An Interview Between a Dog Psychic and a Dog

Last night, my editor asked me if I would be willing to do a session with my dog and pet psychic. Though initially skeptical, I agreed. After some digging, I got in touch with Eileen Garfinkel, who claims she is able to tap into the psychic energy of people's pets—both living and deceased—to act as a communicator. I sat down the Eileen early in the morning to see for myself what a pet psychic could tell me about my spoiled dog. I went in hoping to find out why my dog Zoey is anxious and came out with more than I could have expected.

Broadly: Is Zoey happy in the apartment?
Eileen Garfinkel/Zoey the Dog: Come here, boo boo. So your first question, are you happy in this apartment? Yes, she is happy in this apartment. There are… it's very…. You were on a ground floor or a lower floor before? So yeah, she shows me… you were in Brooklyn?

No.
You were here in Manhattan?

We were in New Jersey.
Oh, New Jersey, yeah, yeah, yeah. It didn't feel like Manhattan. Okay, so… It's very new, it's okay, she likes it. She has this anxious energy that has nothing to do—you were thinking it had to do with the apartment—but it doesn't. It has nothing to do with how high up she is. But she's telling me that she needs to be walked more. Walked more and… Yes, much more! Okay, boo boo. Walked much more. She's got so much energy. And for some reason, I don't know what your other places have been, but the feeling she shows me, she shows me that there was more running space?

Yeah, there was a huge yard.
Oh! Okay, good. Much more running space. So, she says she likes the apartment. It's been more exciting, there's more activity, but she really needs to be exercised. So, if you could take her out… I asked her if she likes the dog park. She's not very partial to the dog park.

She never really socializes there much.
But she really wants to walk. She loves people; she loves meeting people, but so much of her anxiety and her energy is… I don't want to say "anxiety," but she's worried. It's anxious energy. It's not like "anxiety" that would turn into depression, it's not like that at all. It's very anxious energy, and she's gotta be exercised. So that will take care of so much of her hyperactivity. She's gonna have a very hard time if you're not home and you don't have a dog walker. You work from home mostly?

I work in Brooklyn, but I go to school and other things.
Okay, yeah. So if you're not home, she will need to go out with a dog walker. She won't do well if you hire a company where there's a different walker every few weeks. That won't work for her. She needs that stability, and she needs that bonding with another person. So if you do hire a dog walker when you're not here, it has to be the same one. So maybe find an individual rather than a company. A company, if a guy can't make it that day they just send someone else. She will not like that.

Although she likes people, she doesn't bond easily. She bonds easily with you. She's very fond of you. Oh my god, if she could be inside you, she would. She's like, "Can't she get one of those doggy bags and carry me all day?" But you know, it would be too much… even now, she's so anxious when she chews her bone. She needs a lot of walking. She needs a lot more exercise. Oh, you asked what she calls you? She calls you "mom." Do you refer to yourself as "mom" to her?

Sometimes. That's funny.
Because she says, "Tell mom." Let me tell you that as an animal communicator, I'm not like, "Oh, mommy, daddy," I don't. Because I see animals as equal but different, so I never infantilize them. But she said, "Tell mom." So, "Tell mom that the exercise of walking me is good for her too. Tell mom she needs to exercise along with me." It would be good for you. It would be very good for you.

What is she stressed about?
This is what she shows me, your mind is like… A wheel that's [spinning noise]. If you could get that in your routine to give her really long walks, interesting walks, three to four times per day, that would be great for you. Away from electronics, away from books, away from anything and everything. Just you. Have that time, just for yourself. And it would be great for her. It would be great for you, and it would be great for her. Yes. So she picks up a lot of your energy as most animals do. Never sit down… always moving. Moving. Never sits down.

One of the messages—she's really giving me a lot of information!—one of the messages is for you is to really take care of yourself. Things manifest that go through the spiritual plane into the emotional plane and into the physical. So she wants you to rest before it becomes physical, because you don't take any time to just let go and not think about other people and things you have to do. It really amazes me what these animals are capable of, and what they tell us. No human being could ever have taught me compassion, tolerance, and patience the way animals have.

