Tag: pet owners

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Brand Highlights Community Stories

5 Care Tips for your Pet’s Healthy and Happy Life

This article is brought to you by Pets Club SG.

As responsible pet owners, it is our duty to provide the best for our fur kids. Cats have an average life expectancy of 15 years, and dogs on the other hand, have 12 years. That said, all these depend on their size, and breed. Other factors that affect their life expectancy, includes gender, genetics, lifestyle, exercise, and many more!

Studies have shown that the key to a long life is based on two main factors, genetics, and lifestyle choices. While genetics are out of our control, we can offer our fur kids with the proper care and food to ensure they lead a healthy and happy life!

Here are some tips you can follow to ensure just that!

Regular Veterinary Appointments

It is recommended to bring your fur kids in for a visit at least once a year. These annual visits should be doubled if you have a senior pet at hand! It may be hard to admit sometimes, but our precious fur kids do age faster than us humans.

These important visits allow you to learn what is normal for your pet at their age, and what you can do to improve their well-being. That is why early check-ups are vital, even if something seems insignificant, initiating preventive measures can help to prolong your fur kid’s life.

Plenty of Exercise

Obesity among pets can lead to a myriad of health issues. It is seen as the number one nutritional disease among pets by veterinarians. To keep your pets lean, take them out for regular exercises. 

Exercise ideas for Cats:

  • Toy chase (cat wand or flashlight)
  • Take them for a walk
  • Cat tower
  • Short but frequent playtimes

Cats have short bursts of energy, play in five or ten minute sessions, and let them catch their breath. It is also good to note that cats have very short attention spans, hence, it’s recommended to switch up the activities frequently. 

Exercise ideas for Dogs:

  • Walk around the block
  • Playing fetch at the park
  • Bring them along for a hike
  • Take them out to swim
  • Tug-of-war

Even though every dog may need to exercise, some may need more or less than others. So take note of your dog’s limits, and give them ample water afterwards.

Healthy Diet

Make sure your pet is getting the proper nutrition for their breed and age. Being overweight can shorten your pet’s life by as much as two years, so it’s important to get them on a healthy diet!

NUTRIPE ESSENCE offers a wide array of benefits with countless nutrients your pets need, from prebiotics to digestive enzymes. Their dry food range is formulated to maintain an appropriate balance of good bacteria in your pet’s gastrointestinal system. Besides absorbing nutrients, the digestive system plays a crucial role in fluid balance, and transporting electrolytes into circulation. It also supports their immune system, preventing diseases. 

You can get started here!

Socializing

Pets do get bored sometimes, and it can lead to serious issues. Keep your pets entertained by playing with them. As much as possible, bring them out for paw-dates, engaging in socializing activities with other fur friends. When you’re out for some fun and games, always bring along their favorite toys, and buy backups –in case it gets lost!

By developing a familiarity with other hoomans and fur friends, it can help minimize serious behavioral issues like aggression or nervousness. The exposure teaches your pet how to react to the world around them in a healthy way, without feeling scared or anxious. 

Clean and Comfortable Living Environment

Good hygiene is the key to a healthy life. This also includes the environment your fur kids are exposed to on a daily basis. As a pet owner, it can be tiring to maintain optimum cleanliness in your house. However, it is our duty to provide a comfortable living quarter for your fur kid. 

Purchase additional drinking bowls, towels, combs, toothbrushes, and other pet essentials to ensure you’re always prepared to cater to their needs. 


Pro-tip: Do not leave your pets unsupervised. Allowing them to roam freely can lead to unexpected accidents, including automobile accidents, predation, exposure to allergic foods, and etc.

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Creator's Academy

How To Become A Pet Influencer Parent

We all click photos of our pets and pamper them with our love. Occasionally, we also post some cuteness-overloaded pictures for all to enjoy across social media platforms. Generally, images and videos of pets garner greater attention. Have you ever considered making a career using this natural attention that your pet receives?

