We’ve been so busy adjusting to our new reality in this pandemic, that we might not have considered how it’s affecting our animal families.  Here are some tips on helping them through it, which will help us as well.

 We’ve been so busy adjusting to our new reality in this pandemic that we might not have considered how it’s affecting our animal families in body, mind, and spirit. That’s a mistake since a crisis that affects us affects them as well. Here’s what we can do about it.

 How the Pandemic Affects Our Animals

The pandemic has heightened everyday misunderstandings. Our animal families live intimately with us; they know when something is up and respond to our emotions. They not only get upset and worried when we are, but they also try to comfort us. Plus, if they don’t understand what’s up, they may think they’ve done something wrong and don’t know what to do about it. Mindfully dealing with them supports the entire family.

 Animal Communication in Crisis

Yes, animal communication is real. Even when you think that you can’t intuitively connect with your animals, they absolutely can understand you. You already know this: for example, when you tell them it’s time for dinner or a walk, they come running.

Turn that awareness up a notch when communicating with them about the pandemic. Approach your animals the same way you deal with your human family: tell them what’s going on and reassure them that you’re taking care of them the best way you can. Assure them they haven’t done anything wrong, but a human illness has changed how we all live. Be precise and straightforward. Reassure. Repeat. Keep it up as long as the pandemic lasts.

It’s important to ask your animals what they want to do to help out. No one likes feeling helpless, and our animals are no exception, so give them a job. My dog Ollie was grumpy when I went grocery shopping before breakfast. “We all have to pitch in and help,” I said, and asked what he would do. He promptly chose the most relevant job he could think of: “I’ll do the eating,” he said.

Humor works, and Ollie relaxed, but do get serious with your animals. Tell them you’ve made plans for someone to take care of them if you get sick—and then make those plans. Now is not the time for complacency.

 Body, Mind, and Spirit Tips for Our Animals in the Pandemic

Attending to our animals’ body, mind, and spirit in the pandemic requires more patience, a lot of calm, a bit of “what if,” and a solid understanding of their personalities. How do they routinely react to storms, late meals, your moods, and household disruption? Take that times a billion and know that keeping yourself balanced and grounded will help them, too. Then get—and stay—that way.

 Body Tips: Keep your animals clean and well-fed, play with and exercise them, and create enhanced family time. That means sticking to your regular routine while adding whatever your new normal is (and more fun). A new daily activity can keep them (and you) fit. Walk your dogs (leashed, please!), but don’t allow them to socialize with people or animals outside the family.

 Mind Tips: If you’re stressed, they’re stressed. And worried. And concerned. They’ve also been specially bred to be our companions, so be their companions. It’s emotionally tough right now for us—and for them. Tell them what you’re doing, from staying home more to worrying. Dig deep to make sure they’re emotionally healthy and encourage patience and trust. Deal with their feelings: given a chance, they’ll make them clear.

Spirit Tips: First and foremost, remember that we are all eternal souls. We choose the bodies we need for a particular incarnation. In this lifetime, you’re human, and they’re animals, but we’re all souls. Respect the divinity and the equality in those souls. Ask their spiritual team members for extra care and support, and remind your animals to ask, too—and to count on their teams.

As souls, our animals are also energy healers. Remind them to use energy healing to keep themselves grounded and balanced, and demonstrate how to do that (yes, they’ll pay attention, and most are already active healers). As you go about your daily life with them, extend an energy line or “bubble” around them and other family members. Invite them to pitch in and add their own energy to the bubble for protection and support. Keep that energy moving. It matters.

Finally, remind your animals (and yourself) that all things pass, including pandemics. Staying healthy in body, mind, and spirit will help us all get through it together. When we do, remember what you learned from and with your animal families, and build on that. It will help you in good times—and in tough ones.

Originally published in OMTimes.com magazine: https://omtimes.com/2020/09/animal-families-pandemic/

About the Author

Robyn M Fritz MA MBA CHt is an intuitive and spiritual consultant and certified past life regression specialist. An award-winning author, her next book is “The Afterlife Is a Party: What People and Animals Teach Us About Love, Reincarnation, and the Other Side.” Find her at RobynFritz.com and on Facebook at The Practical Intuitive.

