Marta Williams Blog

That was the question recently posed to me by one of the students who took my professional series a few years ago. She said she talked with a woman’s cat and the woman said everything was wrong wrong wrong. Nothing like that to brighten your day, eh? We talked on the phone about it and I told her that everyone who does animal communication intensively can and probably has had this experience. There are many reasons why a case can be “all wrong”. Here is the short list:

• the communicator has perfromance anxiety and is not connected well to the animal. or for some other reason is not physically. emotionally, or mentally optimal (i.e., you can’t do this if you are really upset about something in your life)
• the client is in denial about the animal, has some kind of emotional/mental problem,  or just doesn’t know the animal well (it happens)
• the communicator slips and makes assumptions or starts analyzing and trying to figure things out vs just receiving impressions

Beyond why you can be off on a case, she wanted to know how to deal with it. She was feeling like it was time to quit. My response was that doing intuitive work forces you to face your insecurity and to learn how to find and trust your inner truth. It can be a very challenging field, but it can lead you to a place of strength and truth you won’t find elsewhere. I told her that I had had the same experience as she had a number of times and I just politely told the client that I must be off for some reason and let it be. I then worked to analyze the reasons and did what I could to address the core issue. My advice to my student  was  the same:  look at how to address the possible causes that were within her control,  and  realize that there is always the possibility that what she got was accurate and the client just couldn’t or didn’t want to see it. Sometimes you just have to live with that kind of ambiguity. I also advised her to go back to doing first impression practicing with friends’ animals as a way  to take the pressure off and also have some quick and easy successes to build back her confidence.

If you have a question about your practice please send it in. I will be happy to answer it in the blog.

Clean Your Screen

This is too cute.. Need your computer screened cleaned? click here

http://www.raincitystory.com/flash/screenclean.swf

Practice Tomorrow

It’s not too late to sign up for the practice groups tomorrow. Go to my schedule page to register

http://martawilliams.com/WorkshopSchedule.htm

or call or email if you have questions.   Note: to participate you have to have had some beginning experience with me or elsewhere.

Action Alerts

If you have not already, please sign the petition to ban the rollkur in dressage

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/ban-rollkur

Also, if you are not aware of the what the US government is doing  the wild horses of America, read here and please get involved in turning this around.

http://www.examiner.com/x-37163-Equine-Advocacy-Examiner~y2010m2d3-The-BLM-is-killing-wild-horses-and-breaking-our-hearts

Quote

 
A beautiful quote from Howard Zinn, the great historian and liberal advocate who just died.

To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places — and there are so many — where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.

Tags: animal communication, animal communicator, horses, intuition, intuitive communication, mustangs

The next virtual practice group is February 9th, Tuesday. There are three sessions, two require Skype, one is by conference call. The times are for California which is Pacific Standard Time (PST). If you are not sure what the time difference is between us check the world time converter to find out:

 http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

The sessions are:

10 am – noon – Skype

5:30 – 7:30 pm  - Conference call

8 - 10 pm – Skype

Make sure you have the latest version of Skype downloaded and please connect with me by Skype a few days before the session, otherwise I can’t add you in to the call. People who have been participating are finding it really helpful. If you have an animal you would like the group to work with please send me the animal’s photo a few days before the session so I can send it to the others. Also sign up early so I dont have to track everything at the last minute! Thanks. You can sign up through my website and pay by paypal or call me with a card number. I will send you instructions for the session when you sign up. Any other questions just email me at   marta@martawilliams.com

Cute Video

Your Stories

Dianne’s Story

I had an experience recently that shows animals do understand us. I keep my horse next door at the neighbor’s. They were out of town for a few weeks so I was taking care of the horses. I got there in the morning to find the four mares and the stud colt from next door together. The colt had broken down the fence. My gelding was nowhere to be found but I knew from experience he was probably in his safe zone back in the woods, and he was. I had to take the colt home and fix the fence. I had never handled a stallion before and I was nervous about that and rattled about the whole thing. He was acting up and I was afraid of him trying to kick me, which he’d thought about when I went to catch him. I was having trouble keeping him on a short lead while fiddling with the fence. Finally I said to him “Look, I’m nervous. Haven’t I been nice to you before?* Please be nice to me and just be calm.” And he was, immediately. I got him on his side of the fence without incident. I’ then brought him some hay and stayed to pat him awhile. I know he is lonely over there b y himself.

