Lorraine was walking downstairs at 44 Cherry Street with her spoiled little dog, Suki, when she bumped into someone she didn’t know coming up. Suki began barking like a maniac and the stranger bent down closer to the dog rather than backing away in terror as one might expect.
“You don’t say!” said the man to Suki. “She does what to you?”
“Excuse me!” said Lorraine with her chest puffed out. “Do I know you?”
The man raised his eyes to Lorraine, but was still bent down close to Suki, who had stopped barking and was just whining in what seemed almost like a tired child’s voice.
“Oh!” he stated. “I’m Reginald. I guess we will be neighbors. I’m moving in upstairs in the apartment on the left. I suppose I should tell you that I am an animal communicator and dog trainer.”
“A what?” exclaimed Lorraine, trying not to sound skeptical. “What does that mean?”
“I have a special sense of animal languages, and I can communicate what your pet is trying to say to you. I have clients all over the world, and I can work in person, on the phone, or even remotely. I can read animals’ thoughts as well as what they tell me.”
Lorraine’s BS meter was dinging, but she decided to give her new neighbor a chance.
“So tell me, was Suki just telling you something? I noticed you leaning towards her and nodding your head.”
“Well yes….” Reginald went on. “She says that she doesn’t like the food you are serving her, for one thing.”
Lorraine was irritated. “What’s wrong with her food? I buy her only the finest dog food!”
“Suki says she is not a dog, but rather a child in a fur body, and she wants human food. She says she likes what you and your husband eat and resents the nasty mush you put in her bowl. Furthermore, she wants a seat at the table. Why should she eat on the floor? She finds it insulting!”
Now Lorraine had always felt that Suki was a special dog with many human traits, and so in spite of her hesitations, Reginald’s words resonated with her and she nodded her head sadly. “Oh, Suki, I am so sorry. All that will change tonight. No more of that smelly food for you!”
“Did she say anything else?” Lorraine asked.
Reginald nodded his head and his grey dreadlocks swung around his drawn, craggy face. “She wants a new bed. She says that her bed is uncomfortable.”
“What are you talking about?” Lorraine huffed. She sleeps in the bed with Frederick and me, and we have a brand new mattress. How can she say her bed is uncomfortable?”
“It’s more a question of where she sleeps on the bed than the bed itself. Suki wants her place in the bed to be up near the pillows. Also, she wants a pillow of her own between you and your husband. I don’t think that’s asking too much, do you?”
“Well, my friend, it’s not asking a lot, but my husband doesn’t want Suki in our bed at all, and I don’t think I can convince him to make those kinds of changes.”
“For a fee, I can try to explain your concerns to Suki. My calendar is full right now, but once I move in, I can set up regular sessions. It sounds like she has lots of issues, so we might need more than one a week for a while.”