We quail at euthanasia, and we should, because it is murder. But euthanasia is also mercy and compassion when only suffering remains. Most of us will have to face the end of a beloved animal’s life. Here’s how to look at their body, mind, and spirit needs.

It’s the worst thing we face as a multi-species family: the death of a beloved animal. How do we decide between euthanasia and allowing them to die naturally?

While we should turn to the veterinary community and the growing pet hospice movement for advice, we should be wary. These professionals don’t always recognize that animals have souls. That means they can fail to give our animals a voice in their own care.

We who live with animals as family members and intelligent equals can change that dynamic. When the body is impossibly broken from disease, injury, or old age, we can support the dying process by allowing our loving hearts and animal communication to listen to our animals—and to ourselves.

Body, Mind, and Spirit and Animal Euthanasia

All multi-species families need good veterinary partners who share their beliefs on quality of life and care. Unfortunately, technology has moved beyond us, often pushing intervention without the insight to say “enough.” Without choice and compassion, we can end up pushing the body beyond what is physically possible, emotionally endurable, and spiritually useful.

Body Needs. As your animal declines, do your own research, listen to your team, and monitor specific bodily needs, including diagnosis and prognosis. A quality of life tool commonly called the HHHHHMM scale allows the practitioner (and you) to objectively score a list based on how much pain the animal is in, whether they are eating and properly hydrated, if they are hygienic, how happy and interested they are, how mobile they are (including whether you can help them move), and the quality of their days. Use it as a baseline; add your intuition and observation and your animal’s insights into the mix.

Mind Needs. What else do you noticing, including your animals’ “tells”? You know how they express emotion, from uncertainty to worry, depression, and joy. You’ll also notice the gradual declines that your professional support team doesn’t because you’re there 24/7—and you’re family.

Discuss everything you know and notice with your animal. Explain how you feel, what’s going on, what’s coming, and options. Like us, our animals worry and get confused, so if possible, give them time to prepare. Ask what they need, want, and feel. Sure, you can seek out a professional animal communicator as an objective intermediary. But never doubt that your animal already hears you—and that you know.

You can see the end of your animal’s life by looking in their eyes. That look is unmistakable: it’s knowing, resigned, waiting, contemplative. When you see it, you may have days or weeks, but the end is near. Look for it. React compassionately.

 Spirit Needs. All souls choose the body they need to do their work for that lifetime. That work involves soul growth toward unconditional love—self-love regardless—and doing that body’s specific job. The end of life is that body’s final opportunity for soul growth. Do you know why your animal chose to be an animal? It wasn’t to be your teacher or guru, but what? Should you know? Ask your animal—and their spiritual team.

How does their job reflect on how they face death? Remember, the end of life pushes buttons: bodies are programmed to survive. Understanding the animal’s body, mind, and spiritual needs can be the key to helping both sides let go—and move on.

 Making a Choice for Euthanasia

Many people, including veterinarians, believe that animals live only in the present. That is reverse anthropomorphism. People who don’t understand that animals recognize past, present, and future and can think, feel, and make choices miss the value in how animals will choose to die and what they experience. These people lose the authority to speak to it.

What will an animal choose? Some say, “No, not today.” Others say, “I could go, or I could stay.” Others say, “Now today.” Others want to “walk the mystery,” to experience the dying process—and want their families to witness.

Your veterinary team won’t see that. Granted, veterinarians love animals and want to heal them, so euthanasia is hard to accept (and partly explains the tragically high suicide rate among veterinarians). Listen to your team, then to yourself, and to your animal. You will know.

Our society hasn’t been open to dying since technology stole reason from us. When faced with the end of a beloved animal’s life, when you’ve done the research and consulted your veterinary team, ask yourself what you can afford, what you can do, what you (and your animal) can stand. Explain it to your animal: they understand. Listen to what they want—and need.

Sometimes watching a death play out is soul damaging for you and for them. For example, loading the dying up with drugs to mask the pain is cruel; it confuses the brain and the choice. Sometimes dying is both beautiful and spiritually uplifting. At others, it’s sudden and steals choice. As hard as it is, death is part of life and should be honored for what it really is: the exit of a soul from that body. When death should occur is the question we ask with Euthanasia.

