How Grief Changed My Work as an Animal Communicator
Pablo kisses
It has been a few months since my little dog Pablo passed away.
Pablo was the longest canine resident in my household, one of the few animals who came to me as a very young being and stayed for so many years. Life is different now. We are all doing okay here. I still share my home with another dog and a kitty, both of whom are doing well. And at the same time, there is an undeniable absence, the absence of one of my animal soulmates.
I can still feel Pablo’s presence. His essence is here with us.
What I didn’t fully anticipate was how profoundly his passing would change my work.
A More Direct, More Honest Way of Working
Over the past months, my work has become more direct. You might even say more radical.
Why is that?
I shared my life with a complex being for many years. Pablo was not “just” a dog—he was a teacher, a mirror, and a deeply sentient soul with his own inner logic and emotional landscape. Living alongside him sharpened my awareness in ways that continue even now.
I am more conscious than ever that our companion animals have chosen to live within a human construct. Their templates, the way they experience reality, relationships, and the environment, are not the same as ours. And yet, we so often interpret their behavior exclusively through human frameworks, rules, and expectations.
At this point in my work, I want to cut to the chase. I want to understand how they actually feel and how they experience life with us.
What makes sense to them—even when it doesn’t make sense to us.
Moving Beyond Conventional Paradigms
Many of us have been taught a set of common denominators about animals:
We have to be the alpha.
We have to lead in a certain way.
We have to manage, correct, or override.
And while some of these ideas may offer structure, they often miss the deeper reality beneath the surface.
I am far more interested in helping my clients understand how their animals think and feel, and why certain behaviors or responses make perfect sense from the animal’s perspective—even when they defy conventional ideas about animal care or husbandry.
If you’ve ever felt that disconnect—where you’re taught one thing, but you’re witnessing something very different with your animal, this may be an invitation to look deeper.
What Our Animals Pick Up On—Whether We Realize It or Not
Recently, I worked with someone deeply committed to her animals. She goes all in. She doesn’t shy away from support or intervention, including working with me.
What she had completely underestimated was how attuned her dogs were to internal struggles within the human family, specifically related to starting a new relationship.
The dogs picked up on the internal wrestling, the emotional shifts, the unspoken tensions.
When this became aware, there was surprise and openness—a willingness to include this layer of truth in how they understood their animals’ behavior.
Our animals are not just responding to routines and commands. They are responding to our inner worlds.
A Time to Go Deeper
If you want to understand what is really happening beneath the surface, how our companion animals are coping with living inside a human construct, this may be the time.
We are moving into the Year of the Fire Horse, 2026. A year associated with forward movement, momentum, and expanded consciousness. And that expansion includes our animals. It includes how we listen, how we relate, and how honestly we are willing to see.
It also includes animals that have passed and whose spirits remain.
In my home, that is Pablo.
He was one of my greatest teachers, clear in his signals, precise in how he lived, and unmistakably intentional in how he died.
All I can say is this:
Thank you, Pablo. You made me more authentic. You made me more real. And I am forever, deeply grateful.
I hope this reflection was inspiring for you. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
