By Kathaleen R o b e ~

STAFF WRITER
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Talking to animals
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TALK
FrompageGl
they talk back.
, Voight, who lives near Madison,
Wis., turned professional three
years ago, 'helping others commu-
nicate with their cats, dogs,
and other four-footed critters. She
says she has wo*ed with more
than 1,500 animals, including a
frog and a cow.
", Her proudest moment came last
year when she was the keynote'
speaker at the annual Midwest
Horse Fair in Madison; Wis.,
where she lectured to 150 to 200
listeners at a time. She graduated
with a degree in communication
arts from the University ofWis-
consinOshkosh. ,
Voight cites a of trendy
books like When Elephants Weep
and Dogs That Know When Their
Own.ers Are Coming Home for
thei (' scientific exploration of the
e,inotional depth of animals and of
their mysterious con-
nections with humans. Certified
animal chiropractor Julie Kaufman
interviewed Voight for her book
, Cros$i.ng the Rubicon: Celebrating
the Human-Animal Bond in Life
and Death (Xenophon Publica-
tions, 1999),
'Does SpoUike me?'
As!l child, Voight says her gifts
surfaced when she realized she
could cO,mniunica!e with dogs in a
way that others couldn't
"I the words in' my mind '
and 1 feel how they're feeling in
my body 1 see pictures of
'what's hapPening," she said. '
, Today she uses her skills to
help owners with animal behavior
and health problems. But most of
all, clients want to knoW' if their an-
imals like them.
"Niriety-five of the tiille ,
the animals love all the people,"
'she said. ,
Some animal owners at a local ' '
workshop,say her claims are legiti-
mate. Sessions often turn teary
and Oprah-esque as Voight tells '
clients how their'animals feel '
about them.
, Ellen Sidwell of St Charles
brought her ll-year-old thorough-
bred Chaperone to Voight.
"He feels that like himself that
you are very dependable and very
, brilliant and very wise," Voight
, said, as Chaperone nuzzled her
, hand in the stall. "He says he -
would not want to live his life with-
out you.
"He says, 'We have had some
emotional bouts in the last num-
ber of years' - either your health
or an intimate relationship change
- and he says, 'I have been there
for, her. There was a problem and 1
couldn't ride and that :was very
hard for
"He feels that he helped 4eal
, " you. He,says, 'Are we going to be
going to any more of those compe-
titions?' " , '
Sidwell fell and needed rpllar-
bone surgery. She ride for'.
seven months, a fact she said she
never told Voight. She also had de-
cided to stop entering riding cpm-
petit;ions. ' '
, "There were a couple of specific '
issues; the horse brought them up ,
and she could not 1Jave known,"
Sidwell said. 'This woman doesn't
know me. She didn't know if I
showed or didn't show."
Jealous of the new cat
La'ura Clarkson, the ovmerof
Plato Center's TLC Stables, want-,
ed to know how her horse Essie
, - was responding to treatment for a
chronically swollen leg. Clarkson
had Deen bathing the area in alco-
hol; a treatment Voight said Essie
found irritating. ,
"It cor$med some of the things
I already knew," Clarkson said of
the session. "Years ago, 1 wouldn't
have (done this), but now I'm feel-
ing, 'What have you got to lose?' n
Cat and:dog owners often ask
Voight about behavior problems.
Cat oWners call about felines who
'refuse to use their litter box. The
behavior is usually an expression
of anger, Voight said. Sometimes
the animal is mad about a'new cat
in the family or that their owner is
spending more time away fro
Ill
home. , _ , '
, "After they feel heard and the
person stays home more, the
problem will be resolved," she
said. ,
'Dog owners frequently'call
about excessive barking Ol;:;!lOi-
mals who run, away without a
leash. The barking is usually a ,
protective behavior, Voight said.
"pogs love'to have jobs. They
want to feel like they have an im-
portant job in the household:" ",
The owners of noisy canines :
frequently soften when they real-
ize the yipping isn't intended to, ir-,
ritate them. And the barking "
,often subsides after the animal
.feels like he's been heard, Voight
, said. '
to fight \ ,
When challenge her
tell her they think she's nuts, ,
Voight refuses to fight back. Pet
owners who limit their communi-
cation to commands like and
"no" don't usually call, anyway.
"I'm like, That's fine: "Voight
said. "Sometimes, that's really ef-
fective because, they think I'm
going to argue with them."
She says everyone uses
thy to varying degrees.
"Say you're thinldng of your
best friend and she calls you," she
said. 'They're actually hearing you
on a telepathic level. 1 guess with
some people, it's a gift, but 1 be- ,
lieve everybody has the potential
in some form to be able to do "
this."
, "The important thing is :'
just sitting quietly'with your ani:'
I;llal <!fld quieting your mind and,
saying to your animal, 'OK, I'm
,here, is there something you want
, to tell me?' and just wait and see;
what you ,,get."