Does she need a companion?
A companion is not going to be a quick fix. A companion would be fine, but again, what she needs is the exercise. That's most important for her. She says a companion… She shows me like, double trouble, but she says it in a funny way. I see her playing with another dog. It would have to be another Maltese. I asked Shih Tzu, and she said no. It would have to be another Maltese. Not a puppy because she would get very jealous. More than that, she's content to be the only dog. She really is. But, yeah. There's no magic pill, there's no quick fix. Again, the exercise is of utmost importance.

What does it mean that she hides under my roommate's bed?
What's your roommate's name?

Doug. My cousin.
So, she hides under Doug's bed. Why do you hide under Doug's bed? In your other apartment… house. Were you in a house? Yeah, okay. So, there were a lot more… How do I say this, not even nooks and crannies, but your furniture was very different, so there were more places for her to be, so she misses… It's not like she misses, because animals don't regret and they don't project. I wish we could be like that, just living right in the moment. She likes a place that is cozy and small. Is there stuff under his bed? Yeah, so she likes that. She likes to make nests. She likes to nest. It's okay if she's under the bed. Maybe buy something or make something where it's a little cozy, where she can go behind and in, right?

Oh, you're welcome! She says, "I would like that, a very soft, cozy, and can go behind or inside." Okay, that's good. Very different here, very different. But not negative, just very different for her. She does like Doug. He doesn't treat her like mama treats her. He treats her more like a dog, not a child. So it's different, but she enjoys that. Yeah, she likes it. She says she feels like he's more of a trainer, and you're more of a parental figure to her. So, he's more… She's more like a guy's dog when she's with him. He plays with her. And she likes that, right? Yeah. So that's that. Oh, I love her! I loved her when I looked at her picture.

Can you ask why she pees in the kitchen?
Do you put training pads out? And she pees on them? I hate to keep saying the same thing, but it's about more exercise. It has to do with… You used to let her out in the yard. Yeah, so she could pee anywhere she wanted, and she kind of just transferred that behavior when you moved here. So walking to get her anxiety out and even sitting after a brisk, 20-minute, 30-minute brisk walk? Yeah, that would take care of most of her big inappropriate behaviors. They're not inappropriate to her. She'll pee anywhere. She will. She'll pee anywhere.

Does she prefer the street or the park?
Both… Either… Both. Sorry! Both. So some walks in the street, some walks in the park, sitting in the park would be great for her. Which park? Down here?

I take her to Central Park.
Oh my gosh, that's heaven! Oh, my god!

[Zoey the Dog burrows into the couch.]

This is what she does on the couch. Then when we go to bed, she sleeps on the bed with me, there's lots of digging, and a lot of making her bed.
She likes nesting, yeah. So, Central Park. Wow. She's gonna be crazy when she first gets there. That's gonna be great for her. So new. So many new smells, yeah. She also… She gets bored. A lot of her behavior, especially the inappropriate peeing, is boredom.

She loves to nest. It's just her personality. She'll always nest! Yeah.

She goes to daycare, so she socializes a lot. They always write on the notes [who she played with].
Oh, so she's at daycare every day?

She gets to socialize there all the time.
So, do they walk her?

It's like a dog run. I don't think they walk her though.
Yeah, she needs a lot of exercise and walking. She needs that.

Has she ever been in love?
Ohhh, has she ever been in love? That's great. She doesn't really know what "in love" means, but is there any dog you particularly like to play with? I don't know if this is a toy at the daycare or if it's an actual dog, but it looks like one of those tiny dogs… scruffy…

Oh, oh yeah, yeah, yeah! There's one there. I don't know its name.
Yeah, she's showing me playing with him.

She's a little heartbreaker.
She loves her mommy, that's for sure.

Whenever I take her to the dog park, when she was younger, and now, she is spayed, but every dog will hump her. Every dog will.
She's a lover! She's a very sweet dog, but she's also got this huge personality. I love her! You can't help it. So she has this huge personality. Sometimes, most of the time, when a dog humps another dog or a person, it's dominance. They're trying to dominate. So it's like her big personality, they're like "[Growling noises.] We're going to get you down and ground you a little bit." She takes over, even in daycare. She takes over. She comes in, and it's like her place. She's very effervescent. You're a good girl. You're very good.