Note – This reminds me of a time I put my gelding in with a stallion to play and they started ripping around this small space. I realized my mistake and in a panic said to the stalllion, “You just have to stop this is not safe, you will slip and somemone will get hurt.” He immediately stopped and waited calmly while I took my horse out. He was clearly one of the most intelligent animals I have ever met and his life was so sad. The people who owned him kept him in a dark stall with a small turnout and that was his life. He wasn’t hurt in any way, except that they fed straight alfalfa, but he was miserable. Just one of the many reasons I rescue horses and continue to do what I can to help them.

 Rebecca’s Story

I had an experience with my dog, Buster, that demonstrates how animals do as we ask. I’m still amazed by it, because it was so out of character for him. The dogs, Emmett and Buster, and I were playing the other day, and I had given Buster a stuffed bear. Normally Buster is ball-fixated but he saw that Emmett had a bear, so he dropped his ball and let me know he wanted one too, so I gave him one, which he promptly took under the sofa. He happily squeaked for a while, then I decided it was time to take the bear because I was concerned he would tear it up and possibly eat the stuffing (something I’ve never verified he’s done, but I’m always worried about an intestinal blockage due to stuffing). I told him aloud that it was time to give up the toy, but I would exchange the toy for cheese. Squeaking stopped immediately, so I knew he heard me. I peeked under the sofa, and he grabbed the toy and had it firmly in his mouth. I stood up again said, “Buster, if you give me the toy, I’ll give you cheese.” He popped out from under the sofa, but without the toy. I said, “Nope, I need the toy, then I can give you cheese.” He scooted back under. I lifted the skirt of the sofa and looked at him. He had the toy next to his cheek, under his ear, a favorite “toy hug” of his. I explained again about the exchange of toy for cheese. He paused, then pushed the toy toward me with his nose. Now, normally, this means, “Go ahead, try to take the toy, I’ll snatch it back, it will be big fun for me, frustration for you.” I slowly took hold of the toy, and began sliding it out, and he didn’t move. I stood up, he popped out from under the sofa, sat and looked at me. WOW!! He showed me he GOT it!! This is so out of character for him, allowing me to take the toy which he usually holds hostage until the cheese is actually in hand, then he’ll drop the toy and take the cheese, so you have be fast and snatch the toy before he grabs it again!
 
  Then, the next day I came home with new, soft, squeaky toys and gave them to both boys to play with. Normally Buster would have the toy pretty-well taken apart within minutes, as well as killing the squeaker in it. This time, he very purposefully caught my eye while chewing on the toy. Then dropped it and jumped off the sofa. He sat, looking at me, then the toy, me, the toy. Bing! I got it! He was letting ME know that he wanted to exchange the toy for cheese!! I thought I would die laughing, truly! This wonderful guy teaches me something new all the time, but this was a biggie!

Cute Photo

Tags: animal intelligence, dog training, horses, intuitive communication

 It’s not OK for your cat to shred your legs or bite you as you walk by, or for your cats to try to kill each other. And its not OK for your dog to harass the cat,  growl at your friends (as long as you KNOW they are good people), or growl at you when you touch her or ask her to get off the bed, etc. And it’s not OK for your horse to push you out of the way or  bite you (obviously unless he is trying to tell you something you are too dense to see). By and large, these types of behaviors are indications that some boundaries need to be set.

People accept and live with these types of behaviors because they think it is natural and they shouldn’t interfere. Or they think the animals have to work it out between themselves. People also routinely call me expecting that I will be able to simply talk to the animals and get them to stop these behaviors. The issue here is often – not always by any means – that the person involved has to take back control of the situation and set boundaries. Yes sometimes talking will shift things, and yes for sure flower essence is a good thing to use, and yes talking to the person about mirroring in the situation is also helpful. But the bottom line is the person has to decide what is acceptable behavior and communicate that to the animal.

Then the question becomes how do you do that in a humane reasonable way. Talking to them is good, and it is the mainstay of the coach approach I outline in my book,  Ask Your Animal. So yes, talk away. And by all means, use the tricks and techniques I outline in the book, such as daily compliments for a cat who feels left out and is acting up because of it. But you will also have to find something physical to add into the mix to help interrupt and extinguish the behaviors.

