Yes, you read that title right. Anel and I had a conversation with Bootsie. “How?” asked no one. Let me explain…
A few months back, someone I follow on Instagram posted a story about how she contacted Keao, an animal communicator, and had a conversation with her dog. Um, what? Excuse me, but I needed that ASAP. I thought Anel would think I was nuts, but he was shockingly into it and even wanted to be there for it.
Over the last 18 months or so, Boots has been losing his hearing and we’ve been really curious about what that has been like for him. We’ve figured out ways to communicate, but we know it must be a big change for our boy.
He’s also very aware of the baby coming soon and has started acting in the same ways that he acted before Amalia was born. Towards the end of my pregnancy with Amalia, he would eat things off the counter (which he never does) and follow me around anxiously all day and night. He started these behaviors early in this pregnancy as if he knew what was coming, and we’ve been giving him CBD drops daily which has made a huge difference but he’s still definitely anxious about leaving me alone. So we were excited to ask Keao about that too.
Boots is a deeply soulful dog. You can see it just from looking into his eyes. He understands emotions better than many humans, and I knew that he would be very communicative with us.
So we booked a call, and a month later we got on Zoom with Keao. She was very nice and warm and we immediately felt comfortable talking to her. I thought it might feel weird but it didn’t at all. Boots was in the living room with us and as soon as she started “connecting” with him, he lay down next to us on the floor and didn’t move for the entire time.
The first thing we asked about was his hearing. She sort of “tapped in” to him and that is when he lay down and was totally calm. She explained that the way she communicates with animals clarvoyantly is that they show her through images what they’re trying to convey. Pretty cool!
Anyway we asked about his deafness and if there was anything we could do to support him. He communicated that he wants to learn more sign language and loves learning. He also mentioned a clicker, which is a little contraption we used to train him as a puppy. He said he can hear that noise so it’s good for when he’s off-leash or in the backyard and we’re trying to call him to us. We brought it out again after the call and it’s worked! He can hear it when I take him on trails or the beach whereas when I would call him before, he couldn’t hear me.
He also showed her that he has pressure and inflammation in his right ear and right sinus area, but that it doesn’t hurt. It just feels like pressure and cloudiness. Whenever we touch that ear or side of his face, he jumps or yelps so that made a lot of sense. We ended up emailing our vet about this and he told us to get drops to put in his ear for the inflammation which seem to be helping.
We then asked about his feelings in relation to my pregnancy, and she told us that he feels like he needs to protect me and the baby when Anel isn’t around. This is so true because the second Anel leaves the house, he’s all over me. He comes and sits just outside our bedroom door until I wake up and follows me all day long. She told us that we should keep reiterating that we’re all safe and he doesn’t have to worry.
Then I thought to ask her one more thing… about his aggression towards other male dogs. It’s a more recent issue but I can’t off-leash him at the dog park anymore unless we’re alone which really only happens on cold days. She said that he was showing her something traumatic that happened to him at 3.5 years old with a man and another dog. I got goosebumps because at exactly that age, we had a crazy experience.
I was walking him (off-leash) at the dog park when he and another male dog got into a little scuffle. They were both being aggressive but there was no biting or anything like that. It was a situation where each owner would usually call their dog and apologize and it would be done with. But instead, the other dog’s owner, a man, kicked Boots hard in the torso with his boot and he flew across the grass. Boots is 90 pounds of pure muscle so to kick him that hard is a feat.
But of course, being me, I apologized to him over and over even though I was crying over Bootsie getting kicked. But then the man started yelling and swearing at me, calling me a stupid b*tch and worse…
I had the weirdest out of body experience and literally watched it happen from another planet. It was so shocking and weird and I walked away sobbing and shaking as he continued to yell at me. When I came around the loop again, he was sitting in front of my car so I called Anel and he said to call the cops. I didn’t because that felt like overkill, but when I looped around again, he was gone and animal control was there.
The guy came towards me and I immediately started crying again and told him what happened. I was visibly shaking and he told me that his friend was a police officer nearby and that we should call him. He immediately realized that Boots wasn’t a real threat and helped me figure out the siutation.
But Boots and I were definitely left a bit traumatized and apparently that had a lasting effect on him. Keao told us that he’s more aggressive now to protect me.
Then she told me something interesting that I hadn’t even expressed to Boots or Anel but think about daily. I have to keep him on-leash around dogs he doesn’t know in case he gets aggressive and I always feel so much guilt that he doesn’t get enough off-leash time. But he communicated to her that he is happy on the leash and that I shouldn’t feel bad about that. That was great news!
We spoke with Keao (and Boots?) for about 30 minutes so I’m sure I’m forgetting other things he told us but those were the big ones that stood out. It was such a special experience to be able to communicate with our boy on a deeper level. I realize that half of you reading this will probably think this is all horse sh*t but I will just say this: don’t knock it ’til ya try it!
