Being A Dog Whisperer Comes In Handy!

Being a dog whisperer can come in really handy! Especially when you live with a lab cross puppy whose nickname is “Butter Boy”.

You can imagine where this story is going…

My life as a dog whisperer and The Butter Boy

First a little backstory… My lifelong dream of having my own personal chef has come true!

I confess I’m not much of a cook. Like my Mom who didn’t much enjoy cooking “real food” because she loved the sweets, I’m more of a baker. My specialties are PBJ sandwiches, homemade jello, cookies and muffins and yummy goodies like that. And truth be told, I do a much better job cooking for the dogs than I do for people!

My life partner and husband Joern is who I affectionately refer to as my personal chef. He’s an excellent cook, even better, he loves to cook, plan meals and shop for the ingredients. Did I mention he also loves to eat?

Oh yea. And as much as he loves to cook his culinary creations, he also loves sharing them with me, his sweetheart.

How lucky am I, eh?

Being a dog whisperer comes in very handy when the unexpected happens

Last night, Joern fixed us a delicious meal. As usual, we grabbed our plates and retired to our sitting area where we love to chat, chill, read, eat, and watch whatever TV show we’re currently bingeing.

We just finished watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (OMG we love her!) and are now watching The Expanse. We love to indulge in one or all of the activities above with our doggies by our side—it’s a family thing.

I went to get us dessert (my homemade sugar and gluten-free Samoa cookies, which Joern says are the best cookies he’s ever had, high praise from my gourmand hubby)…

When I saw it.

The Evidence.

The golden Kerrygold butter wrapper was torn into little gnarly, wet slimy bits, and shreds of it were strewn all over the kitchen floor. Uh oh. Joern had used a little bit of a whole new stick of butter in our cauliflower rice and left it on the counter by the stove while we ate dinner.

But now?

No butter left. It had inexplicably disappeared while we were distracted by our show.

Timmy, our border collie, had been at our side the entire time, hoping for handouts and watching for something to spill off our plates. He’s always ready to jump into action to clean the floor instantly in case of spillage, and loves to help us “do the dishes”. So he was not the butter thief.

Which can only leave…

SAMWISE, our newly-adopted lab mix pup, now forever known as Thief, aka The Butter Boy.

Oh dear.

dog whisperer with Vals dogs — Vals dogs Timmy and Samwise love to communicate

Oh no! Time for the dog whisperer to jump into action

So…is Samwise’s tummy going to rebel from eating a whole stick of butter?

Will we be up all night dealing with throw up or diarrhea or with a sick doggo needing emergency attention?

What a scary, potential nightmare, eh? Most dog parents in this situation can only sit and wait nervously, watching for signs that their dog is about to be sick or worse.

But if you’re a dog whisperer, you can tackle the problem head-on through a conversation with your best friend.

Just ask your pet how they feel.

So I asked him. “Sam, how does your tummy feel?”

“Fine. I feel good.” (Samwise has the sweetest, clearest voice.)

“You ate a lot of butter. Sometimes that can make a doggy feel really awful. We never eat that much butter all at once… I’m worried. Will you let me know if you feel sick later?”

“Sure, Mom! But I feel good right now and I’m sorry you’re worried about me. It was really tasty, I like butter. And it was right there on the edge of the counter too! NomNomNom…” as he licked his lips in delight.

I said, “Thanks for telling me that – I got it! We like butter too. You’re off the hook for now Sam until we know you’re okay. But later we’ll discuss your stealing our food off the counter!”

Sam still felt fine when we went to bed. But around 3 a.m. he woke me asking to go outside just like we’d discussed.

He scooted quickly outside, did his thing, and I waited until he was ready to come back inside again. When he was ready, he came in and we all curled back up on the bed and slept well the rest of the night.

I woke up to find him and his toy dinosaur sitting on my pillow looking at me, in our happy place, ready to greet the day.

Being A Dog Whisperer Comes In Handy! — Vals dog Samwise is a natural dog whisperer too

Potential crisis averted.

Are you ready to start talking to your dog with more than just hand signals and voice cues? Your furry friends have so much to say. Go here and get started talking to your best friends in a whole new way.

I’m SO grateful I’m a dog whisperer. Talking to all animals is an intuitive skill that comes in very handy in so many countless ways.

For instance, when your pet doesn’t feel well? Ask them if they’re in pain, what happened to make them hurt, and what they need to feel better.

When they act out in mysterious bad dog behavior? Ask them why what they’re doing makes sense to them. Are they confused? Upset? Afraid? Why and what can we do about that as a partnership?

If they are getting ready to make their transition? A heart to heart conversation will make all the difference in the world between a peaceful, easier passing versus a traumatic, grief stricken experience for both of you.

Because here’s the thing – anything can happen at any time.

You just never know when you’ll need to talk about something really important.

And that’s why you’re in my Tribe of Animal Lovers!

Make a point of talking to an animal today. Keep the conversation alive by checking with them frequently and find out what’s going on in their world.

Seriously, you don’t want to wait until something is wrong to make the effort to communicate. By then it could be too late.