In many of these cases the behaviors stem from the animal taking an alpha position in realtion to the person. So for example, working with a dog using Jan Fennell’s training techniques, can completely change aggression, dominance, and fear behaviors almost overnight. Her techniques are all nonviolent. They incorporate body language that your dog really understands. Her book is The Dog Listener  (get the 2004 edition and/ or make sure you get her 30 day training program in addition to the book).

For horses I recommend Carolyn Resnick’s training DVD, Introduction to the Waterhole Rituals. Carolyn’s training is different than other ground work. It basically makes your horse fall in love with you and treat you accordingly. Who doesn’t want that! And it is all nonviolent done in an open field with no ropes. Check out her site at

http://carolynresnick.com/

Now we come to cats… hmmmm, ahemmmm. Yes well cats……

Imagine this is your leg....

Ok this isn’t completely warm and fuzzy,  but I advise people to do a very loud parrot-like “Ah Ah” right before the cat launches into the behavior you don’t want. You usually only have to do it loud once or twice. Your cat will look at you in horror and say, ‘What has possessed you , why are you making that hideous noise,? I am out of here.’ And if he was just about to bite your leg,well that’s fine! After the first few times you do it at the top of your lungs, you only ever have to do a normal-sounding “ah” once or twice and the cat will react the same way. Voila! You have extinguished the behavior or at least gotten it down to a dull roar.  One can train cats and I recommend clicker training for them. This helps to civilize and soften a cat who may be a bit on the wild side. So put that in the mix too if you have hours to sit around playing with your cats. Here is the link for cat clicker training. This site also has clicker for dogs. http://www.clickertraining.com/cattraining

This is a good site for clicker for horses, which is also a great technique and is especially good for addressing fears, or individual problem behaviors. http://theclickercenter.com/

Virtual Practice Today Jan 13

There is still time to sign up for this month’s virtual practice; you can do so on my website. There are three sessions. All the times given are California time, PST.

10 – noon – by Skype

5:30 —- 7:30 by conference call US number

8 – 10 pm – by Skype

I tried to come up with times that would work for you wherever you live.

To register go to:   http://martawilliams.com/WorkshopSchedule.htm    

If you want to find out what time it would be in your area go to the world time converter:

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

  Email me if you have questions. Hope to talk with you today! Also please mark your calendars: The practice group for February will be Tues February 9th. Email if you have any questions about the group and how it works.

2012 And Beyond

My lastest Animales newsletter is posted on my site Check it out and then come back to the blog to comment on your thoughts about where we are headed.

Animales newsletter Jan 2010 – http://martawilliams.com/NewsletterV13N1.html

Tags: 2012, behavior modification, cat training, dog training, intuitive communication

I have talked a lot in all of my books about how to deal with the death of an animal, but I haven’t said much about dealing with the time before they go, when they are old and you know death is coming, you just don’t know when. I find older animals to be really sweet, even though they often require a lot more time and care. Just being willing to slow down to their pace and hang in with them for however long they want to stay can be an enlightening experience. Normally people don’t get much exposure to that time at the end of life, but through our animals we learn of it. And that knowledge helps us live better I think. My advice to frantic clients who are panicked about when and whether to euthanize is to slow down and pay attention. Your animals will tell you when it’s time to go and whether they can go on their own. This is all very close to home because I just had to put down Bear, the dog in the photo with me. He told me very clearly when he wanted help. He was in pain, couldn’t settle, and finally wouldn’t eat. Very unBear like. I think our timing was perfect, but there is a hole in the world without him.

Bear Boy

Your Stories

This is a story a reader sent in in response to the piece I did about how animals really can hear you. If you have a story you think others might like please send it in with a photo, if available.

This week I had an amazing experience with Charlotte, my 7 year old golden retriever.  I was telling her that a guest was coming.  She knew the guest as he had visited before, so she should let him in the house as I would not be there.  She should not bark at him or scare him but give him a nice greeting. I put that image out to her.   I had just come home from work and was frazzled and sorting out all kinds of details for a project I am working on, so I was not ready for the big message that came blasting in.  I was really worried that Charlotte might get very upset with someone just walking in the door without me there.  But Charlotte looked at me very intently and a few minutes went by, and then I heard “But I am going to be with you at the warehouse that day, so I will not be at home alone”. It was amazing.  This is the first time that I have ever gotten such an immediate direct message.  Believe me, my mind was cluttered with all the work stuff, and she came through loud and clear.                    

