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Josh Hanagarne, the World's Strongest Librarian
Josh Hanagarne is one very cool librarian. In fact, he’s The World’s Strongest Librarian. I’ve been following his blog for some time now. No, I’m not a librarian, nor do I do a lot of strength training … I simply love the way he writes, his great attitude, and his sense of humor. Please visit his blog via the links in this post … I think you’ll enjoy his words, too.
A couple weeks ago, Josh invited anyone who would like a guest post from him to write. I did, Josh visited, and here are his memories of pets gone by, and why an animal communicator might have been an asset to their lives! (I’ll be responding to Josh’s question in a comment to his post.)
Why My Pets Could Have Used An Animal Communicator
By Josh Hanagarne
If there had been someone around to talk to my pets in Nevada, they would have communicated two essential truths:
- Josh’s mom is going to run over you eventually
- If she doesn’t, a coyote will grab you
My mom loved to give us puppies for Christmas. They’d crawl out of the stocking on Christmas morning and we’d all scream and run around before settling down to the serious business of letting my parents take care of “our” new pets.
Without fail, by April of the next year, those dogs would have either been run over by my mother or coyotes would carry them off.
I was raised in a religious family, but the first time I really remember wondering about the concept of resurrection was when I noticed how many Popsicle stick crosses there were getting to be in our backyard.
“Am I going to see my dogs in Heaven?” I asked my mother.
“Sure!” she said, possibly asking herself if there would be cars in Heaven to mow them down with.
Honestly, it wasn’t her fault. We had some exceptionally bone-headed dogs. Rather than wagging their tails, they got the notion that the best way to express affection was to dive under the wheels of any car that came near.
And I’m not being entirely fair to my mother—it tore the woman up. She is that rare person so tenderhearted that she makes Mother Teresa look like a Grand Inquisitor from a few hundred years back.
So my question to the animal communicators is:
Could these dogs have been helped? If so, what would you have told them?
About the Author: Josh Hanagarne is the twitchy giant behind World’s Strongest Librarian, a blog with advice about coping with Tourette’s Syndrome, kettlebells, book recommendations, buying pants when you’re 6’8”, old-time strongman training, and much more. Please subscribe to Josh’s RSS Updates to stay in touch.
Hi, Josh, and thanks so much for your guest post! It raises a good, albeit sad, question, and a good opportunity for me to explain how an animal communicator might have handled the situation with your dogs.
Being a farm dog is a great life. When you have many acres to wander, and little danger of things like road traffic, you really get to learn what it means to be a good old fashioned Lassie-esque free-spirited Dog. Not all dogs are that fortunate, and people who live in cities and suburbs often dream of a country life for their pooches … not realizing that “stuff happens” even in an idyllic setting like your dogs enjoyed.
The first thing a communicator might have done for your family was to explain that animal communication is one tool among many at your disposal. She might have given you a list of dog trainers, or dog training books, for instance, to augment her work with your animals, and to give your family more resources to rely on. The more weapons in your arsenal, the more likely that you’d have kept your puppies around long enough for them to grow a brain.
As far as actual communication, it’s first important to try to see the world from the dog’s point of view for a moment. A puppy isn’t born with the ability to understand that the car (a strictly human contraption) that is sitting safely in the driveway, or the car that is so fun to “go bye-byes” in (once you outgrow your carsick tendencies), stops being a friend once it’s in motion. If I had been called in to help, I would have first fought to get the puppy’s attention (not easy with a puppy, even if you’re dangling a piece of bologna in front of his nose) and begun to play mental movies for him. I’d show him the danger of moving cars. Although I am not usually one to use fear motivation with animals, life-threatening dangers sometimes need a bit of shock factor to get the point across. Once I show the puppy what might happen when the car is moving, I play (over and over and over) more mental images for him, regarding how he can avoid those moving wheels. I show him the movement of the wheels, relay the sound of the engine starting, the smell of the exhaust, and do my best to imprint on the pup that these are all danger signs. I then show the pup how to move back onto the lawn, or to the porch, or anywhere that he will be safe once the car “comes to life”.
Yes, your puppy-brained puppies may have been helped, with animal communication combined with the family efforts to “supercharge” the images with positive reinforcement training. There are, of course, no 100% guarantees; talking to an animal with helpful instruction is pretty much like telling a four year old child, “Don’t chase the ball into the road.” You know they get it when you’re telling them, but you still aren’t going to let them play near traffic unattended. But it does help to get the message across, in addition to the many other tools at your disposal to keep them safe.
I do hope at least one of your childhood dogs lived to ripe old age, and brought you many happy memories.
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