As we examine body, mind, and spirit for and with our animals at the end of life, we need to understand wise choices to promote values that allow grief and compassion to kindly say farewell. To make dying easier by honoring, celebrating, and preparing for it, however, it occurs.

The last gift we can give our beloved animals is the peace and serenity of a good death. Euthanasia is an option, but a considered one. Find out what your animal wants, how far it can go without losing its way on its soul journey. Know that whatever choice you make together will work because you’re family.

We quail at euthanasia, and we should, because it is murder. But euthanasia is also mercy and compassion when only suffering remains.

May the human-animal bond teach us that technology has its limits, that suffering and pain are not acceptable, that death is to be honored and respected, and welcomed when all hope is lost. That we can make Euthanasia what it really is: love sorely tried, and triumphant.

Originally published in OMTimes.com magazine: https://omtimes.com/2020/11/euthanasia/

Space clearing gets stuck energy to move again, boosting body, mind, and spirit. Here’s how to involve your animal family.

Space clearing is a process we use to keep the energy flowing in space, often using specific rituals and tools. We use it to boost ourselves but often overlook how we can make it benefit our animal families.

Clearing Energy, Clearing Space

The need to clear our spaces is universal: nothing stays clear without assistance. Life is messy, and as we go about our busy days, we pick up bits of outside energy from the people and places around us (even in a pandemic). That’s the body, mind, and spirit of life: our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being depends on whether energy flows smoothly—or is blocked.

That is also true for our animal families. Here’s how to help them benefit from clearing space.

Our Animals and Clearing Space

First, let your animals know that a space clearing is scheduled. And why.

Experts in energy work, especially energy awareness, our animals are more naturally aware of how energy flows than we are. They’re not better than us. They’re just more aware of what their souls are up to, which means they can follow energy movement more clearly.

Animals feel tension and uncertainty and get drained like we do, even though their worries aren’t paychecks or mortgages (although our worries affect them). They also know where energy is stuck in a space and may react to changes more quickly than we do.

Pay attention to any physical or personality changes they exhibit, but also look more profound. Are your animals suddenly avoiding a room or a specific place? Are they lethargic or acting up for no discernible reason?

While it’s important to always check in with your animals, it’s critical to ask them what’s up if you notice odd behavior. Yes, ask your animals to tell you what’s going on with them and with space. While the issue could be something they’re personally worried about, it could be something going on in the space that you don’t realize, including the so-called “paranormal,” which can be identified when a docile or laid-back dog or cat suddenly acts up in space. If your own observation doesn’t give you enough information, hire an animal communicator. Once you settle that, also ask your animals what their needs and wants are so you can address them in the clearing—and afterward.

Finally, explain what the space clearing session will involve. Invite them to watch the preparations and even to participate, if possible. The exception? If you have territorial animals and you’re hiring a space clearing professional, remove or contain the animal. Ensure the excluded animals receive a positive telepathic message and a healthy energy dose, including an apology for excluding them. They will benefit from the cleared space when they return (and will be tuning in anyway, wherever they are). Don’t feel guilty if you’re doing the clearing yourself and decide to lock them up, especially if you’re burning incense or something like sweetgrass or sage, because smoke is scary.

Here’s a specific story that shows how animals can be affected by what’s in space.

The Ghost and Lacey, the Briard

I did an animal communication session with Sally and her champion Briard, Lacey, because the dog was suddenly refusing to go into their new home’s main living space. Lacey whined and paced so much that Sally took her to their veterinarian. Still, the physical exam and blood tests were normal.

Lacey the Briard told me what was wrong: there was a woman in the house. Yes, a ghost. Although the house was over a hundred years old, the woman had only been in the house for about twenty years, judging from her clothes (yes, I could see her). I explained that she was dead and helped her move to the afterlife. After quickly clearing the space, I told Sally to put sea salt around the room (sea salt helps keep energy moving). Within a few hours, Lacey strolled into the room she once avoided as if nothing at all was wrong. Because nothing was—anymore.

Note that the “paranormal” can happen anywhere, and there are many more straightforward explanations for stuck energy, so if an animal’s behavior clues you into a problem, do a space clearing. And give that animal a treat!

