Philosophy

 

Animals are amazing. A dog has roughly the intelligence of a 2-year-old child and a cat is like an 18-month old. Compared to humans, animals have limited problem-solving abilities and verbal skills. Compared to animals, humans have poor senses and think too much. People think, animals feel. Even though a 12-year-old dog has the logical abilities of a young child, it has had a lifetime of feelings and emotions. Our domestic animals have emotions that are a lot like ours. They feel joy, shame, and grief. They understand cause and effect, and they crave attention. They want to be happy. They worry about things they can't control.
 
Emotions are the key to animal communication. Animals understand things like fairness, but not concepts like equality. A lot of animals get confused because their owners don't give them clear emotional messages. If it is cute when a puppy jumps up to greet you, but a source of scolding if he jumps up on your Great Aunt, he is likely not to understand what you expect. By directing emotion clearly to your animal companions, you can get more consistent behavior and create a more fulfilling partnership with them.
 
One of the main differences between us and our non-human friends is that animals are focused on the present and humans seldom are. They don't think abstractly. They don’t think in words. That is not to say that their emotions are less than ours. I did a reading on a West Highland White Terrier who had lost his best friend, a Yorkie. The Yorkie had to be put to sleep a year before and his friend was still waiting for him to return, getting more and more depressed. The Westie couldn't logically think his way out of the disappearance of his friend. He could only feel the pain of the loss.