Like all content creators, a pet influencer must have a recognizable personality. Our pets cannot talk to us, but they have quirks and traits that differentiate them from others. We should emphasize characteristics that make them weird, fun, and lovable. We all talk to our pets and imagine a reply they would give us in our heads. Put that out for the public to enjoy and create a consistent persona with our pet’s characteristics.

Grow Your Skills And Followers

A full-time job requires investment. Therefore, planning to be a pet influencer’s parent will require time, money, and dedication. Social media is filled with influencers coming up with new content ideas every other day. To stand out, we need to polish our skills and methods. 

Equipment

Tripods are important : Smartphones can take decent images and videos to get us started with our pet influencer account. But, to grow our social media account into a full-time hustle, pet videos and pictures must be high in quality. Therefore, we must invest in equipment like lights, cameras, tripods, and stabilizers. 

Photography and Cinematography Skills

Proper equipment can only alleviate our images and videos to a certain extent. However, truly bringing the best out of our pets requires learning new skills and techniques. We should practice taking pictures of our pets and try to improve upon them.

Learn about the camera

Photography and cinematography courses are readily available across the internet, and they can help us understand the minute details that are too complicated for a casual hobbyist. For example, how to utilize natural and artificial light in our photos and videos, use tripods and stabilizers, the correct camera setting depending on the environment, etc. 

Followers

With a unique personality, the proper equipment, and the necessary skills, we can start building a fanbase. Consistency is required when it comes to social media following. Utilizing photographs, videos, stories, shorts, reels, and live features of a platform is necessary to maintain consistency. To be consistent on instagram, you can use an Instagram reel maker to create posts quickly and easily.

Track activity and engagement

Using stories and comment sections, we should interact with the pages and accounts of different pet influencers to attract followers of our own. We can also use hashtags to increase the visibility of our pet influencer content. 

Start Monetizing

Once we have built up a loyal fanbase of a considerable amount, say 10,000 followers, we should start looking for sponsors relevant to the page. Like all other businesses, influencer management is also dependent upon networking. Some brands might approach us themselves for paid promotions , but we should also prepare ourselves to pitch our business to the brands.

What to Pitch?

It is important to define clear goals and requirements. While brands usually engage in paid sponsorships, some might offer an exchange of products and/or services, and some offer a mixture. Receiving perks like a day at a pet spa or free access to toys and other goodies is lucrative. But we should always assess the worth of our page and quote a fair price.

Dog spa and grooming

Firstly, we should get a rough idea from other social media accounts. Brands that usually sponsor those accounts will be interested in our social media page.

Next, approaching brands via email is the best method. We should highlight to the sponsor that our pet regularly uses and loves their products. Mentioning the natural, strong growth of our pet influencer account is necessary. It will help us ask for a price that we think is fair.

And finally, we should stay in our domain. Reaching sponsors that are relevant to our pets is very important. Endorsing a dog skincare product if our pet is a Persian cat makes little sense.

Affiliate Programs

Affiliate marketing can help us earn a good amount of money. It is a referral program where a retailer pays us commissions for every purchase made using our affiliate link. We need to divert traffic from our social media page to the retailer site to earn money. For example, if we have a YouTube Petfluencer account, we can make youtube videos and put a link in description to promote affiliate products.

Affiliate merchant

Joining the correct affiliate merchant can be a tricky part. Some merchants provide better commissions, sales, and bonuses over others. We should do proper research before partnering with a merchant.

Promoting products we vouch for is a healthy way to gain the trust of our followers. But it is not always the case. We can promote products we have not personally used if we are assured of their quality. Moreover, affiliates and sponsored posts should be mandatorily disclosed, and we should follow all the guidelines.

Merch is Cute and Profitable

Thanks to our lovable pets’ unique personalities and fan following, merchandise will sell like hotcakes. Physical products with cute designs and photos of our pets can be sold at merchant websites that act like affiliates.

