Our animals get a lot of what is happening around them. And yet they often don’t have the complete picture. They don’t understand why something is changing, why we are doing something with them or deciding for them.
That’s why it’s so important that we involve them, that we explain to them what’s happening. This helps beforehand, but also helps afterwards and can be so healing.

This week I had the pleasure of helping some animals understand something and in doing so heal old hurts:

• One horse had such a great sadness in her because she feels abandoned, because she thinks she did something wrong. It so happened that her owner got the diagnosis that he is highly allergic and that he is not allowed to enter the stable at all anymore. So he could never visit her again. When we explained it to her, she could understand, she remembered how he always had problems with breathing. That took a lot of pain away from her. And when she found out how he still looks after her, makes sure she is well and is happy when he sees pictures of her, her heart healed a lot. It was so nice to see how she slowly came out of her shell and how she is now ready to open her heart again, to get involved with her new family. And how irrepressible the joy was when she experienced and felt that this family will never leave her again.
   
• Then I prepared some dogs/cats for a new family member to move in. It was important for them to learn why their humans wanted (another) dog and to know that they will still be important. But it also helped to think together about how they can be a help to the new dog, what task they can take on. And suddenly there was so much pride and instead of scepticism, an anticipation of the new animal. They are not just confronted with this important change, but are involved in the process and can prepare themselves. This way it will be much more harmonious for everyone.
   
• And of course I was then allowed to meet the selected dogs, the potential new family members. We explained to them who the new family will be, what life will be like then and they were also able to meet their new “brothers and sisters”. Of course, they were then also asked if they could imagine living there, what they wanted and needed. I felt it was especially important to prepare them for the transport. I explained to them what they would have to face, why it would be like this and how stressful it would probably be. But also that they will meet their new people afterwards, that it is a journey into a new life and that they can convey this to the other dogs travelling with them, who will be full of fear and uncertainty. 
   
• In the case of one dog, strong fears of abandonment suddenly reappeared after a 1-week stay in the boarding kennel. He had been there several times before, but never for such a long time, and with every day he waited in the evening to be picked up, his fear that his humans would not come back increased. After I explained to him the reasons why he had to stay there longer this time and he could understand it, I felt how the fears became less again. He could also see that he really likes it there and that he feels deep inside himself and knows that his people would never abandon him.
   
• Next week we will prepare a mare for the fact that her best friend will move and they will no longer be together in one stable. I’m sure that will be very hard for her. But by her owner being thoughtful enough to let her know and explain in time, they will have time to say goodbye. They will be able to use the last weeks together consciously and so the pain won’t be quite as bad as if he is just suddenly no longer there.

There have been many other cases over time where I have had the privilege of explaining something to animals and we have felt how that alone has helped them. Also with decisions that they didn’t particularly like, but which they could then support because we explained our motives to them. They want to be involved, they want us to prepare them for changes in their lives.

Of course, I am very happy to help you with this, so that we can clarify it together in a session.
But it also makes a difference if you talk to your animal yourself. Feel the connection you have with each other, talk in words, think in pictures, feel the respective emotions and have the intention that your animal understands you.  And I am sure that some things will reach him.

Love & light for you and your pets
Tanja