With lots of food, decorations, visitors and icy weather this time of year, it’s important to keep your critters safe so that all can have a happy holiday season. Here are a few tips and reminders to help:

• Poinsettas, while beautiful, are toxic to dogs and cats.

• Tinsel on trees is a tempting toy, especially for young animals. If swallowed, however, tinsel can cause serious internal injuries.

• Chocolate, a holiday favorite for people, is toxic to dogs. Read this article for more details.

• Dogs are attracted to the taste of antifreeze. If consumed, the results may be fatal. Stow containers out of reach and check vehicles to ensure there are no leaks.

• Products that melt ice on walkways and driveways irritate paws and if licked can injure animals. Choose a safe alternative available at many healthy food stores or online.

• Check with your vet for a change in hours of operation over the holidays. It’s always a good idea to have an emergency animal hospital phone number programmed in your cell phone, just in case.

• While some animals may love the extra visitors to their home this holiday, some may not. Commotion and loud noises can be very disturbing to some animals. Consider creating a safe, quiet area or room where animals can retreat to if they need a place of refuge.

Wishing you and your human and animal family a safe and happy holiday!

Happiness Revealed is a gorgeous video with a beautiful and inspiring message created by nature photographer Louis Schwartzberg. A brief introduction to the artist and his work is followed by the video itself.

This message is a wonderful reminder that every day is a good day to be grateful and that cultivating gratitude in our lives is a blessing for all.

Click here to be directed to the link.   Enjoy!

I am grateful for you in my life and I wish you many blessings! What are you grateful for today?

Mugsy is a fearless tabby kitty who is known as the cat who slaps gators. This video clip will show you why. He’s one tough kitty. Hope you enjoy this amusing video.

Copy this link into your browser to watch:  http://xfinitytv.comcast.net/watch/Bad-Dog%21/7125875514716126112/2258005751/The-Cat-Who-Slaps-Gators/videos?cmpid=FCST_hero_tv

No one knows why they do it. Yet each fall, thousands of starlings dance in the twilight above England and Scotland. The birds gather in shape-shifting flocks called murmurations, having migrated in the millions from Russia and Scandinavia to escape winter’s frigid bite. Scientists aren’t sure how they do it.

The murmurations are manifestations of swarm intelligence, which in different contexts is practiced by schools of fish, swarms of bees and colonies of ants. Even complex algorithmic models haven’t yet explained the starlings’ aerobatics, which rely on the tiny birds’ quicksilver reaction time of under 100 milliseconds to avoid aerial collisions  in the giant flock.

This short video was captured by two young women out in their canoe one day. It’s extraordinary. Enjoy!

“In a full heart there is room for everything and in an empty heart there is room for nothing.” — Antonio Porchia, poet

This quote is a powerful reminder that anything is possible when we live in gratitude and love with our heart open to receiving the infinite gifts from the Universe. If we close ourselves off to these gifts, life can feel pretty empty and lonely. Fortunately, we get to choose. Full heart or empty heart. Which do you choose for yourself today?

Advanced Animal Communication Workshop

This workshop is ideal for anyone who wishes to deepen and broaden their animal communication knowledge and experience as well as explore a deeper spiritual connection with nature. Relax and connect in this small, supportive group environment. Learn to strengthen and trust your intuitive knowing. Understand and shed misconceptions that can inhibit intuitive flow and expand your receptivity. Travel into realms often unnoticed by humans. Enhance your awareness and communion with all life and enjoy the beauty of this soulful connection.

Next workshop is October 13 & 14, 2012 in Asheville, North Carolina. Please contact me at 828-337-4686 or via email at rain@rainhummingbird.com with inquiries.

To see more details about this workshop click here. For information about additional workshop offerings including: Basic Level Animal Communication,  Tele-classes which you can attend from the comfort of your own home, Animal Communication monthly practice sessions, one-on-one Mentoring sessions, or Journeying with Animals workshops, please visit the Workshop page on my website.  For information about Animal Communication consultations, Reiki healing energy sessions, Soul Journeys and more, please visit my website at: www.rainhummingbird.com.

Animal Communication is a beautiful way to deepen your understanding of your animal companions and to enhance your relationship with one another. Explore and enjoy the journey of this amazing connection.

DeeDee (photo courtesy of Linda)

Flower essences can be powerful healing remedies for a wide variety of behavioral, emotional and physical concerns or issues for your animals. To name a few: grief and loss, anxiety, jealousy, spraying, abandonment, digestive issues, separation, and many others.

