Part of good research is having an open mind and distinguishing the valuable information from the bull-#$%^. I believe any random person taking a guess at what’s going on with our dog Ozzie, might get some things right and I work hard to recognize when someone happens to be spouting an idea I can actually use.
So today I supported a fundraiser for Harmony House for Cats by going to their Pet Psychic Fair, so I could listen carefully to Beverly Koeppel for clues that I could use with Ozzie. I mean, these people know animal behavior, right?
As one of the first to arrive, I handed over a $20 check in return for a ticket for a 12:20 p.m. reading that would last for twenty minutes. They encouraged me to pass the time by visiting their cats and exploring the shelter. Allergic to cats, I keep my distance from them, but ended up in one of the cat rooms just to kill time. This is how I am with cats:
It turned out that the four psychics working this gig had set up their tables in various cat rooms. I reluctantly sat down with Beverly in a kitten room, hoping my allergies wouldn’t get too bad in a 20 minute reading. The kittens were cute, but I was grateful that they kept their distance.
Beverly asked for my first name, astrological sign and birthday. I showed her my photos of Ozzie and said simply, “This is our dog.” Beverly asked if he were alive and where he physically was at the moment. Then she started talking:
1. Ozzie had some trauma in another home before we got him and it will be a couple of years until he works through it. It causes him to fear being chained up outside and makes it hard for him to trust people. He has a nervous stomach.
2. Bob and Ozzie have a strong bond. He loves Bob and wants to please him. They understand each other.
3. BIG ANSWER TO WHAT OZZIE WAS FREAKED ABOUT THIS MONTH. Beverly said I had two unfriendly spirits hanging around me, and Ozzie was trying to warn me and make them leave. They were trying to find a place in the kitchen to settle in and if he hadn’t been there, they might have stayed. I laughed when Beverly named the kitchen, which I hadn’t mentioned. That’s the room Ozzie acted the weirdest about. One night he refused to enter it, even to eat dinner. Hilarious.
4. Ozzie is a good dog and wants to do the right thing. He’s happy with us and has everything he needs, but remains uncertain that this is his “forever” home, partly because of my resistance to him.
5. I should thank Ozzie for protecting me from the unfriendly spirits and let him know that I like him and that he can stay with us permanently. Beverly said all animals can see the spirits around us, but they don’t all react the same. Another dog might have seen those spirits and just gotten scared and not tried to help.
6. Beverly said that if I work on it, in a year and a half to two years I’ll have a much better relationship with Ozzie. It’ll be different from his relationship with Bob, but it will be good.
No one needs to tell me Ozzie has been a nervous dog with stomach problems that probably reflect stress. I’ve been withdrawn and suspicious and I’m sure he’d respond better if I showed more warmth. So, if I got nothing else out of my pet psychic reading, I got a message I’m finally ready to hear: be loving towards the dog; he’s scared, too.
Did he nod at me?
[Therese Murphy is a different kind of Chicago psychic. She reads tarot cards and can do your horoscope and I like her a lot.]
UPDATE in Sept. 2018: After not seeing Ozzie for two years, Bob and I became friends in 2016 and Ozzie re-entered my life. Since last spring, Bob has been paying me to take care of him for one day a week because I need the cash. It's given me a chance to get to know the dog at a very different stage of life: he's old now and has joint pain. He's less energetic and curious, demands less attention and does more laying there and sleeping. I like this dog much better! Sometimes I put a sheet down on the couch and let him lie on it. I lie down too and we nestle together while I read a book. I actually enjoy having him come over now. I still hate picking up canine excrement, but besides that I can relax because our personalities are much more compatible. He's okay for a dog.
In the months following this post, Ozzie and I finally reached a peaceful place. I stopped feeling freaked out by him and he acted like a normal, healthy dog. Things were pretty good. Then in April 2013, my husband ended our marriage and in February 2014 our divorce was legally final. So Ozzie's been out of my life for a while now and I live alone, with no pets. I like it better this way. Thanks for asking.
So how are you and Ozzie now?
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Pet Psychic