These merchants stock up on socks, shirts, t-shirts, hoodies, and even pillows. They are direct-to-print merchants that print a design only after an order is placed. Therefore, inventory management is a non-issue. They are the ones who build websites for our products; we only need to design and promote them. Instagram is a great platform to promote merchandise. To create some engaging stories with minimal effort, you can use some prebuilt Instagram story templates.

Pet merchandise

Wrapping Up

While being a pet influencer parent is a full-time job, it is one of the most rewarding and fun career paths. However, it can be difficult to make a living from it. Earnings come from sponsors, affiliates, and merch only after we have built our brand using interesting content. Interactive social media filters, apps, and tools like Instagram reel makers to produce content on the go. All this can be done alongside having fun with our pets!

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General Updates

Pawjourr: Pet Wellness Month

Woman playing with her cute cat and dog

October marks a significant month for pet owners all over the world. Why? Because it’s Pet Wellness Month of course! 

Our fur kids do not just deserve the best, they need it. We, humans, are able to communicate and express our emotions and well-being; when we’re sick. However, our pets can’t tell us when they’re under the weather. That’s why our goal as pet owners is to prioritize their well-being and it’s on us to ensure they stay healthy all year round — not just in October. 

Here’s a simple checklist of things to look out for to ensure your pet is the picture of health!

Exercise, exercise, exercise!

Like humans, the key to living a long and healthy life is exercise. All dogs should, at the minimum, go for a walk or two every day, keeping in mind the limits for puppies. Get your cats active by playing with them in short but frequent sessions.

You may also supplement with a jog, hike, swim, and even canine conditioning if your pup is ready for it. Keeping active will help develop muscles that support their joints!

Keep them occupied

It doesn’t take long for your pets to get bored, and boredom leads to different problems. Play with them, even if it’s just five minutes. Fight the boredom by giving them activities to partake in — and one healthy way is through toys.

Pets benefit from mentally stimulating activities, like chew-toys and puzzle toys with hidden treats. So, hide their toys and let them go on a treasure hunt. 

Dogs love tug of war. It is a great display of their predatory nature and it provides mental and physical exercise for them. Cats on the other hand get bored very easily. Hence, you need to understand your feline’s needs. You can get them a scratching post to help them ‘blow off some steam’ or release their excitement. Be sure to find the right one!

Keep an eye on your pet’s weight

Just like us, pets can face a number of health issues if they become too heavy. Obesity among pets has been on the rise with pet owners oblivious to the health threats that it poses to them. 

Here’s how you can keep your pet’s weight in a healthy range:

  • Feed them a diet with wholesome ingredients that meets the requirements of their size, breed, and age
  • Consider providing them with a prescription diet 
  • Schedule appointments to the vet regularly for check-up
  • Give them treats sparingly
  • Plenty of exercise

Schedule regular health appointments

Our pets age faster than we do, meaning changes in their health can occur quickly. Scheduling wellness check-ups often is the best way to keep them free from illnesses.

With a trip to the vet, you can seek medical advice regarding your pet’s health. This would often lead to certain changes in their routine, be it exercise or diet, which can prevent potential health problems. 

Additionally, a trip to the vet can also increase your pet’s chance of survival as early detection can lead to early treatment. Veterinarians would recommend a trip at least once a year.

Don’t forget about dental health

Often overlooked, dental health is just as important for pets as it is for humans. Periodontal disease can occur when plaque build-up on your pets’ teeth leads to infection in the gums and bone loss. This infection can cause pain, tooth loss, and internal organ damage if left untreated.

Luckily, there are ways to prevent it. Regular dental exams can help veterinarians detect and treat dental issues before they become irreversible. At-home dental care consists of daily brushing. You can also complement brushing with a special diet, water additives or sealants.

Prioritizing their health

There are many ways to show our pets that we care. By taking steps to promote their physical and mental health all year long, we can help keep them happy and healthy throughout their lives. 

Pet Wellness Month may be celebrated in October, but always remember that it’s a lifelong commitment that should be promoted all year long!

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Community Stories

Kitten Care: Must-Know Tips for Raising Kittens

kitten
Small red kitten plays with green grass

Article originally published on Petfinder by Jennifer Sellers. Refer to the original article here.

