Recently, I was working over the phone with a woman and her three dogs. She asked me to ask one of the dogs, a sweet, old dachshund, if there was anything he would like. He showed me an image of himself wearing a birthday hat and eating birthday cake. It seemed like a full-on birthday party. He was *very* excited about this.

But I thought, Oh, geesh. I can’t possibly say he wants to wear a birthday hat and eat birthday cake. I’ll sound like I’m nuts. I had never heard of a dog wanting to eat birthday cake and I was hesitant to tell my client what I thought her dog had said, because it was the first time we were working together and I thought it would sound crazy.

I have only three rules, really, when I work as an animal communicator: be loving, be open, be honest. So, I screwed up my courage and told her that her dog wanted birthday cake. He wanted it *very* much.

I expected her to politely say, “That’s crazy.” But she didn’t. She burst out laughing and told me that he had had birthday cake before, and he *loved* it, but now he’s diabetic so he can’t have it any more. No wonder he wanted it so badly!

Later, she sent me this photo of the last time this dog had birthday cake. Do you see that maniacal joy? This is *exactly* the level of enthusiasm he was showing me. And my client tells me that she is now working on finding a recipe for a dog-friendly diabetic birthday cake, so maybe his wish will come true. (Many of the things that humans use to substitute for sugar are not safe for dogs to eat, so be mindful if you want to give sugar-free human food to dogs.)

My work is to pass along messages from humans to animals and animals to humans. I’m just a translator, really. Moments like this are one reason why the work is so very joyful and rewarding.

If you’re interested in knowing more about animal communication and what I do, get in touch (graychase at gmail.com). I’m happy to talk with you about it, so long as you’re willing to follow my rules: be loving, be open, be honest.

You can also learn more here.