Space Clearing with Your Animals

Once you know what everyone in the family needs and wants from the space, including the animals, you can proceed with the clearing (of course, you’ll also want to know the area’s needs and wants). When it’s complete, give everyone the day off. Celebrate the clearing as a family, make sure you’ve spread sea salt everywhere, have a good meal, drink lots of water, and sleep well. Monitor the clearing over the next several days, replacing the sea salt as needed. Watch how your animals respond: it will mirror your response.

Repeated regularly, clearing your space will support the entire family in body, mind, and spirit, including your animals. Good luck, and have fun!

Originally published in OMTimes.com Magazine: https://omtimes.com/2021/02/space-clearing-animals/

About the Author

Robyn M Fritz MA MBA CHt is an intuitive and spiritual consultant and certified past life regression specialist. An award-winning author, her next book is “The Afterlife Is a Party: What People and Animals Teach Us About Love, Reincarnation, and the Other Side.” Find her at RobynFritz.com and on Facebook at The Practical Intuitive.

Animal Reincarnation and Families

When a beloved pet dies, it can be comforting to understand the animal reincarnation process.

Do Our Animals Reincarnate?

These days people consider their animals to be family members, which deepens the human-animal bond and raises mind, body, spirit issues in their multi-species families, including what happens to animals when they die. Do animals have souls? Do they reincarnate? Part 1 of a two-part series explores the concept of soul groups, animal souls, and the afterlife. Part 2 explores animal reincarnation and what that means for our families.

At some point during the loss of their beloved animals, many people wonder if they’ll reincarnate. As anecdotal evidence confirms, our animals are often reincarnating with us in different animal bodies throughout our lives. Luckily for us, it doesn’t seem to hinder (or annoy) them that we are seldom smart (or aware) enough to notice.

In this two-part series on animal reincarnation, we’ve explored how souls work in Part 1, and we’ll now look at animal reincarnation and families.

Animal Reincarnation – Souls and the Afterlife

Souls are busy wherever they are, in bodies or the afterlife. They’re always working to grow in self-love, which includes achieving whatever soul purpose they settled on for a particular incarnation (or afterlife experience). Sometimes souls that were in animal bodies choose to take another animal body and to reincarnate with their multi-species families. For example, my animals have been reincarnating with me my entire life, but I only became aware of it in mid-life.

Do we need to know if our animals will reincarnate with us—or already have? Yes, no, and maybe. All animals have afterlives because they all have souls, and my personal and professional experience reveals they come back more often than we know. I believe we’re now re-discovering this because we’re more spiritually connected to ourselves and our animals than we’ve been in centuries.

We learn about our animals’ reincarnations if we need to: if it’s necessary for their soul purpose and ours. In my family’s case, my dogs and cat and I had work to do together that required me to know they were coming back. Before that, I didn’t know they were back, or that it was even possible.

The good news is that animals often want their families to know why they’re back—or why they’ve chosen another path—because it helps both sides get closure after a death. Yes, it can be as difficult as their actual deaths to learn they aren’t coming back. However, their reincarnation isn’t up to us: it’s the soul’s choice made after a life review in the afterlife when they evaluate what they intended to do in their life, what they accomplished, and what they want—and need—to do next.

Their next choice may have something to do with us, as I’ve repeatedly witnessed, but it should never be because we asked for it. As I pointed out in Part 1 of this series, souls who have been in animal companion bodies will sometimes feel pressured to give up what they need to do for their soul growth to do what we want. Our job, then, is to find out what they want and to help them if we can—even if it doesn’t include us.

 Animal Reincarnation – Happiness Talks and Magnetizing

I’ve learned this through my consultation process with dying animals and their people. As we explore if it’s time to die, and how animals and their families choose to meet death, I facilitate a “happiness talk,” which helps both sides reminisce about their lives together. It is cathartic, liberating—and sometimes hilarious.

Why? Because like us, animals can be afraid, lonely, and worried about what comes next, but usually because we are. They are remarkably resilient and, unlike us, often completely aware of their many soul experiences—and already plotting their next move. For example, after I helped a dying cat, Felix, remind his person that he did complicated backflips to inspire her work (she was a choreographer), he skipped right past his imminent death to ask if he could come back as a dog. Awkward, but hilarious—and perfectly timed, because the next thing his person said was that, for the first time in her life, she was thinking about getting a dog, which made Felix giggle.

