Sometimes the Message Doesn't Make Sense

My guardian dog, Milly started asking me for something I never expected.

A puppy.

Not once.

Not twice.

Repeatedly.

At first, I laughed.

"Milly," I thought, "I live on a farm with forty animals. I don't have time for a puppy."

Besides, she was an eleven-year-old livestock guardian dog. Why would she suddenly want a puppy?

But she wouldn't let it go.

Every time I walked out into the pasture, I could feel her excitement.

"Where's the puppy?"

Day after day.

Week after week.

I tried to negotiate.

I looked into getting a guard donkey.

I considered a guard llama.

Each time, her answer was the same.

"Not a donkey."

"Not a llama."

"A puppy."

I have to be honest...

Part of me wondered if I was making the whole thing up.

Even as an animal communicator, I still ask myself hard questions.

Is this really what I'm receiving?

Am I interpreting this correctly?

Could I be wrong?

Those questions don't weaken my work.

They keep me honest.

Eventually, after months of resisting, I brought home a puppy.

Milly immediately went to work.

She patiently taught him the rhythms of the farm.

She corrected him when he needed it.

She showed him what it meant to care for sheep, alpacas, and chickens.

She was preparing him.

Only later did I understand why.

Within two months, Milly was gone.

We discovered she had lung cancer.

Looking back, everything suddenly made sense.

She wasn't asking for a puppy because she wanted one.

She was making sure the farm—and all of us—would be cared for after she was gone.

I couldn't have understood that while it was happening.

And maybe that's one of the hardest parts of living in relationship with animals.

Sometimes their messages don't make sense until much later.

I've learned not to force meaning.

I've learned not to pretend I always know exactly what an animal is telling me.

Instead, I try to stay open.

To listen.

To ask questions.

To admit when I don't yet understand.

Sometimes clarity arrives immediately.

Sometimes it arrives months later.

Milly reminded me that trust doesn't always mean having certainty.

Sometimes trust simply means taking the next step, even when you don't yet understand where it's leading.

You May Be Wondering...

What if I don't understand my animal companion's message right away?

You don't have to. Some messages unfold over time. Looking back, we often see a meaning that wasn't visible in the moment. Give yourself permission to remain curious. Understanding doesn't always arrive immediately, but that doesn't make the message any less real.

May you see the world through the eyes of love, remembering that we are all part of one living, sacred whole.