Okay, Dr. Doolittle I'm not. However, I have been blessed with this ability and have used it since I was a small child. Talking with the animals may seem like something from a Hugh Lofting book, but it is possible for anyone to acquire the skill to do so. The key is patience and love.

You'll want to practice on a family pet before taking a leap to anything else. A cat or dog who is familiar to you is the best choice to begin. Cats are a tad more difficult as they can tend to pick and choose who they wish to talk to (or listen to). A family dog can be easier as they are pack animals and will be more apt to tune into the leader of their pack, you.

Start by taking your dog into a quiet room. He knows the tone of your voice, so you are one step ahead of the game. Sit down on the floor next to him, or if he is allowed on the couch or bed (lucky dog), have him sit next to you. Pet him in his favorite spot until he is settled in. Then start talking quietly to him in a loving tone. Find one short sentence or word and use it over and over. For example, "There you go sweetie. There you go sweetie. There you go sweetie." Or if you are a guy and this is way too shishifoofoo for you, try "Okay buddy. Okay buddy." We'll call this your key phrase.

When you have gone over your key phrase about 10 times in a rhythmic way, close your eyes and be silent. Stop petting him and begin to form a picture in your mind of what you want him to know. Animals like dogs and cats and some of the larger mammals can pick this up fairly quickly. If you want to ask him to please put his head in your lap, form a picture of him doing just that in your mind along with a picture of your rubbing his favorite spot after he does. When the picture is formed and clear (you may have to practice this a bit if you've never done visualization before), then imagine the picture enveloped in a fluffy white cloud. Float the cloud picture out of your forehead where your third eye is located and into the dogs head directly between his eyes. Once you have done this once, speak the key phrase again one time and then float the cloud picture again into his head. Keep doing this until he either gets up and leaves or puts his head on your lap. If it is a particularly territorial non neutered male, he just might get up and leave. If he does, follow him and do it all over again. Usually the neutered males and females will want to happily succumb to the visualized promised favorite rub, so they will lay their heads on your lap. Congratulations! You have spoken to your dog.

Now let's move on to cats. Leaving the cat lover/dog lover discussion completely out of this, I'm simply going to say that cats are a smidge more stubborn animal. If they feel like receiving your picture talk, they will. If they don't,they won't and God help you if you are actually trying to tell them to DO something they don't want to do!

So, we need to tread easily with the feline bunch. Dogs will listen and tune in simply for the love. Cats, not so much. You need to give them a better incentive most of the time. If it is a particularly loving snuggle-cat, then by all means, put a favorite spot rub picture into your visualization. If not, try showing them you will give them their favorite munchie treat. Start again with a key phrase. You know what tone of voice is his favorite. Use the tone you would use when putting down his full food dish. "Honey boy. Honey boy." Or again for the non shishifoofoo, "Yo dude. Yo dude", while scratching his chin or ears or his favorite other spot.

Then after the fifth time (cats get bored quickly), with the key phrase and spot scratch, stop petting. Start forming the picture. With cats usually a strong but quick picture comes across best. Don't ask him to do anything however. Just a love picture at first. A visualization of your feeding him (if it is right before you are actually planning on feeding him) works well. My sweet Cheetah usually will snap his head up and head to his dish right away after I tell him it's coming. If you are saying to yourself right now, "well sure, if you do it right before his scheduled feeding time of course he's gonna run to his dish". You are absolutely right. That is my point. He will get used to the fact that you are telling him good stuff is coming at the time it comes. Then later you can float him a picture right out of the blue of something entirely different and he will understand you.

Let's talk turkey! Or parrot, or cockatiel, or budgie. You get the idea. When you are talking to a smaller animal, you need to remember the animal has a smaller brain. Their reception of pictures is apt to be slower and take longer.

If the animal is a pet, again, they should be used to the sound of your voice. You really shouldn't be talking to an animal of this size right away if they are not a pet of yours. Patience. Once you have mastered the family pet chat, the others will follow.

So, if the iguana, lizard, bird, etc. is your pet, great! Let's get started. These animals require a bit more finesse. My iguana loves me to sing "Desperado" to him in a quiet sweet voice. Go figure! Anyway, if the animal doesn't really respond to a key phrase, and a lot of these kind won't, find a sound. You could use a quiet "ch, ch, ch". Or a gentle "shh, shh, shh". I've found that the "ch, ch, ch", works best for reptiles and cold blooded animals for some reason, and the "shh, shh, shh" works best for our avian friends.

Some lizards enjoy the human touch, many more don't. Same with birds, tortoises, turtles, frogs, and so on. If the animal doesn't wish to be touched, just stick to the soft sound. Make the key sound in a rhythmic pattern at first. When you've gotten them accustomed to the sound, form a non detailed, quick picture in your head. See it clearly but be sure it is easy and quick. For example, when I want my cockatiel to fly onto my finger, I picture him on my finger and eating his munchie all in one quick precise shot. When I want my iguana to climb onto my arm, I picture him on my arm with a strawberry in his mouth. For these creatures, forget the fluffy cloud. Just aim the visualization at their head and fire! Remember, practice makes perfect.

Once you have worked on your pets for about 6 or 7 months continually, you should be able to branch out. If your pet gets injured or seems down, you can ask what hurts or why it is acting that way. Questions can be formed the same way, you just need to send a picture of the animal exactly as it is and show each part of it's body until it gives you a positive sign. It may lick you, it may squirm, it may purr, but if you are paying close attention, the animal can tell you exactly what is the problem.

This learned talent is extremely helpful if you come across an injured animal. Of course, for safety's sake, you need to stay a safe distance if you don't know the animal. However, even at a distance you can communicate and calm a frightened and injured animal. You can send pictures of the animal feeling better. You can even send straight love. Love requires no visualization and no pictures. Simply sending a calming, gentle feeling of peace can do wonders.

Do they talk back? Yes, they do. In many ways. Some of the larger mammals catch on quickly and send pictures right back at you. I've had a horse show me that she specifically wanted a green apple. Not a red one mind you, a green one! Of course, I immediately got one and gave it to her. Once they start communicating that well, you want to keep those lines open.

I've had people ask me (I do animal healings also), do you have to be psychic to talk to animals? The answer is yes, you do. But no worries, because everyone is psychic to a degree. We all have it in us. The old myth might work here that we only use ten percent of our brains at any given time. If it were true. We mostly use all our brains all the time. However, we can improve certain functions of said brains by simple repetition, practice and study. So it follows that flexing of the "psychic muscle" requires same. I have not yet met another human being who hasn't had a "feeling" or a "dream" or a "knowing". I have not yet another human being who hasn't wondered about a coincidence. The gifts are there. We need to use them. Talking to the animals is one that will come in handy again and again.

In closing, the more you practice, the more you understand, the more you will be talking to the animals.