Our animals often manage to reincarnate with us and live their entire lives without us recognizing them. The best thing we can do for them is to honor them as equal souls with free choice with something like a happiness talk. By celebrating our dying animals’ lives with them, and encouraging them to do whatever they need to, we allow energy to smoothly flow so both sides can let go—and maybe surprise each other in another body, someplace, sometime.

Sometimes, though, we learn they’re reincarnating, and we need to find them. We do that first by understanding that most of the souls who come back to us seem to find their way home again simply and easily when on our own, we humans make things harder. In other words, plan but don’t panic!

Second, if you know, they’re coming back, practice “magnetizing” them. That means sitting and imagining that you are holding and loving that new body in your arms—make it real by imagining it. Let your heart call to them, and listen for their calling to you, because that’s what this is, a heart match. You might have to shell out some money, time, and effort, but that’s part of the deal. You do what it takes if you’re given a chance.

If you’re lucky, you can skip the complications and fall over your animals like the woman who lost her beloved cat and then, some weeks later, walked by a store, looked down at a box of “free” kittens, and recognized him back in a new body. It happens all the time. Be ready, be smart, be fast—be love. Moreover, believe. Somehow, many of us do keep finding each other. Our animals are looking for us despite the greatest handicap of all: we are human.

Originally published in OMTimes Magazine: Animal Reincarnation and Families – OMTimes Magazine

 You will also enjoy Robyn M Fritz: The Practical Intuitive

About the Author

Robyn M Fritz MA MBA CHt hosts the OM Times radio show, “The Practical Intuitive: Mind Body Spirit for the Real World.” An intuitive and spiritual consultant and certified past life regression specialist, she is an award-winning author whose next book is “The Afterlife Is a Party: What People and Animals Teach Us About Love, Reincarnation, and the Other Side.” Find her at RobynFritz.com.

Space clearing gets stuck energy to move again, boosting body, mind, and spirit. Here’s how to involve your animal family.

How to be Effective with Space Clearing When You Have Animals

By Robyn M Fritz

Space clearing is a process we use to keep the energy flowing in space, often using specific rituals and tools. We use it to boost ourselves but often overlook how we can make it benefit our animal families.

Clearing Energy, Clearing Space

The need to clear our spaces is universal: nothing stays clear without assistance. Life is messy, and as we go about our busy days, we pick up bits of outside energy from the people and places around us (even in a pandemic). That’s the body, mind, and spirit of life: our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being depends on whether energy flows smoothly—or is blocked.

That is also true for our animal families. Here’s how to help them benefit from clearing space.

Our Animals and Clearing Space

First, let your animals know that a space clearing is scheduled. And why.

Experts in energy work, especially energy awareness, our animals are more naturally aware of how energy flows than we are. They’re not better than us. They’re just more aware of what their souls are up to, which means they can follow energy movement more clearly.

Animals feel tension and uncertainty and get drained like we do, even though their worries aren’t paychecks or mortgages (although our worries affect them). They also know where energy is stuck in a space and may react to changes more quickly than we do.

Pay attention to any physical or personality changes they exhibit, but also look more profound. Are your animals suddenly avoiding a room or a specific place? Are they lethargic or acting up for no discernible reason?

While it’s important to always check in with your animals, it’s critical to ask them what’s up if you notice odd behavior. Yes, ask your animals to tell you what’s going on with them and with space. While the issue could be something they’re personally worried about, it could be something going on in the space that you don’t realize, including the so-called “paranormal,” which can be identified when a docile or laid-back dog or cat suddenly acts up in space. If your own observation doesn’t give you enough information, hire an animal communicator. Once you settle that, also ask your animals what their needs and wants are so you can address them in the clearing—and afterward.

Finally, explain what the space clearing session will involve. Invite them to watch the preparations and even to participate, if possible. The exception? If you have territorial animals and you’re hiring a space clearing professional, remove or contain the animal. Ensure the excluded animals receive a positive telepathic message and a healthy energy dose, including an apology for excluding them. They will benefit from the cleared space when they return (and will be tuning in anyway, wherever they are). Don’t feel guilty if you’re doing the clearing yourself and decide to lock them up, especially if you’re burning incense or something like sweetgrass or sage, because smoke is scary.