When it comes to raising kittens, the philosophy is pretty similar to that of bringing up children. If you provide proper care and training when they’re young, it increases the odds they’ll grow up to be healthy, well-adjusted adults. So if you recently adopted a kitten, start incorporating this advice as soon as possible.

1) Don’t Treat Your Kitten Like an Adult Cat

Just as a human infant has vastly different needs than a teenager, a kitten will have care requirements distinct from those of a fully matured cat. In addition, you should consider a kitten’s various stages of development when caring for her:

  • Under eight weeks of age. At this early age, a kitten should still be with her mother and litter mates. Because kittens this young are unable to regulate their own temperatures, they rely on one-another’s body heat to survive. In addition, they are still developing vision and leg coordination. If you adopt or foster an orphan kitten in this age group, special care will need to be taken, including bottle-feeding the kitten for every two hours up to four weeks of age and possibly helping your kitten pee and poop. It’s best to consult with a veterinarian for specific instructions and advice.
  • Eight to eleven weeks of age. Kittens are usually weaned by eight weeks and should be eating kitten diet, which needs to be energy dense, rich in protein and highly digestible. Whether choosing dry kibble or wet food, be sure it is formulated for kittens. Other big changes will start occurring during this period as well. As your kitten begins developing complex motor skills she will become a force of nature — running, jumping, playing and exploring. This is a delightful period of kittenhood, but also one that can be dangerous to your kitten if she isn’t appropriately supervised.  Start setting boundaries for your kitten and keep her in a safe, enclosed room while you can supervise her.
  • Two to four months of age. This is a phase of rapid growth for kittens in which they’ll have almost three times more energy than an adult cat. They’ll need three to four individual meals a day during this time. According to Vetstreet.com, these meals should be minimum 30 percent high-quality protein.
  • Four to six months of age. Kittens in this age group are reaching adolescence and, thus, sexual maturity. Talk to a veterinarian about having your kitten spayed or neutered before your kitten reaches this stage to avoid unpleasant habits like territorial spraying and accidental litters. (Learn more about spaying and neutering here.)

2) Reward Good Behavior and Socialize, Socialize, Socialize

The socialization and training your cat receives during kittenhood will affect how well she will likely interact with people and other animals when she’s older. “I remember the first time I fostered kittens and how worried I was about scaring them,” says Jane Harrell. “What I didn’t know was that that was a critical socialization period for them and not exposing them to things made them more nervous as adults. Now when I foster kittens I do everything I can to get them exposed to as much as possible – loud noises, walking on leashes, strangers, you name it! It all helps them become better-adjusted, healthy adult cats.” Just makre sure your kittens have a positive experience out of any socialization exposure you provide them.

As a new kitten’s parent, it will be up to you to guide her and show her that the world is a wonderful place. Consider trying some of these training and socialization methods:

  • Kittens will generally use litter boxes by instinct, however you can help teach her to use it by placing her in the box after meals and play sessions. Make sure the litter box is always available to your kitten and cleaned frequently
  • Pet her frequently
  • Get her used to weekly combing and grooming. (Learn more about cat grooming)
  • Introduce her to toys
  • Allow her to experience different walking surfaces (carpet, linoleum, etc.)
  • Take her outside on a lead or in her carrier (It can be very dangerous to allow a kitten outside without one.) However, before providing any outdoor exposure be sure your veterinarian has administered the proper vaccines and enough time has passed for your kitten to build immunity.
  • Give her objects to explore, such as boxes and paper bags
  • Play loud music and make noise
  • Have friends over and ask them to play with her and give her treats
  • Provide appropriate scratching alternatives (such as scratching posts) and reward her with toys, praise or treats when she uses them
  • Do not allow her to bite or scratch during play. If she does, redirect her attention to a toy.
  • Expose her to other cats and kittens (as soon as they’re up to date on vaccinations, of course!). There are even kitten socialization classes; do an internet search to see if any are available in your area.
  • Take your kitten on car rides, giving her treats the whole time, and get her used to her carrier. (Check out these tips for getting your cat to like his carrier.)
  • Reward friendly behavior with treats or praise.
  • Do not reprimand bad behavior, instead, ignore her when she displays inappropriate behavior.
  • Challenge your kitten to think by teaching her tricks. (Learn how to teach a cat tricks.)
  • Always be patient