Deb

Charlotte

Column in StableWoman Gazette

Check out my new monthly column in the StableWoman Gazette and read some of the other columns there. It is a great resource for all us hopeless horse honeys (it’s ok for you guys to read it too!). For those of you who have horses… would you ever not?

http://www.stablewomangazette.com/intuitive-connection/

Virtual Practice Groups

The Virtual Practice Groups for January are coming up next week: January 13, Wednesday. (Note:  if you are more than  half a world away from California  it will be your Thursday!

Choose from three sessions: (these are all PST time – to check your time go to the world time converter at   http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

• 10am – noon PST  – this is a Skype session (no land lines, works for Europe) 

• 5:30 – 7:30pm PST (by conference call,  you will call a US#and pay the fee, works for any landline, cell phone)

•  8:00 – 10pm PST (this is by Skype – works for AU/ note this will be your January 14 Thursday)

When you sign up tell me which session you want to do. I will send you instructions for the session once you register. Please register early.

Tags: animal communication tips, death and dying, horses, intuitive communication

I’m not too big on religion, any religion, but I can truly get behind celebrating the return of the light, the summer, longer days… and celebrating the trees and the return of the leaves and the crops….YAHOO! I know Christmas is over but I have a few more holiday things for you. It’s not New Year yet so I’m probably safe…

This is the Drifters 1954 version of White Christmas set to Santa and his reindeer.  We are not having a white christmas here on the north coast of Californina but most EVERYWHERE else is, enjoyable or not…..

 Here is a  solstice Moose

 And here is another animal xmas card. Can one ever  have too many of these?

 Re the New Year 

I hope 2010 is a good one for us, for the animals, and for the earth,  but 2012 is fast approaching. Watch for an email about my January Animales newsletter and read my article in it on 2012. Thcn come back to the blog next week and we can discuss what you know/think about the whole 2012 thing.

Although lost animal cases are tough, I really like working on them. It is so rewarding to help people reunite with their  lost animal. Over many years I have developed a strategy and facility for this kind of difficult case, so please feel free to refer people with lost animals my way. While intuitive tracking can be right on, it is always desirable to get what I call real data. Real data most often comes in the form of sightings. If I intuitively get a certain direction and distance for a lost animal and then we get a sighting in the area I described, it confirms the intuitive data and makes it easier to continue working with the animal to effect recovery, since I know I am on the right track.

Another great real data generator in lost animal cases is a search dog. I have worked quiet a few cases with successful outcomes, where the search dog and I are aiding each other in the search. I always recommend that people employ a search dog if one is available in their area and if they can afford it. There is now a nonprofit in Seattle, WA that trains people and their dogs to search for lost pets: http://www.missingpetpartnership.org/index.php

I think the human/dog search teams coming out of this program are excellent. Three of my students are certified by missingpetpartnership and have had exceptional success. Check out their websites below:

Cathy Orde – Wyoming  website – http://www.coldnoseinvestigators.com/

Jackie Phillips – California  website – http://www.thesocialpet.com/

Teresa  Bressoud – California website – http://hillbillyhoundhunter.com/

 Psycho Cats

Here is another hysterically funny YouTube.

 Slow Food

This lady is the queen of the slow food movement, which refers to food grown organically, without pesticides or genetically modified organisms (GMO)/ seeds. Why should you care about her or what she says? Well do you want to be healthy? Do you want organic food available and uncontaminated by pesticides and genetically modified crops? Join the center for food safety ( http://truefoodnow.org/ ), s upport them and get involved.

A new study shows that GMO food is destructive to your liver and kidneys. This would also include the food we feed to our dogs, cats, and horses that is GMO…..and thanks to Monsanto most everything is GMO unless the package explicitly says its organic. Haven’t seen too much horse feed labeled organic…have you?

 http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_19843.cfm

Happy Holidays

An Ecard for you:

http://ak.imgag.com/imgag/product/preview/flash/pdShell.swf?ihost=http://ak.imgag.com/imgag&brandldrPath=/product/full/el/&cardNum=/product/full/ap/3173936/graphic1

About  This Blog

Is anyone having a problem making a comment for the blog? I have a spam blocker that bounced one person. Also please feel free to share this blog with friends, and to send in your stories, funny pictures, and questions for inclusion in the blog.

