Soulstice, my rescue dog, hadn't been exposed to much normalcy and had lived what I considered an entire life before we met. She came with baggage that left her easily reactive, fearful and anxious in new situations. Helping a rescue feel safe and unpack their baggage is a slow process that requires consistency, patience, time and love for change to occur. It literally takes baby steps. And like other pet parents with rescues, I mess up, get frustrated, and, at times, even wonder- what did I get myself into?

Read our story.

Animal communication can help you understand your animal better. And if you have a rescue or reactive animal, it can certainly give your relationship a jump start in learning more about each other. This blog looks at the most common reactions a rescue or reactive dog can have when faced with a new situation and how to best approach them from an animal communicator’s perspective.

One way you can reduce misunderstandings with our canine companions is to become aware of the role body language plays in your interaction. One common interaction where we can see vast differences in body language between humans and dogs is when greeting one another. Here are some tips to help you create a stronger connection when greeting a dog.

From my experience working with animals, they ALWAYS have a reason for their behaviour and come up with what they think is the best way to get their message across. Most of the time, their way of getting their message across doesn't make sense to us, but it makes perfect sense to them! Humans are masters of blocking, avoiding and living in our heads/thoughts and worry. We must give our pets credit for helping us take accountability for our emotions!

Read this cat’s story.

Behavioural issues are not always what they seem! They can be caused by physical pain, emotional issues, rescue trauma, abuse, injury, fear, misunderstanding, trying to get our attention, and mirroring of their person, just to name a few. Animal communication can make it easier to get to the root of the behaviour and discover why they are acting the way they are.

The only thing for certain is that an animal's behaviour always makes perfect sense to them!

This is Jasper & Sally’s story.