3) Make Preventive Care a Priority

To help ensure your kitty has a lifetime of good health, start early in providing her with preventive care:

  • Schedule an appointment early. No matter what, schedule your kitten’s first vet appointment within a week of getting her. Early and frequent vet visits will help socialize your kitten with the vet and help the vet establish a baseline for your kitten’s health.
  • Ask about intestinal parasites, fleas and heartworm. Have a veterinarian check your kitten for worms and intestinal parasites, and have her de-wormed, if necessary. And while heartworms aren’t as much of a problem for cats as they are for dogs, some kittens may be susceptible, so also ask your vet if he or she recommends a heartworm preventative. The biggest parasitic threat to your kitten, however, is fleas. You can start administering topical flea preventatives when your kitten is around 8 to 12 weeks of age — although some brands are formulated for kittens as young as 4 weeks old.
  • Ask which vaccinations your kitten needs and how often: Preventive care for kittens may include vaccines for feline leukemia, rabies and distemper. These shots are usually first administered when a kitten is around 8 weeks of age, with boosters given every few weeks until she reaches 16 weeks of age. After that, your veterinarian can set her up on an adult vaccination schedule. He or she may also recommend additional vaccinations.

These building blocks will give your kitten the best possible start in life, but don’t forget that she’ll still need plenty of attention and care when she gets older.

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Community Stories

What Is It Like To Be A Young Dog Owner

Hello again! Realized that I didn’t introduce myself in the first article, so here’s a brief introduction about us! I’m Deslyn, still studying and I have adopted Dusty from SOSD on 25th July 2019.

For students who are graduating and considering getting a pet (dog, but not excluding other pets), please give a thorough thought about it. 🙂

Let me begin by asking you a few questions.
Why do you want a dog? 
Are you capable of owning one?
What kind of behavioural traits or temperament dog are you looking for? 

170819 Officially Adopted

I’ve always liked and wanted a dog and I decided to have one because I wanted it as a companion and wanted to experience something different in life. As mentioned, I adopted Dusty last year when I was 21 years old. The process of finding THAT dog was not fast and easy, it took many months and effort in finding and emailing before meeting up with it. 

(1) What did I consider before making the decision? 

As mentioned in my previous article, knowing when is the right time to get a dog is important. 

  • At this age as young adults, we have yet to know what lies ahead of us. Personally, as a student who works pt, I have the extra time and cash to settle the dog before graduation. Also, I don’t travel much and won’t be out for long hours, so it’s not a concern about not having enough time for it now and in the future (as I have already know what I want to do).
  • With my family’s lifestyle and situation, I was looking for a low energy, independent, and grass trained dog. Which was why I adopted Dusty. 
Resisting to follow on his walk

(2) What do I have to prepare before it comes over?

Getting my first dog, I was very panicky and clueless on what to prepare before he comes over: necessities and food. 

  • Here are some of the necessities: bowl, collar/harness, leash, shampoo, and playpen. When getting a collar, harness and leash do make sure you get durable ones as you want to prevent your dog from escaping or from it breaking easily.
    For x1 of each item, it may cost between $100 (for acceptable and sturdy ones) to a few hundred depending on the brands.
  • Also, look up on what kind of diet you want to give your dog(of course, seek advice from your vet if necessary).

    Here are some of the diets: kibble(dry), canned, home-cooked, raw, and freeze-dried. Whatever diet you choose for your dog, do your research on the good brands and the different nutrients required for your dog. Make sure what they consume is a well-balanced and nutritional meal. 

