Do you ever wonder what your dog is thinking when he looks at you? Or how your cat feels when you leave her home alone for the weekend? Many pet owners would say they have a special bond with their animals, but no matter how “in tune” pet owners are with their pets, the best people can hope for is a wagging tail or some loud purring to let them know what's going on inside an animal's head.

Or is it?

Within the past several years, there has been a growing amount of discussion in the field of animal communication. While animal communication isn't exactly a proven science, several people are seriously committed to the practice throughout the country. Maine has it's own Animal Communicator, Louise Poppema, located right in Cumberland. I researched animal communication and was skeptical to say the least, but the animal lover in me was intrigued, and I decided to call and set up an interview. Poppema's website says she can perform animal communication with the animal present or from a picture of the animal, so I went to meet her armed with some questions and photos of my brother's dog, Gatsby, so that I could witness Poppema in action.

When I pulled in to her house, it looked more or less like I expected — an older style farmhouse with horses, dogs, cats and all sorts of animals around. Even though the setting matched what you might expect for someone claiming to be an animal communicator, Poppema's background certainly didn't. She went to Harvard undergrad and Cornell Law School, practiced law, and became director of the paralegal program at Casco Bay College until about seven years ago when she began practicing animal communication. The established practice of law and the alternative field of animal communication seem worlds apart, and she admits, “It's not something I came to naturally given my background.”

Poppema's clientele list has been slowly growing over the years. Most of her business comes from repeat visitors or referrals. People want to find answers to questions concerning their pets' happiness, personality, health, and behavior. She has communicated for pet owners locally as well as nationally, since she works from photographs as well as live animals. She has communicated with all types of animals, including dogs, cats, horses, birds, rabbits, rats, and wild animals. She also works with veterinarians and animal shelters, and completed a pilot study with a Grad Student at Tufts Veterinary School that showed she was correct (wrong or partially correct answers counted as incorrect) 69% of the time.

Being an animal communicator isn't your every day job, and Poppema is well aware that the general public doesn't really believe in her field. “I tell them they're right to be skeptical,” she says. “It's the only way to approach stuff. The only thing I ask is that people keep an open mind.” She says most people have been open to the idea, although sometimes she has clients who think everything she is saying is wrong. If that's the case, then Poppema has given their money back. “If you don't think it's accurate, then I don't want to be charging you,” she says. “I'm not 100%. I'd be happy with 80%.

Making the Switch

Poppema first got interested in the field by reading books on the subject. The first book she read was Animal Talk by Penelope Smith, a Californian who pioneered the field of animal communication over 30 years ago. Poppema also read Communicating With Animals , a book by former Washington Post reporter Arthur Myers, which documents hundreds of case studies of human-animal communication. One such case study happened to be with a Maine veterinarian who Poppema knew. Poppema went to talk with the vet, who set her up with someone giving a daylong seminar on the subject. She wasn't convinced after the seminar, but was more intrigued. She thought, “I can come up with alternate rational explanations for what happened, but it's not totally off the wall.” So she attended a longer weekend seminar in Virginia, which convinced her that there was something to animal communication after all.

Poppema began to practice communicating with her own animals and her friends' pets. She would ask questions that had obvious yes or no answers, but that Poppema wouldn't know the answer to, and have her friends verify her responses. Many questions people ask can't really be verified, so it is hard to tell if the answers are coming from the animal or out of thin air. Poppema says the more accurate her answers are to verifiable questions, the more likely the answers will be correct to questions that can't be verified.

Internal Energy

One question that stuck in my mind since I read Poppema's website was how this process worked from photographs. I figured that if you could communicate with animals, you'd want it sitting in the same room. Poppema said animal communication is more like a transfer of energy than a direct conversation. She says energy fields are scientific fact, even if you can't see them or touch them. She likened animal communication to Tai Chi, a form of martial arts/meditation that deals with people's internal energy. There are several accounts of Tai Chi students who have become immoveable, or effortlessly sent other people flying across a room, by focusing or transferring their energy. Poppema says the animal or photograph acts merely as a focal point, and she's actually connecting with the animal's energy rather than having a face-to-face conversation. “You can't do this without getting into the spiritual,” she says.

Becoming a Believer

One case in particular convinced Poppema that these communications are real. A client contacted her by email and sent a photo of her dog, a 10-year old neutered male pit bull. Poppema communicated with the dog, and at the end asked her usual question of, “What can you tell me that will convince your person that it's you speaking and not me just making this up?” The dog said, “Ah! Tell them about the puppy. The female puppy, the blue one, that was born dead.” Poppema thought this was bizarre, but feels obligated to pass along whatever information comes through.

The client had no idea what she was talking about, but a few days after their conversation Poppema received an email from one of the client's friends. It said the client was too blown away at the moment to write. The pit bull actually belonged to the client's husband, who was away when the communication happened. The client told her husband what Poppema had said, and it turned out that years ago the husband owned a pair of pit bulls and before he neutered the male he tried to breed them. One of the puppies in the litter was a dark skinned, female, stillborn puppy. The husband said he had never told anybody about the puppy. Poppema says, “It's the sort of thing that makes you say, ‘Ok! I could have made it up, but why the heck would it have occurred to me?'”

Gatsby's Communication

Not all of Poppema's communications get answers that have that level of detail. She says, “A lot of times when I speak with animals, some of the stuff that comes up is stuff that anyone who has spent time with animals and has some common sense could tell you.” This was more or less the case when I asked her about Gatsby. I gave Poppema two pictures of him, his age (about 2 years old) and his owner's names (Jay and Sonja).

Poppema centered herself for about 30 seconds, and then began writing furiously in her notebook. If she really was communicating with Gatsby, I imagine this would be the way he talks because he is a very energetic dog. Poppema read off what Gatsby had said, most of which seemed to fit Gatsby's personality, but was general information that would probably fit most young dogs. I asked a few questions I thought would require specific answers, like what his favorite toy was, if he liked swimming, and how he eats. Again I got answers that I could make fit with Gatsby, but nothing so specific I was blown away. Poppema did mention a tender spot on Gatsby's front right paw, and in fact he did get a cut there that had to be sutured together a few months ago. When Poppema asked Gatsby to tell her something so people would know they really spoke, she said he told her to mention the vacuum cleaner and pile of clothes in the bedroom closet. I went over to Jay and Sonja's house that night, but didn't find a pile of clothes in the closet, and the vacuum cleaner was in the hallway closet where it is usually kept.

By the time our session ended, I hadn't received any answers that were so specific that I was turned into a believer in human/animal communications. Poppema can offer several examples where her communications have provided accurate, specific details. But without witnessing such a case first-hand, it's a hard concept to accept. Whether it works or not, I can see a certain value for pet owners. Poppema recalled one pet owner who was having a hard time dealing with her cat nearing the end of its life. Poppema communicated with the cat, and it helped the owner handle the loss of her pet. “Do we know [that a communication happened] for sure? No. Does she believe it? Yes. Has it made her life worse? No. Did it help her deal with her life a little better? Yeah.” I'll let you form your own opinions on this topic, but the least you can do is to have an open mind.

Links:

Louise Poppema's website
Penelope Smith's website