With out words and what we are saying..

I don't have a degree in animal behavior but what i do have, as any one would who loves animals is an understanding of them from our own personal experiences. I also believe when our life force becomes interwoven with them we heighten our empathic abilities. There fore the opposite will be true too, the more we connect with them works both ways.

My belief is that animals use verbal and telepathic skills to communicate and there basic survival skills are honed by watching body language whether they are prey or predator. We do too, perhaps on a more unconscious level.

I bet there isn't a person reading this who hasn't said in conversation something like "she knew exactly what i was saying" or "he knew i was getting the bath water ready for him". How do they know from filling the tub up for us one night to filling it up for them on another ? We didn't say anything out loud yet... but they know as soon as we turn the water on. Because they are watching us and they master our moves, our reactions and our feelings as it is instinctual to them to do so. Emotionally setting ourselves up to wash a dog who doesn't like to get in the bath triggers emotions, excited energy -they see and feel that.

I felt a need to share this as a subtle reminder occurred over the last week or so. Don Juan, a pig i have had over a year had suddenly got angry with me before we all moved here and just after selling the acreage. I was an emotional mess , crying and stressed. I know this is why he acted like he was going to bite my foot that day and the fight was on. How he perceived my weakness and how it effected him emotionally was yet to be learned.

Tusker's is an unaltered male pig because of medical reasons. His tusks grow thick and fast and i have to wire trim them about every 1 1/2 years. He is a timid pig and every time i do this it sets us back again a little as trust is lost between us. I trapped him in his safe place, his house. And then grab him so he is sitting on his bottom and my helper being Jane this time sawed the tusks off. I hate scaring them this way and put it off as long as i can.

I do procrastinate when it comes to scaring my pigs.. and doing tusks and hooves will do that too them so I appreciated Jane having the guts to help and the push I needed to do it. Tusker's looks ten years younger to me and seems happier but isn't that how i feel because its done and i don't have to worry about it anymore? I thought of it every time I was near him and that is no good for him or me. He feels better because I feel better, harmony restored between us and he can feel secure gain. He will no longer feel my worry when i see him and he sees me.

Its really stupid of me not to realize this as well as the obvious physical need. How or what we do, think or feel will effect our charges, because we portray our emotions physically and emotionally.

Its really common sense, isn’t it? If we were around some one sad day after day , that would consume us too. It would effect us, it would be hard to be around it and we might want to escape from it. How we would deal with that on an emotional level is uncertain,we might want to push it away and get angry. I am thinking of Don Juan now. My sadness and stress , the feelings of uncertainty triggered the same emotions in him. His reaction, was distrust and instability so to protect himself he wanted the weak link in the herd out. That was me.

My lesson learned is if i am putting something off that needs to be done isn't helping me or my charges.. get it done I will feel better and so will they.

And how i feel can be interpreted so many ways by the animals or people around me when instincts to survive kick in. They are as complex as us emotionally but have fine tuned and heightened their sixth sense.

Rose my big pig could be trusted around the little pigs until last month. Penny was out enjoying her day and Rose and i met her around back during a little walk. Warning Rose to not touch her and a flash picture of her charging her in my mind is exactly what happened next. I was so mad at her i chased her home, but did i in fact show her to do that in my minds eye with what i thought and pictured? Why didn't she listen to my words??? Because I spoke to her using her language.. one not of words.