    For Dusty a medium-sized dog, it will cost me about $100 – $250 (depends on your dog’s size and the type of diet). It will definitely cost more including supplements and treats.

(Do take note of what other preparation is needed for each of the diets as well.)

For Dusty, he takes home-cooked food (~$100 excluding supplements and treats). In the beginning, I didn’t know the importance and thought it was okay to give him a single protein diet until @theroyaltail guided me on what is missing to make it a more nutritional and balanced meal. The meal prepping is tiring, it takes me about 4-6 hours to prepare 1 month’s worth of meal. From cutting/grinding about 11.5kg meat to weighing the daily portion needed of different proteins and keeping it in the fridge. 

1 month’s worth

(3) What did I not expect after having a dog?

Having a dog is like having a toddler. Why? 

  • Indeed, they do not need constant attention (depending on the dog’s age and needs) but they do need our help to get through their daily needs, mainly walks and mealtimes. 
  • It seems like an easy and fast task but think about it, you are not doing this for days or weeks but years. There’s no off days or MCs, it’s a long-term and daily commitment of waking up early, meal prepping, walks, training, etc. 

No matter how tired, sian, or lazy you feel before and after school/work you got to walk and feed it. You have to always plan ahead of time.

OTW to training

(4) What I want to tell people around my age who are considering getting a dog?

Responsibility, time, and money mentioned are important especially at our age. It’s where we learn to manage our time, finance, and independence. 

  • We don’t want what lies ahead of us in the future makes us care less for them and we don’t want them to hinder us from what we want to do in the future. So know what you want and what you can cope with. 
  • Don’t get a dog just because you want it and have the luxury of time in that phase of your life. And end up not doing and pushing all your dog’s daily necessary routines to your parents. 
  • Money, if you don’t have a source of income (not from parents) or the capability to support yourself daily (not from parents), then reconsider your options. Don’t make the dog a burden to you and your family. Maybe it’s not the right time yet.

You can always consider volunteering or fostering, in which some shelters or AWG do provide the necessities for the dog. Not only can you get to experience what it’s like to have a dog but at the same time, you will know if you are up for this game for the next 10 years.

Graduated from Project Adore

To all youngsters and young adults, carefully think and consider your capabilities and your future before making this long-term commitment and promise. 

If you think you are ready to get a dog, get prepared and all the best! 
If you think it’s not the right time, focus on what you need to do first, the right time will eventually come!

Thank you for reading this article and have a great day! 

Cheers 🙂
xoxo 

Categories
Community Stories

When is the right time to get a dog?

I have always liked dogs and wanted one but I knew I wasn’t ready for all the commitment: monetary, time and mentally when I was younger. 

  1. Commitment: Monetary and Time 

I’d say what most, obviously myself do not expect is the amount of time and effort needed to put into having a dog. 
What I thought was simple: 
Money for food, necessities, treats of course, grooming and vet.
Time to feed, to walk, to bathe and to train. 
Be mentally prepared for all these to be a norm once you have a dog.

But what I didn’t think enough was how exactly and how much time and how much you need to compromise with your own time/schedule (depending on what age/temperament of your dog).

  • I had to, as much as possible settle Dusty’s needs before my own if it could be put on hold as I do not want to bother my family even if had to travel more and rush, I would do it myself. 
  • Training wasn’t something that I thought was needed or necessary other than Project Adore Obedience Training. What I had in mind was providing the dog a comfortable life, under a roof with fresh food and walks >= x2 daily.

    But training is also important in my opinion, to improve both our lives as we coexist under one roof and to set boundaries. Not only that but also be a responsible dog owner and not cause unnecessary problems to people living around us. 
  • Vet visits are definitely a need for annual vaccination and check ups but other than that it depends on your dog’s health. Money has to be set aside for emergency and I’d say always prepare for the worst (a bit kiasi).

    You could also look up into buying pet insurance for your pet as it will help ease the vet bills if anything were to happen. 

At the end of 2018(when I was 20), I knew I was ready for the commitments and started looking up on all the shelters I could find through web and social medias. It took much consideration and courage to finally take the first step in filling up an adoption application.

