Is Your Pet Psychic?

Guest post by Blog Manager Robbi Hess

While it's true that I do enjoy listening to Coast To Coast AM radio and hearing about individuals with psychic visions and such, I always wonder if Henrietta, my Diva Poodle has psychic abilities! I do know she senses my mood when I'm angry or upset. When I'm having either of these emotions, she sits in front of me and stares at me until I pick her up. Well naturally once I pick her up and notice that she's acting nervous, I force myself to calm down so that she will. 

This week's "psychic event" had to do with the mini-vacation the family had taken to the Thousand Islands. I was so excited for this brief getaway, and once I pulled out my suitcase, Henrietta's psychic abilities kicked in. She started hopping in and out of the bag -- making it almost impossible for me to pack. She kept dragging her toys out of the suitcase after I'd so thoughtfully packed them for her! Even if I hadn't picked up her toys and put them in the suitcase and packed her traveling water and food dish, she has a sixth sense for when I might be leaving the house. No matter where I moved in the house, there she was, silently stalking as if to say, "Don't even think you're getting out of this house with that suitcase without me!" 

While Henrietta is much happier being ensconced in her own home with her own comfortable routine, she wouldn't fare well being boarded so she goes on all family vacations. To make it more comfortable for her (and frankly for us) while away from home I always take her favorite Eeyore blanket, her favorite toys (which means ALL of them) and we get her a treat of a huge chewbone for those occasions when we may leave her at the rental house while we go out to dinner. A chewbone, for Henrietta, is a major treat because frankly she is truly too mean and growly to be allowed a bone at home so she only gets one when she is the only pet in the house.

My other traveling preparations include packing up Henrietta's vet records, grabbing her harness for walking and her car seatbelt harness -- she never rides in the car without being safely strapped in. She is hyper-vigilant when we're away from home, watching our every move, keeping an eye on our suitcases (maybe making sure we don't pack without her?) and dragging her own items toward the packing location once it's time to head home. 

She is also always more relaxed when we're heading back home than she was on the ride to the vacation spot. Truly makes me wonder at her "psychic abilities" to know what's going on in the family. Does your pet have psychic abilities? Does she know when you're getting ready for a vacation? How do you deal with travel anxiety? 

Comments

[Carol Bryant]

Spot on here, Robbi! I always travel with my dogs (except when I fly for business, as I will never fly with my dog in cargo). Anyhoo, yes, Dexter KNOWS when I am getting my shoes on if it is walk time. Twenty times a day I go up and down the steps and when it is time for me to get my pajamas for bed, he waits by the bathroom door - no matter what time. He knows. My last dog was that way, too. Amazing. I hope you all are having a blast!

[Sandra]

When I start packing my dog, Shadow, gets his favorite toys and brings them to the suitcase.

[Yvonne DiVita]

Scary story or uplifting, depends on how you look at it. On August 3rd, our beautiful kitty, Pandora, went to the Rainbow bridge, as many of you know. However, as we contemplated what to do at the vet's office - knowing that to bring her home and pay homage to her deterioration would have been for our benefit, not hers, and knowing she was mostly gone to us, already... back at the house, where Chloe waited with the dogs, all was quiet. At the vet's, we made our ultimate decision, and said goodbye to our girl. We held her and gave her some final love and cried a lot. And, so we were told when we got home, at the precise moment (we figured out the times)... that Pandora lifted from her shell, even as we held her so close, the dogs suddenly rose up and began nosing about the house - looking for - Pandora? No one knows, of course. But, we hear that it's likely our kitty made her way home for one last visit...and the dogs knew it.

Were there goodbyes to be said between the dogs and our kitty? One wonders... and, in memory, one remembers how kitty sat by Carmie's bed, after Carmie left us, for many days - just staring at the empty spot. Perhaps she saw Carmie there. I don't know. I can say I often Felt Carmie, there.

Yes, pets are psychic. Would that we were so tuned into them as they are into us!

[Carol Bryant]

Wow, Yvonne!!! I got chills up my spine. I believe they really do sense and know.

[Robbi]

Yvonne, I think your post proves the ethereal connection pets have with one another. This gave me goosebumps. I imagine Pandora and Carmie are frolicking together right now.

[Sonia Charry]

Yvonne, what an amazing story. That speaks volumes about what a harmonious, connected family you have!

I too have a death-related story. My father passed away in his sleep at home one day. The dogs were outside at the time, and once my brother realized what happened, he kept the dogs outside until the medics, mortuary workers, etc. were gone. From that day on, one of our dogs refused to walk through the room where our father passed. He'd walk up to it and stop. He knew.

Every time I hear a story like Robbi's, Yvonne's, Carol's, or Sandra's, I just think it's one more piece of evidence that our animals are bonded to us far more deeply than science can explain.