Conversations with Animals: Basic Concepts

When communicating with animals, please study the following six basic concepts.

Tone of voice. The sound that your voice makes. Not the words but the sound. Your mother has “that tone” that lets you know you are in trouble. Disapproval. Warning. Or she uses that tone of voice that calls you to her. Calling. “Anita?” [in a singing voice]. Your cat and dog hear the tone too. When talking to a cat or dog use the same tone that you understand. Example 1: talking to a cat in a sweet tone of voice: “Hi, how are you today? Hey, you sweet thing you? Are you listening to me? How are you today? [cat meows] Oh is that so? Well, me too.” Example 2: communicating disapproval and an expectation of action: “OFF the counter. Off. The. Counter. Now.”

Decibels, volume, loudness. Your classroom teacher often says to you “Use your inside voice.” An “outside” voice is loud. Your cat and dog hear a yell or a very loud noise as a bark or a yowl and that usually means ‘danger’ or ‘pay attention’. In general, keep your volume at a conversational level. Do not yell.

Inflection. The sound of your voice goes up or down, like in music. A question the world over ends in an upward inflection. Down means many things. “How are you?” [inflection up] (waiting for an answer.) “ How are yoooou.” [inflection down] (Oh, I like you very much.) “Stop that?” [inflection up] (You are giving a choice to the cat to stop or not.) “Stop that!” [inflection down] (command, demand, instruction, warning. )

Visualization. See an action clearly in your mind without spoken words. Think the picture in your mind. Example: “Get off the counter.” See the cat getting off the counter.

Timing, Rhythm. Use time to underscore meaning. As in music, timing is the sound and the silence. Being ‘off-beat’ when playing a musical instrument breaks the rhythm of sounds and silence. Timing in communication means the cadence of your speech and it is also the use of silence. Example: “Get off the counter.” Be silent. “Get. Off. The. Counter.”

Movement. Your body moves when you think, feel, and speak. When you are authentic, your body movements match and underscore your thoughts, feelings and speech. If you haven’t noticed this before, you are not noticing either yourself or others around you. Body movement is a powerful source of communication. Your dog and your cat are professionals at observing body language and that also translates into a sensitivity to hand signals.