  1. Picking the RIGHT dog, not what you want but what you can handle with you and your family’s lifestyle. 

Of course including us, we wanted the nicest, cutest, and a fun dog.
But I knew that wasn’t the right way to look for one.

  • Are you active or more laid-back and chill? 
    I know my family and I wasn’t that active, so I decided that a lower energy dog will fit perfectly into my family. DON’T pick a dog that fits a lifestyle that you aspire to have. But pick one that fits your current lifestyle and work towards it. 
  • Who will be living together with the dog? 
    Make sure everyone in the family as well as the dog is okay with one another, especially if you have kids and the elderly in the house. 
  • Is the dog skittish/shy or aggressive/fearful?
    If the dog that you pick has any of these behaviours, just get ready to have to spend more time and (maybe) money to help your dog gain the confidence and to improve. 

Slightly more than a year of having Dusty with us, I wish I did know more (experience wise) about dog handling. 

  1. Get experience on how to handle a dog. 

Before adopting, what goes through my mind was what’s so difficult about having a dog? It just has to eat, sleep, bathe, walk, shit and pee. Thinking of it is so easy than having to experience it not for one or two days but till the end of their lives it’s a different aspect. 

  • Get a first hand experience as a volunteer or fosterer on how and what is it like to handle not just good and easy dogs but also skittish, shy, fearful and aggressive dogs. And from there you know what kind of dogs you can handle and live with for the next 10-15 years.
  • Reach out to dog owners and get to know more about their experiences with their dog.

So this sums up my thoughts on what I wish I had known.
Hope it was insightful for those who are planning on getting your first dog but is still unsure on what to expect! 

Do share with us your concerns or any experiences that you didn’t see coming with your first dog in the comments below! So that we can learn or at least have an idea on what to do if something similar happens to any of us! 🙂

Categories
Community Stories

My first experience with an Animal Communicator

Have you ever wondered what your pet is thinking?

As an owner of 2 dogs – Lilo, a 12-year-old Maltese, and Cookie, a 2-year-old Pomsky mix Shetland, I have always thought “what if I can understand why she’s doing this or that, etc etc.” Hence, I decided to share more about my journey in engaging an Animal Communicator (AC)!

Cookie & Lilo (henlo everypawdy!)

As Lilo got older, I was making a conscious effort 1 year ago to search for a good AC in hopes of understanding more about Lilo so that I can make her remaining years the best ever possible, but my main motive was to know her bucket list! I also got the AC to check in with Lilo about her health conditions and some behavioral issues. As for Cookie, I wanted to understand more about her; her character likes and dislikes. 

While I was researching on which AC to engage, most AC allows up to 10 questions per animal, which I feel that it is enough to know everything important about the animal. For 10-15 questions, ACs usually charge between 80~180 SGD. Most ACs are able to communicate with any kind of animals, be it dogs, cats, reptiles, birds, etc.

I chanced upon Nicole, from @pawsandcrystals on Instagram as she was launching a “pay as you wish” initiative to kick off her animal communication journey. Nicole is currently doing this full-time and her current rates are as below which is super affordable! I felt this instant draw towards her and decided to drop her a dm. We clicked off and immediately set an appointment date for her to do her sharing via a video call. FYI, Nicole usually discusses with her clients over WhatsApp messages or IG DMs, and this special arrangement to do a video call was made as I wanted to share more about some questions you guys might have while contemplating to engage one.

Nicole’s very affordable rates! (Supporting small biz owners as much as possible)

But first, some funny stories that Nicole shared with me! An owner wanted to know why his pug kept getting shocked by his own fart sounds, and the pug told Nicole that he did not know that the sound was coming from himself LOL! Nicole communicated with the pug that not all sounds are scary and the sound came from him. The owner then updated Nicole that the pug smiled at him when he farted the next time! How cheeky is that!!