Cheers, Marta

Do you have one (or more!) animal who is jealous of another? Always jockeying for first in line for the pats and treats? You can use your intuitive skills to address and extinguish that behavior.  First have a talk with the jealous animal, you can do this out loud or through sending thoughts. I find talking out loud easier. Remember, you don’t have to worry how an animal receives, let them take care of that,  or leave it to what I call the universal translator box. Just assume, for the sake of experimentation, that they understand everything just as a human would.

 (A short aside:  there are communicators who insist that you must talk to animals only using images you form mentally. They insist that animals can’t understand any other way. Balderdash and poppycock. I see that that as just another example of people claiming to be more adept, more [substitute any good quality or ability] than animals. It’s utter nonsense, not borne out by all the intuitive communication experiments people have done, and it’s high time that notion is retired!)

In your talk, explain to the animal how you feel about the jealous behavior, what you want instead, and how you feel about each animal involved (i.e., you love each uniquely – explain how and why in detail). Then do go ahead and use an image by making a mental movie of your ideal for how you would like the animals to get along. Explain how happy that would make you.

Observe their behavior. Correct if there is aggression etc., but more importantly, notice any improvement, or shift toward the positive and make a really big deal about it. Not so much in terms of treats, but more along the lines of what you would say to a friend or relative who was acting better and nicer. I like to tell them they are brilliant – seems to go over well.

These and more suggestions for using intuition in modifying bad behavior are in my most recent book, Ask Your Animal. If you read the book already and liked it, it would be great if you could review it on amazon.com.

Happy Holidays!

 I’m surprised I haven’t seen this yet driving around my neighborhood! Sad but true.

Tags: Add new tag, behavior modification, intuition, jealousy

Check out these cool videos from a dog training group in Hungary. The group is nonprofessional, and is promoting a style of training they call Mirror Method, which is explained in the second video. The third video is dog day at the beach. Really fun group, well done videos and the dogs are having lots of fun you can tell. BTW, there are a few unneutered males and as one commenter wrote, that doesn’t mean they are breeding them….

Video Describing the Group

Dogs Day at the Beach

I don’t know… maybe it’s just their rocking choice of music!

Practice Groups

Except for some Skype glitches on the evening session, the practice groups went really well! Everyone got a lot out of them and commented that they felt their skills  and confidence would be much improved by joining the monthly groups. One common theme was  not feeling confident about the information from one’s own animals. I thought I would talk about that a bit in this blog, as it is surely the issue that stumps most of us, myself included.

I’ve found it’s pretty hard to work with your own animal when there is a crisis. It is far better to do what you can and also get assistance from others. For example, if your animal escapes and is lost, do what you can to connect, find out where she is, and give direction to her, but also get your practice buddies or a professional like me to check in. When it is serious and it’s about your own animal it is hard to be objective or calm and far better to get help.

But on an everyday basis you can talk casually with your animals and start collecting data back that will ultimately help you see that they really are talking and you aren’t just making it up or getting responses that you feel are self-serving.

Daily Practice with Your Animals

What I do is every morning first thing so I don’t forget I talk to my animals. Usually I am at my computer waiting for it to start. Since I have a herd of horses, pack of dogs, conglomerate of cats and flock of hens I address each group by asking if any one in the group has a message or question for me. So, for example,  I will ask the dogs if either has a question or message. Then I wait and look for impressions (words, feelings, ideas, thoughts, knowing, pictures etc, that come in intuitively). Whatever I get back I accept 100% as coming from my animal. Once you question the impressions you have corrupted the process and you will probably find your mind will start circling in doubt. Better to just accept the impression, respond to it if appropriate, and record it in your notebook. Recording is crucial because over time as you look at your entries it will become clear that this material is from your animals not you.

Whenever you get a comment or question from your animal that you didn’t expect, or when they bring up something that you had completely forgotten about, that’s them talking not you; and that is your proof. You can also get proof when they tell you something that you can later verify. For example, if they say they have a sore foot, seem fine, but the next day develop a limp. If you see a major behavior shift after conversing with your animal, that is verification as well. When you get verification, circle it in your notebook so you have a readily observable record of your success. Try this with your animals every day and tell me what happens.

Tags: animal communication, animal communication tips, animal intelligence, intuitive communication, verification