I watch a lot of TV every night. Does she know what it is? Sometimes it freaks her out, sometimes it doesn't.
What do you mean it freaks her out? What does she do?

Sometimes she'll just kind of ignore it, but other times she'll hear things and she'll look for it, but it's on the TV. So I don't know if she understands it's coming from the box. Like, does it bother her?
No, she doesn't know what that box is. She doesn't know what that box is! It doesn't frighten her, but it definitely stimulates her. Particularly the sound of… Any kind of speeding car, any sound of brakes, she's very tuned into high pitch sounds like, even saxophones, that kind of music, that kind of stuff, it really thrills her. She barks. She's very sensitive, it's the way she is. She's like a receptor. The doorbell. Yeah. Anything high is very… it like, runs right through her. Sensitive to you.

You're very sensitive to… you're very sensitive to your environment, but particularly I'm hearing that you're very sensitive to her. Like a high-pitched sound. It runs right through you like it does for her. You're very sensitive to sounds, and particularly music. Music for you… so I'm seeing that it nourishes you, so music is very important for you. It nourishes your soul. So take more time to listen to the music… do you have an affinity for classical music?

I do!
Yeah, classical music. So, take more time to just listen to that kind of music. It would be good for her too. So do that again. It will nourish both you and Zoey. And the thing to also know about Zoey is that when you are nourished and grounded, she feels nourished and grounded. She feeds off your energy. She picks up what you're doing. Also with animals, we can say what we say, but what they pick up is the intention behind our words and actions. You can't fool an animal. They see behind everything you do and say. They see the energy, they feel the vibration. You're not feeling grounded, no.

Oh, the height! So this is interesting, it's not the height [of your apartment], it's not the floor that you're on, it's your feeling of not being grounded. It's not about where you live, how high you live… Good! Okay, this is all coming together. So your feet need to feel the ground, you need to feel grounded, and walking is very helpful for you to be more grounded. Don't put headphones on. Be there and be there for Zoey. Be there when you walk. Be present. Not even classical music, just be present. Ooh, that's pretty interesting. Okay. So when you feel more grounded, she feels more grounded. That's really the message I'm getting. That's a lot. Wow. We've actually gone through all the questions, is there anything else you'd like to know?

I have three siblings, all boys, and I wonder if she knows how much the youngest one is still nervous around her? The baby. Well, he's not a baby. He's 11. He's a baby.
Is there a B?

Our last name is B, but his name is Romeo.
Oh, what a beautiful name. "I don't know why he's afraid of me, I would never hurt him. I know, but he doesn't know." So she knows he's afraid of her. Oh, very sweet. He's really trying to be brave. Aw, what a sweet boy. He's really trying to be brave. Is there anything that you can do? Yeah, okay. Zoey's energy is… very intense. And Romeo, the feeling from Romeo, a real quietness and introversion. Very sensitive boy. So their energies kind of clash. But it'll be okay. He will. Artistic, he's very artistic. He's very sensitive. Romeo… perfect name for this child. He'll be okay. Oh, are you crying?

Yeah, he's uh… sorry.
No, it's okay!

No, when you said he's trying to be brave, he really is. And you can tell. Oh my gosh, sorry.
Don't be sorry.

No, he really is trying to be brave. He's very sensitive to the world, and he's very introverted, he's very creative, and he shuts down a lot. And you can tell he's trying to be brave around her so much.
That's gonna change.

That's crazy though that you picked up on that. He's really sensitive.
Very soft energy, yeah. He loooves you, oh my gosh! He loves you, oh! Very attached to you, almost like you're his mom.

Yeah. He's 11 years younger than me, so before I went away to college, yeah. We were very close. I'm gonna cry again.
It's good. It's great! Just let it flow like a waterfall.

Yeah, he's a good kid.
I love his name. He was a perfectly named kid. It's like he picked his name before he was born.