This chapter has introduced you to alternative, complementary, nontraditional ways to address and treat health and behavior issues of dogs. It has progressed from discussing treatments that are performed on the body to those that work on the emotions and even the spirit of the animal being treated. It is fitting to end with a discussion of animal communication.

Even those who have owned and loved dogs for decades, who have wondered how they could have helped an ailing or misbehaving or obviously stressed animal have a better life, who feel they tried everything — even these folks react with skepticism when the subject of animal communication and communicators comes up. At least the first time.

The objective of this chapter isn't to sell you on animal communicators any more than it is to get you to use flower essences, aromatherapy, or acupuncture. One of its goals, though, is to present it as something that could be helpful — especially if your dog is suffering, you or your family is suffering as a result of your dog, or you're simply at your wits' end. It may come down to asking yourself, “Why not?”

Marta Williams, author of the books Learning Their Language and Beyond Words, describes animal communication as an intuitive exchange of thoughts, images, and emotions. This is something animals do between themselves and other animals (including humans) all the time. Intuitive communication can happen in four ways: through feelings (clairsentience); through mental telepathy (clairaudience); through visual images (clairvoyance); and through a feeling/knowledge that something is absolutely true even if you didn't know it before. Humans describe intuition as having a hunch — for example, getting a phone call from someone soon after you've thought about them. While it's easy to disregard these feelings as simply superstitious or coincidental, others believe otherwise.

If you're intrigued and you do a Google search for “animal communicator,” your search will yield close to a million results. That can be overwhelming enough to end it for you right there. Animal communicators, all claiming to be effective, have proliferated since Dr. Sonya's show “Pet Psychic” debuted on Animal Planet TV. The best way to find and work with an animal communicator you can trust is to get referrals from an holistic veterinarian or a friend with similar interests.