Here’s a specific story that shows how animals can be affected by what’s in space.

The Ghost and Lacey, the Briard

I did an animal communication session with Sally and her champion Briard, Lacey, because the dog was suddenly refusing to go into their new home’s main living space. Lacey whined and paced so much that Sally took her to their veterinarian. Still, the physical exam and blood tests were normal.

Lacey the Briard told me what was wrong: there was a woman in the house. Yes, a ghost. Although the house was over a hundred years old, the woman had only been in the house for about twenty years, judging from her clothes (yes, I could see her). I explained that she was dead and helped her move to the afterlife. After quickly clearing the space, I told Sally to put sea salt around the room (sea salt helps keep energy moving). Within a few hours, Lacey strolled into the room she once avoided as if nothing at all was wrong. Because nothing was—anymore.

Note that the “paranormal” can happen anywhere, and there are many more straightforward explanations for stuck energy, so if an animal’s behavior clues you into a problem, do a space clearing. And give that animal a treat!

Space Clearing with Your Animals

Once you know what everyone in the family needs and wants from the space, including the animals, you can proceed with the clearing (of course, you’ll also want to know the area’s needs and wants). When it’s complete, give everyone the day off. Celebrate the clearing as a family, make sure you’ve spread sea salt everywhere, have a good meal, drink lots of water, and sleep well. Monitor the clearing over the next several days, replacing the sea salt as needed. Watch how your animals respond: it will mirror your response.

Repeated regularly, clearing your space will support the entire family in body, mind, and spirit, including your animals. Good luck and have fun!

Originally published in OMTimes.com Magazine: https://omtimes.com/2021/02/space-clearing-animals/

About the Author

Robyn M Fritz MA MBA CHt is an intuitive and spiritual consultant and certified past life regression specialist. An award-winning author, her next book is “The Afterlife Is a Party: What People and Animals Teach Us About Love, Reincarnation, and the Other Side.” Find her at RobynFritz.com and on Facebook at The Practical Intuitive.

We humans have done something extraordinary in the last, oh, fifty years: we’ve “learned up” with our animal families.

That is, we’ve moved from living with animals to help us survive to living with them to support mutual heart and soul growth. Life with cats and dogs (and other species we live with) becomes living with animals as family members—what I call multi-species families.

And what do families like—and need? To communicate with each other. That’s why so many people are exploring animal communication and cross-species connections as the human-animal bond deepens.

It’s tantalizing to think your dog could tell you what she most enjoys doing with you, or your cat could say why he’s suddenly cranky and hiding. That’s the promise of animal communication: talking with your animals about fun things, behavioral issues, how everybody’s day went—and really feeling you understood each other.

Yes, you can hire a professional animal communicator, and I certainly suggest it, especially for difficult cases, from behavior to dying and death. Professionals offer the objectivity, insight, and training to examine an emotionally complicated situation. However, we can all better understand our animals by learning the basics of animal communication, which just takes three things: choosing our mindset; being practical; and learning about animal communication, or mind-to-mind telepathy, by taking a class.

Let’s look first at mindset. When we choose a mindset that sees animals as family members, what we’re really doing is seeing them as equals to us, with souls, consciousness, rights, responsibilities, and opinions. (This is not the traditional mindset that sees humans as caretakers and guardians in charge of the universe.)

Sure, there’s a hierarchy in every family (sadly, animals don’t drive or shop for groceries), but how does life play out when everyone really is a family member, no matter the species? How does a multi-species family evolve? That’s when animal communication isn’t a novelty, but important for family harmony.

Which leads us to practicalities: no matter what, we’re still dealing with animals. To get along—and to respond in an emergency—you must understand species and know your animal’s behavior and personality. How do they react to new things? Are they ill? What is their temperament like?