One source I recommend is Green Hope Farm. To view their animal wellness collections, go to: www.greenhopeessences.com. Click on “Our Collections”, “Animal Wellness Collections” and then click on the name of the remedy that best suits the condition. Or, give them a call for assistance in selecting the best remedy for your animal companion.

Many of my clients have used these remedies with great success. Here is Linda’s story about her dog DeeDee who benefited from flower essences for severe night terrors. (more…)

Practicing with a wide variety of animals is one of the best ways to hone and deepen your animal communication skills. Here’s an opportunity for you to practice with other people’s animals from the comfort of your own home.

Series Format:

This ongoing tele-class series is offered monthly. Next class is: Thursday, July 26, 2012, starting @ 7pm (US Eastern time) and lasting at least 60 and up to 90 minutes. Cost is $37. The schedule for future classes will be announced monthly. You may participate in one class, periodically or on an ongoing basis.

From the group of participants, I will randomly choose one person who will select one of their animals. The group will then have the opportunity to communicate with the selected animal. After the communication, each participant will share what they received and the animal’s human companion will offer feedback.

In an effort to give everyone ample time to connect with more than one animal per session, share afterward, and receive feedback, space is limited. For additional details about this series and other workshop offerings, please go to this link on my website: http://rainhummingbird.com/workshops/

Prerequisites & Participation:

Participation in this series requires a basic level of animal communication understanding and skill. Anyone who has taken my Learn To Communicate With Animals Workshop or mentored with me qualifies to participate in the Practice Sessions. Anyone who has taken a Basic Level Animal Communication Workshop with any other qualified animal communicator is also welcome to join. Others with interest, who have not taken an animal communication workshop, will be considered on an individual basis. Kindly contact me directly to discuss further.

Registration

Please contact me at 828-337-4686 or rain@rainhummingbird.com to reserve your spot in the next session.

Dylan (Photo by Diane Lewis, pet photographer)

This is the final post telling Dylan’s story, as told by my client Donna G. Enjoy! Please leave a comment and share what you think.

Chapter 3

“I don’t believe, I know.” Carl Jung

In September, six months after Dylan passed over, I was in Cleveland on a business trip. The afternoon I arrived in Cleveland was a beautiful fall day. I drove down to a park by Lake Erie and watched the sunset. I sat on a picnic table and took photos of the lighthouse off shore. The light was golden and lovely, and I enjoyed my time there.

The next morning I was getting ready for my business meeting, thinking about what I should say about this or that problem. As I was brushing my teeth, it was as if someone put a photograph in front of my eyes. In the photo I was sitting on the picnic table, looking out at the lighthouse. But it took my breath away when I realized there in the lush green grass of fall, looking peaceful and happy, was my sweet, sweet Dylan! He was looking at me with his wonderful kind eyes. It was one of those moments a person never forgets! There, in a hotel room in Cleveland, Dylan let me know that he was with me, ever with me.

I have to admit there was a part of me that thought maybe I should see a doctor! I know what grief can do to the human mind, and I had been in the throes of immeasurable grief for a long time. I decided to contact an animal communicator who had connected with Dylan when he was sick to ask how he was tolerating the chemotherapy treatments. I told her about the heart on the back door, the photo that flashed before my eyes, and that how sometimes I felt Dylan’s presence around me. I also told her I missed him so much that I wondered if I had imagined these things so I could bear the grief I was feeling. Her response was just what I needed: (more…)

Maggie - photo courtesy of Donna

This is the second of three posts telling the story of Dylan’s Hearts, as told by my client Donna G. Please leave a comment with your thoughts, feedback and sharings. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

“When the heart weeps for what it has lost, the soul laughs for what it has found.” Rumi

It would be easy to write pages and pages describing the heart wrenching grief I felt on the loss of Dylan. So many other stories on the web and in print do a wonderful and much needed job of documenting the grieving process and the indescribable pain that losing our animal companions can cause. If you are reading this, you already know this. I want to concentrate instead on what can happen when we look beyond the grief and find miracles at every turn!

Dylan passed over on March 18, 2011. By the end of May, at the urging of family and friends and in an effort to try to find some positive energy in our household, I rescued a 3-month old golden retriever whom I named Maggie. Maggie had been abandoned, along with the rest of her littermates, and had been in a foster home for about 2 months. Except for her love of putting everything possible in her mouth, Maggie has been a great puppy. She quickly fulfilled my goal of bringing some positive energy into the household! There were times I could have sworn that Dylan whispered in her ear and told her what kind of funny, crazy tricks she could do to make me laugh. Many of her antics were very much like Dylan’s, and she does make me smile.

About a month after Maggie came into our family, the first tangible and documented message from Dylan arrived.   (more…)