they communicate. Today with my pony Tiffin, he came up to me in the field and we blew into each others' nostrils to say 'hello'. He noses me if he wants a scratch in the same way he asks for grooming from the others. Because I was there at his birth he is to some degree imprinted on me and I am an extra mom to him, so he knows what to expect from me. In turn, most domesticated animals learn a few human words. My cats all know their names, plus 'come here', 'dinner', 'no!', 'get down' and some other specific ones for each cat. I only have to yell 'cheese' for Persil to come running. The ponies are the same.

But I have met people who really can communicate in incredible ways with certain animals, usually by copying body language and trading on the animal's instinctive behaviour. The trick is to think what you are in relation to the animal and whether the animal sees you as pack leader, hunter, prey, parent or friend. Then you can behave accordingly and start communicating.

I absolutely believe and know for a fact that "animal whisperers" exist. The famous Pat Parelli, the Horse Whisperer, Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer, are the real deal. This isn't about talking to the animals, it's not about knowing exactly what they are thinking, it's dog psychology, horse psychology, animal psychology.......Cesar Millan is famous because he not only has the ability to connect with dogs psychologically, but the ability to communicate this with people.
I have always had an amazing connection with animals, especially my own. More often then not the source of bad pet behavior comes from their environment, lack of physical exercise, attention, structure and discipline (not punishment!). People don't realize how much their poor behavior reflects onto their pets. It takes patience and to many people who want pets don't have the patience or time to understand why, they only see what.....

It is pretty well known in the horsey community (at least by those that use natural horsemanship) that if you want to earn the trust of a horse, it is very beneficial to sit in the pasture with it....you don't have to draw pictures in the sand though, reading or twiddling your thumbs works just as well . Eventually the horse will come and investigate what you are doing. Even though that technique is not magical or an act of horse whispering, it works great...I would know, my horse used to be difficult to catch.

Ok..I have to admit, I have used one. I used Lydia Hybie and she was fantastic. I'll give you long story kinda short. Went to big fhorse show in Ky. my friends went back to hotel, I stayed, and had some xtra time. I thought, drink or blow 25 on animal communicator. So I had it done. Lydia only wanted to know 4 words. Animal Name, color,age,location. Nothing else. then she paused and started telling me about the horse in question. Told me about the plane ride (I brought him back from Germany), about his should injury, and a bunch of stuff. Nothing like "he likes his food, or anything generic. Asked if there was anyting I wanted to know. (the night before we left, my horse got into the riding arena and from a standstill jumped a 5 foot pipe fence.) I ask her to ask him, why he did what he did a couple of nites ago. She told me that I had a 2nd horse, and that there was a problem with his heart and my horse had to jump out to get him. all true. Now up to this point I have only said the 4 words at the beginning. I didn't say yes, no nothing as she was talking. (I didn't believe in any of this. I thought it was bs. ). So I do believe in it. As Lydia will tell you, animals don't wear watches or use calanders. an example from her. "If you put a mouse in a big room, as asked what he sees, he would think he sees the universe. If you put an elephant in the same room he would see a very small space" SHe has a great book out.

Mary
no I'm not crazy

I'll agree with the Horse Whisperer, but you have the wrong dog person - it's Jan Fennell, the Dog Listener, who is actually close personal friends with Pat Parelli, the Horse Whisperer. She learned what he did with horses and found a comparable theory with dogs after a long study of wolf packs.

A close friend of mine trained under Jan Fennell, and I had a remarkable 3 hour lunch discussion with Jan. I was able to refine the tactics that I used with my dogs based on her theory and they work wonders. So you can call me a dog listener.

"Whispering" is not about communicating to an animal in human terms. It's all about understanding the instinctual nature of a species and communicating to them in their terms. Don't ever confuse this with any human language, nor the ability to read their minds. My disagreement about Cesar Milan is that he only taps into a small portion of a dogs natural instincts.

I asked Jan point blank about her opinions about cat listening. After a good chuckle, she told me if I ever found the cat species in the wild that most closely resembled the behavior patterns of the domestic cat, then to study what motivates them. When you look at behavior patterns in feral cat colonies, the closest species behavioral wise are lions. When you look at behavior advise on this forum that works, a lot of that comes straight out of what works for lions in successful prides.

So I do believe in whispering, but not in the sense that most people understand.

After the week Ive had I really do believe that my cats can understand my feelings and thoughts. After crying non stop all night last night and the night before (and I still havent left :o( ) Fatman hasnt left my side. He growls when anyone comes near me and has been on me or next to me even going as far as givning me kisses!!! Hes my hero..GiGi and Hercules have to an extent been allowed to lay near me on the couch but not too close or Fatman gets mad Franklin so far isnt allowed near me..Probably because hes too much like his "Father" and thats who we are all mad at right now!

I believe that many animals are capable of cognative thought and reasoning, which places them on a higher plane of intelligence than is generally accepted.

For example, my cat Dusty has a certain vocal sound when she is irritated with us. She will "cuss us out"! She will also poop in a particular room in the house if she is really mad. This occurs when we don't let her outside when she wants, or if we go away for a few days.

Koko, a gorilla from the headlines of many years ago was taught to communicate with humans via sign language. She could carry on quite a dialog, and talked her handlers into giving her a kitten as a pet.

There have been instances of dolphins being trapped in fishing nets, that thank their human saviors by kissing them, once they are freed.

There are strange friendships like Bella the dog and Tara the elephant that are best friends, though they wouldn't normally pair in the wild.

So yes, I believe many animals have the uncanny ability to communicate with us and other species, and I also believe many are capable of intelligent thinking we normally only associate with human behavior.

*Steps into thread to nitpick*
Deanna Troi
*steps back out again with appologies for being a nitpicker and a trekker*

Lol! I was also a bit like: Who's Diana Tory in Star Trek?

What I wonder most of the time when I look at my kitty is simply what is it she's thinking? I can see little thought processes whirring away behind those eyes, and finding out exactly what they are would be fascinating