Consider, for example, what goes through your mind—and theirs—when you come home from work and want your dog or cat to sit on your lap. Why? Maybe you just like lap time! But when animals become part of our multi-species families, things change. Now when you plop into your recliner, you may invite your animals to sit on your lap, if it works for you. Or you may notice them eyeing you expectantly, and you realize they want lap time (because you are always communicating with your animals, even when you don’t think you are). So you invite them onto your lap. You expect … whatever happens next. Just like you do with any family member who can think, reason, and choose to please themselves and, maybe, you, too.

When you live with animals as family members, life gets more interesting—and more complicated. Sure, you’re living together in close quarters, but you’re also considering their feelings and needs—what they want and know what brings you together and keeps you together, and why.

It can be as simple as your dog fetching a ball when you ask her if she wants to play—and you stop to notice all the intellectual steps she took to do that. It can be as tough as a devastating illness, which reminds you that this kind of family changes more frequently than the all-human variety. Or it can be a sudden startling event that flips your world upside down—like February 28, 2001, when Murphy, the Cavalier King Charles spaniel I adopted in 1998, went berserk and got us out of the house about two minutes before a major 6.8 earthquake rocked Seattle—because she knew the earthquake was coming (something scientists still can’t do).

Whatever it is that alerts us to the complexity of animals, living with them as multi-species families prompts us to better understand them, to connect with them like we do with other people. But how?

First, it’s species: understand them as animals. Then think of it culturally, like you’re visiting a foreign country, say, Italy. You’ve researched geography and customs, you arrive and mind your manners, you figure out how to communicate (learn some Italian, even if everyone speaks English). You’re courteous and respectful—and ready for a good time.

Now translate that to your animal families. Live with a twenty-pound dog? Get down on the floor and look up at the world like they do. Have a cat who stares out the window? See what’s really going on out there!

With species and culture set, you advance to animal communication—telepathy, or mind-to-mind communication. You start by learning how your intuition works—your particular combination of seeing, hearing, feeling, or knowing things intuitively—and then you apply it to your animals.

Telepathy is as basic as daily life. Paying attention helps, and so does talking out loud (just like before texting). Not simple yes or no things, but real conversations with your animals. Over time you’ll realize you’re responding to a conversation—with your animal.

Sometimes that response can be as hilarious as it is revealing. For example, I was trying to tell my grumpy dog, Murphy, who had become old and arthritic, that she simply could no longer romp like she was a puppy. Her body language said it all: she glared at me and looked depressed. (This is the observation part of animal communication.)

So I changed my approach. I knew what Murphy felt like: I am handicapped and physically can’t do things I’d like to do.

“Murphy,” I said. “It’s like me. If I went out and ran a marathon, I’d be really sore and cranky the next day. The pain wouldn’t be worth it.”

Now, a normal response from a human family member would be all over the board, depending on mood and snarkiness. So I expected Murphy to mope but gracefully accept her limitations (I’m a dreamer). Instead, she shot right back, in a high-pitched, outraged voice, “You could never run a marathon!”

Which made me laugh—it was a real response, one I didn’t anticipate. And that is what animal communication can do for you and your animal families.

When we learn to connect with our animals as family members, we learn their species and idiosyncrasies, we interact, and eventually, we learn to communicate telepathically, a process that fine-tunes our intuition as it helps us understand each other. That can’t help but lead to richer family lives.

In my webinar Animal Communication and our Animal Families we’ll explore how animals think and interact with us while teaching basic animal communication skills to help you deepen your relationship with your companion animals.

© 2017 Robyn M Fritz / originally printed in OMTimes magazine. Find it here: https://omtimes.com/2017/09/communicating-animal-families/

Viewing our animals as souls, just like we are souls, helps us see them as complete equal beings. And deepens our relationship with them.

© 2021 Robyn M Fritz

The virus causing the pandemic is evil. Our animals can hear it literally eating. So if your animals are more nervous and upset when you’re out for a walk, try calming techniques to help them. And yourself.

© 2020 Robyn M Fritz

On my Russian Blue cat’s first birthday, I consider the multi-species life. As we create families with animals we can learn to celebrate them in body, mind, and spirit. How do we grow as multi-species families? What does that mean for us, and for our animals? Plus rose quartz as a crystal to support our animals and the jobs they’ve chosen to grow their souls.

© 2020 Robyn M Fritz