work like a dog

By Nancy Dewar

York resident Danielle MacKinnon is one of the most influential animal communicators in the United States as well as a psychic and Soul Level Intuitive Coach®. She has written two bestselling books, with Animal Lessons: Discovering Your Spiritual Connection with Animals probably being of most interest to our audience. I met Danielle last spring to learn about her work. She told me, “As a child I was extremely sensitive, could feel others’ emotions and had a super strong connection with animals. I was the weird one.” Her foray into intuitive animal communication began years ago when her dog Bella was very ill. A friend, seeing her distress, suggested she visit a pet psychic to discover what was wrong. With guidance from the pet psychic, Bella recovered and a light bulb went off. “From this experience, I knew I had found my new career.”

After that reading, Danielle realized she’d been communicating psychically with animals forever and so began her new career connecting intuitively with pets. That quickly expanded into the people who owned the pets. One of her first such experiences was with a Chihuahua named Jesus. He was making his owners crazy by lifting his leg on plants in the kitchen. Jesus psychically told Danielle that he was only piddling in the kitchen when the husband hit the wife (the wife had not shared this with her). He said that he had a soul contract with this woman to highlight the times she needed to find her voice – and that he wouldn’t stop this behavior until she began to stand up for herself.

Danielle’s experience with the little guy was a huge eye opener and changed the trajectory of her work. “I then realized that my life’s calling wasn’t simply to work with animals; it was to work with them to help people live better lives – which would, in turn, help the animals live better lives.” As we sat on Popover’s patio in Portsmouth that sunny spring day, Danielle shared more stories of how our animals are souls here to teach us. She talked about how an animal’s misbehavior wasn’t always a training issue, but instead part of the contract between the animal and their human. And as people worked on “issues” within themselves, often the animal’s behavior problem would clear up. She also shared how some animals have contracts to simply teach unconditional love to their owners, since many have never experienced that before. Danielle’s career evolved from individual readings (she’s given tens of thousands of them) to creating The Danielle MacKinnon School where she trains students in her proprietary Soul Level Animal Communication® method. There is a list of certified animal communicators to contact for personal readings on her website. One of those dedicated practitioners is Karen Dendy Smith of Charlestown, who went on to create “The Animal Communication Collective,” a consortium of Certified Soul Level Animal Communication® professionals, trained by Danielle, whose mission is to help animal welfare organizations raise funds through complimentary reading events.

A few months after meeting Danielle, I received an invitation to attend a group fundraising event to support NicaLove, an animal welfare organization in Nicaragua founded by Julie Burke of Rye. Of course, I jumped at the offer and joined a few other local women in a cozy living room, all feeling a bit of trepidation, as the three communicators explained how they work. “We connect with each of your animal’s energy, whether alive or have passed, and show what they want you to know. We can feel them already!”

Well, we were off! They spent about fifteen minutes interacting with each of us. We learned that Blue (a living dog) loves his bed, is very flirty and his job is to care for and look after his human Mom, as “she’s my girl.” Winnie (a living Corgi) thinks her human has a remarkable story to tell and hopes she will write it to share with others. One gal was perplexed as her dog often makes little barking noises. “She’s telling you that you need to speak up more often and really ask for what you want at home.” A cat named Rider sees himself as a cool masculine dude and considers his mom “the girl.” His human laughed and said, “Great, maybe I’ll take him as my date to the next party!” As individual readings were done, there were nods. “Yes, I understand that. That makes sense.” There were also a few looks like, “Is this for real?!”

Then it was my turn. Topline: “We see you on a beach running with Flip-Flop and flying a kite that is connected to a thin string that is ready to break. You need something thicker to hold on to it; like those velvet stanchions you see in movie theaters. Your head is often in the clouds spinning with so many ideas that it’s hard to get clarity. You need grounding. Do more than just take Flip to the beach. Take yourself to the beach too. Be present and enjoy the sights and smells just like Flip does. Tune out from the noise of the world.” Okay…bingo…I get it! I asked about Flip’s health. “You need to gently massage her back end and rear legs. They feel tender and need some loosening up.” Another bingo, as recently she has been hesitant when jumping into my SUV, as if it is a bit difficult for her.

These professional communicators believe that animals are here to share their souls with us and help humans recognize things in ourselves that aren’t often readily apparent. They could be right! I do need to get more grounded, stop moving so much and take more time for myself. Maybe we all do! Animals are much wiser than we often give them credit for. DanielleMacKinnon.com/animal-communicators/ Animal CommunicationCollective.com