Nicole also shared that when she first started her AC journey, she chanced upon a chicken near her residential block that looked lost. To practice her AC skills, she proceeded to take a picture of it, went back home, and tried to communicate with it but there wasn’t any response. She thought that her AC skills were not working and then proceeded to bring her dog, Bubbles out for a walk. The moment she opened the door, the chicken was right at her doorstep! HOW IN THE WORLD?! 

Nicole’s very cute dog – Bubbles and said Chicken that appeared at her doorstep

According to Nicole, there are different ways that an AC communicates with animals. Some of them do it through visuals, taste, smell, etc.. For Nicole, it was visual while her friend was through taste. Example: to ask a dog what it likes to eat, Nicole will show different visuals of various foods and get the dog to show her the visual of their favorite food, while her friend will get a taste of the food in her mouth. Cool right?! 

So… What do you need to prepare when engaging an AC? 

In order for Nicole to communicate with our dogs, we sent her an individual photograph of the dogs that we took recently. Do make sure that their eyes can be seen clearly! We also sent her images of us (the dogs’s main caretakers) so that Nicole would know who the dogs are referring to when she gets the visual replies from them. You should prepare a list of questions which Nicole will communicate with the dog and share her findings with you via IG Dm or voice memos.

When Nicole starts her communication with the animals, she’d say hello, introduce herself to the animal as their papa/mama’s friend and give them a heads-up that she’ll be asking them some questions. For our dogs, Nicole shared that Lilo was more aloof like “Who are you? I’ve never seen you before, what do you want?”, while Cookie was really excited like “HELLO! OK! ASK ASK!!” reaction!

Now some of you might wonder ‘What questions should I ask an AC’? There is really no fixed set of questions to ask. You can really ask anything you want, really! 

Here are some of the questions you may consider:

  • What do you like/dislike 
  • Any pain in your body or discomfort
  • What is your bucket list 
  • What activity do you enjoy the most 
  • Do you have anything to say to us 
  • Who do you love the most 
  • Why do you do this (behavioral issue)
  • What type of food you prefer 
  • What do you enjoy most that we are doing for you now 
  • How can we improve your quality of life

Whilst Nicole was sharing with me her visuals that she got from my dogs, I basically went “omg ya omg ya omg yaaaa!!” the whole time because she was quite spot on! For example, she asked Lilo what she likes and Lilo showed her a visual of the milk balls that humans eat. This treat choice is pretty uncommon among dogs and I did not share any videos of Lilo eating the milk balls on any platforms, ever! 

Lilo’s favourite sweet potato milk balls for dogs that looks just like human’s!

We also asked about her behavior of lunging at other dogs first when we are outside. Lilo told her that she is territorial and now that she’s older, she wants respect from other dogs. What a diva! Lilo also told Nicole that she doesn’t like grass and does not understand dogs who chomp/eat grass on their walks LOL! You may want to ask about bucket list because Lilo expressed that she wanted to eat a plate of sausages but she has never tried sausages! So Nicole explained that sometimes, animals want the food that they see or smell when the humans eat. 

For Cookie, she communicated that she really loves zoomies, running in dog runs without leash. She also loves to come to me for sayang, and to play rough with hoodad. Quite spot on as this is what she does daily! This girl even complained that she hates the hairdryer because it’s noisy… which explains why she keeps trying to run away after a shower hah! Cookie also expressed her preference for meaty and dry food. Just for fun, we got Nicole to ask Cookie who she loves more, mama or papa? Interestingly, Nicole said that she saw Cookie jumping between us and told her that she can’t choose, she loves both of us a lot! 

Supawdawg! Cookie doing her zoomies as usual!

At the end of the session, I felt that I knew more about my dogs and how to improve their quality of life. I would suggest for all pawrents to try out AC as it does help to understand your pets better. Afterall, we all want our pets to live the best life possible, right? If you ever feel that there is a sudden change in your dog, you may want to consider speaking to an AC or feel free to reach out to Nicole. She’s super friendly! We are all learning how to be better pawrents for our furkids, so hang in there because you are doing great now!