If you’ve lost a furry friend, Keao also communicates with animals who have passed.
We worked with an animal communicator named Susan Deren in MA on major cat/dog issues. The best $ ever spent. Cats. Dogs. Horses. She’s brilliant!
One simple thing she advised us… talk to our cat just as much as we talk to the dogs. Tell him everything that’s going on. He thinks he’s a dog. Treat him like one!
Loved this!! So glad you got this opportunity for Boots!
Wow. What great information. I wonder daily what my dog thinks. They are amazing creatures. If you don’t mind me asking, what does a session like that cost?
It was $80 for the call!
This sounds incredible, Julia! My husband and I adopted a senior bulldog last spring and sadly only had her for 6 months before she passed. She was the absolute best thing that ever happened to us and we were so, so devastated when she passed so quickly. I always say I wish she could talk because I wanted her to know when we got her, she was coming to a good home. I wished she knew how much we loved her and how sad we are without her. I think we’re going to have to reach out to Keao and see if she can help heal our hearts!
I’m so sorry for your loss. I have a feeling Keao will be able to help. Sending you love.
Wait, this is insane. How did she know that something happened to Boots at 3.5 years?? And about the ear thing? SO freaky and cool!
So freaky. So cool!
I have chills reading this. How cool! I would love to try this.
gahhh this is amazing i am so tempted to do this! could you share which brand of CBD you’ve been using for Boots? I am trialing some various brands with our frenchie, who has gotten more anxious over the last year (haven’t we all??). Still on the hunt for an effective brand!
We use a brand called Suzie’s. I buy it at our local pet store but looks like they have a website too: https://www.suziespettreats.com/
We get the drops for big dogs and I put half a dropper in his food every day. It has really worked wonders for him.
This was such a neat experience to read about! It’s wild how some people are able to tap into areas that most of us are blind to. I’m glad Boots was able to tell you his current needs and give you some peace of mind 🙂
That experience you mentioned when Boots was 3.5 years old makes my heart hurt, but I’m also so angry with that man! Clearly, he had other issues. I cannot stand people who harm animals in general, but especially dogs. We’re so lucky to have them in our lives.
When the police went to his house, apparently he had come to town to finalize his divorce so he was definitely going through something!
Hey Julia — is there another phrase that you can use to show how attached and protective Boots is of you that isn’t “white on rice”? This feels like potentially alienating to your readers, especially in light of what happened in Atlanta yesterday.
Hi! I removed it and am so sorry if it caused offense to anyone in any way. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.
totally unrelated to this post, but i saw these dresses and think Amalia needs one: https://www.bellabliss.com/search?q=Lemon
Wait I also want the adult PJs!
Love this!
Absolutely love this post. I am so happy you got a chance to communicate with Boots. Has encouraged me to reach out to an animal communicator when my Calvin is a bit older. And what a good boy he is – wanting to protect you. He is a strong one! Sending you guys love!
We also met with Keao about our dog! He’s had some behavioral issues and we told her we wanted to talk about that with him and she replied “oh! This is funny. He doesn’t want to talk about that. He wants to talk about a rug? And he’s showing me a face wiping motion?” We had just gotten a new rug that he loooves to rub his face on after meals and when he’s feeling overstimulated. she also did a full body scan and told us that he said his paws were hot (he had a blister the week before and we were still nursing that) and his ears were bothering him, but it didn’t hurt and didn’t feel like an infection and was probably yeast. He also wanted to be put on a probiotic—random?? Anyway took him to the vet yesterday and he had a yeast infection in both ears.♀️ Needless to say, I have now purchased him a probiotic
Wow, goosebumps! Such a cool story.
I think it is so sweet that Boots doesn’t leave you alone when your husband is away. He sounds like such a wonderful dog. I love watching him and Amalia. They are so cute together. As soon as I saw your Instagram post, I booked a session with Keao. My husband is little skeptical but I can’t wait to connect with my late dog and current dogs!!! Thank you for sharing 🙂
This is so incredible! Glad you were able to connect more with Boots and that everyone feels more reassured.
Did you feel like it was easy for Boots to connect with her over Zoom? I was initially picturing something like this in person, and love that it’s easier to do virtually!
Definitely! He immediately lay down next to us and was tapped in right away. It was incredible.
I also a similar situation while walking my dog with a man yelling at me. Happend years ago, in Germany so the man was yelling at me in German, which I difnt understand at the time. My dog got very protective and aggressive with another dog, just barking really, and like you said it would have been fine, but the guy was yelling at me in German even as I was walking away after apologizing. Not as traumatic as your experience but still bothers me 8 years later! Just wanted to chime in and say thanks for sharing your experience! Amazing post btw