Gretchen Featured In Article In HuffPo About Separation Anxiety In Dogs

Hello, animal lovers.  I hope you are having a most excellent almost-summer.  So, far my communications requesting mosquitos to stop biting me have had no effect, but since that's pretty much what they do to survive, I didn't expect results.  I guess one price to pay for getting on well with animals is that sometimes the ones that bite are especially attracted to you!

Back on topic, I wanted to let you to know that I have been featured in an article in The Huffington Post called

Separation Anxiety in Dogs: Can You Teach an Old Dog New Tricks?  I enjoyed talking with the author and her anxious dog, Rapunzel, and giving them some tips to help with the anxious barking and urination.  In my experience with anxious animals, it often takes not just communication, but consistency and practice with new training methods and supplements to encourage relaxation and openness.  I'm sending Reiki and best wishes to Rapunzel and her human "mom" for continued improvement.

I hope you enjoy the article, and feel free to comment, share it, or ask me questions about the topic. 

Happy National Pet Week!

Are are you celebrating?  You could do something fun with your pet, like some extra play time, or give him his favourite treat.  You could help your kids draw pictures of the family pet or talk to them about the importance of being kind to animals and pet health care.  You could use it as a reminder to make an appointment for your pet's next check-up, volunteer at a pet shelter, make a donation, sign an animal issue petition, or even just post a photo of or poem about your pet online!

The American Veterinary Medical Association has a site full of ideas, information and even games for you to check out.  But of course, the best things you can give your pet are affection, attention and letting her know you love her.  Take a little time out and give your animal friends love and appreciation.  They'll thank you in return.

Animal Communication Just Got A Little Cheaper!

Hi, Animal Lovers!

 I hope your spring -- or autumn, for those of you in the southern hemisphere -- is going well. I want you all to know that I am now available to conduct communications over Skype!  This means that you can call my Skype account from yours, and we can talk for free, which can save you some money on your telephone bill. This may be particularly helpful from those of you outside the United States.

 The other advantage of Skype is that I can record conversations as mp3s and provide them for you to download. I had stopped doing this, because I couldn't get the technology to work properly, but with updates in software, it's now possible to offer this service again.

My Skype name is gretchen.kunz.ac.  Please note: I do not have a direct telephone number to call on Skype at this time. If this service proves popular, I may subscribe to one, so let me know if you're interested.  Have any questions about how this works? Feel free to check out the Skype website. All the best to you and your animal friends!

Who's Going To The 2012 Westminster KC Dog Show?

Frank Franklin II, AP

Are you going to the upcoming WKC dog show or any of the related events?  If so, welcome to New York City, and maybe you'll run into me!  Are you interested in having a communication session with your dog while you're in town?  Maybe you'd like to help him or her better understand all of the things going on, or hear his or her opinions on the show afterward?  Feel free to contact me at info@animaltalker.com or via telephone at 917-607-8630.

Best of luck to you and your canine friends, and have a wonderful time!

I Get So Emotional, Baby

Clients sometimes tell me that they try to communicate with their animals, but they get frustrated.  They feel that they keep trying to work out the same problems again and again, or they feel “she just won’t listen to me like she listens to you… her trainer… my husband.”  This can frequently happen not because a person is not capable of communication, but because they are too close to the situation.

If this happens to you, you’re not alone.  Just as physicians are advised not to treat their own family members, we animal lovers can sometimes let our emotions about an animal close to us interfere with our judgment and ability to communicate with them. 

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Focusing Your Intentions When Animal Communicating

People who are starting to learn animal communication sometimes ask me how they can be sure they are getting the right information.  Besides practicing and getting confirmation from an animal’s person on tangible questions and particular personality traits, I like to remind communication students to focus their intentions before communicating with animals.  It is something most professionals do regularly, and it is very important in order to keep up a high standard of both accuracy and ethical behavior.  Let me give some examples.

Sometimes life gets complicated.  Suppose you have a lot on your mind, or a particular situation with a particular animal has you confused or agitated.  Maybe you are worried about the animal you are trying to contact, or worried about people involved in the situation.  How can you be sure your own expectations, ego or desires won’t get in the way of getting the animal’s true intended meaning?

Open for Business!

Hello, animal lovers.  Just a quick note to say I am back from my sabbatical and available for consultations.  I hope you and your animals have been well, and look forward to speaking with you!

In Memoriam: Quan Yin McLendon-Kunz, 2000-2011

Quan Yin was our little mystery kitty. When we took her in in 2001, the shelter told us only that she was spayed, possibly 9 or 10 months old and very shy. It was later admitted she was probably feral, but all we saw was a beautiful young cat with a scared but sweet air about her that no one else would adopt. Not long afterward, we realized from her constant hiding and lack of proper socialization that she had spent her life from a very young age on the street or in a cage.She hardly knew how to be a cat, misunderstanding our other cats' body language, and not sure how to properly groom herself, much less consistently use a litter box. A fellow animal communicator suggested we call her something kind and reassuring, and she became Quan Yin, the bodhisattva associated with compassion.

On Sabbatical

Just a note to say I am currently on sabbatical from my communication practice. Feel free to email me if you want to be notified when I am again available.

In Memoriam: Maya McLendon-Kunz, 1997-2010

Maya was our beloved queen cat.  She belonged to my partner from kittenhood, then adopted me at age 3 or 4 in 2000.  She was always completely herself: demanding, beautiful, proud, wise, confident and more than a little bit snarky.  Over the years we became best friends, and she took a great part in teaching me, and others, how to communicate with animals.  For several years, she also had her own highly opinionated advice column on my site.

Read an Interview with Gretchen on Floppycats.com

I'm excited to share that I've recently completed an interview with Floppycats.com. Floppycats.com is dedicated to Ragdoll cats and general cat health care and well being. It provides the most accurate, up-to-date and knowledgeable Ragdoll Cat Info, or the floppy cat.

In this interview, you can find out about how I started as an animal communicator, how I practice, and what I think of issues such as why animal communication is valuable, and why veterinarians should consider using animal communication as one of their tools.

I hope you enjoy the interview, and check out Floppycats.com for articles on cat care, product reviews and even cat product giveaways.

The Cat’s Purr

How and why cats purr has long been a mystery. In fact, it’s only within the last few decades that scientists have thoroughly studied purring and come to some understanding about it. Of course, those scientists don’t generally ask the cats themselves! So, I thought it would be fun to take some of the current scientific theory on purring and ask some cats what they thought of it via animal communication.


1. Why do cats purr?

Although many people think cats purr mainly when they’re happy or soothing their kittens, any veterinary professional or long-time cat owner will tell you that sometimes cats purr when they are sick or injured. So, is purring just used to express affection, or to comfort the weak or stressed?