I began my work with Animal Communicator (and hospital clown)  Jeannie Lindheim of Vermont on Friday morning, 8 a.m., with an open mind and a listening heart. Maria asked to join in and she was on the phone also. Jeannie did not ask any questions about Frieda in advance, and simply asked me what questions I had for this communication. First, she told me that Frieda had a “huge heart.” She was an old soul, and had been in the world before. I asked her if Frieda was happy in her life, and she asked Frieda, and she said Frieda almost shrugged, and asked “how could you even ask?” She was very very happy on the farm with Maria and with me.

Without being asked, Jeannie said that Frieda loved being outdoors, loved being in the country, loved every smell, sound, sight and feeling of every paw that had touched the ground. She loves the air itself, and everything around her, and it literally a part of the outdoor world.

I ask if Frieda had any memories of barking one night in South Glens Falls while on duty guarding an auto body shop and alerting a family to a fire, in time for them to get their five children out of the house safely. I haven’t written about this before, but have confirmed this incident while researching my book on Frieda. It is quite a story and I’ll save it for the book (or my editors will kill me).  Frieda recalled the fire, and the children, but felt nothing dramatic or unusual about the fire. It was just her job to bark at things like that. Not a big deal for her. She remembers one boy in particular – we went back to the scene of the fire recently and met him, now a teenager. They clearly recognized one another. Jeannie said she knew the boy was coming before she saw him.

I don’t have space for all of the messages, but one critical one centered on Frieda’s life in the Adirondacks, where she had been abandoned for nearly two years before she worked her way South towards Glens Falls and the SPCA in Queensbury caught her. We often see animals through the prism of abuse and mistreatment, and I had just assumed this was a horrible story, a beautiful dog left out in the woods to fend for herself through at least two winters.

That was not Frieda’s message. She loved her time out of doors. She loved living the life of a dog, her feet on the earth, loving the feeling of being in the woods, finding shelter, bounding through the snow and meadows,  the smells, the animals to hunt, the wind and the earth. Every sense in her, every feeling and instinct was alive, she felt everything. She did not want to leave the Adirondacks, did not want to be caught, did not want to leave that life of freedom.

This was especially meaningful to me, since it changed my perspective on Frieda. We are so busy seeing animals as piteous and in need of us, that I never considered how wonderful it must have been for Frieda to run wild in the woods. She is a fast runner and good hunter. She loves every walk she takes, every minute outdoors. This clearly seemed true to me, and a valuable communication. I am incorporating it into my book.

Maria began crying when Jeannie described Frieda’s feeling when she first saw her, how she melted right into the crate with happiness at finding her human being. She just melted, said Jeannie, she loves you so much Maria, she said, and and she quoted Frieda as saying “I felt like I came home” when she met Maria. She could relax, protect her. Just try and hurt her, said Frieda, just try it. And she has, said Jeannie, come to feel that way about all of the animals and people at the farm.

This is so, I can see. She even protects the chickens from stray dogs, as one learned two weeks ago. And she guards my study in the day and the bedroom at night.  You feel quite safe with Frieda. I’m doing a communication with Jeannie and Simon next week and then the other animals on the farm, living and dead. This will be a weekly thing. I want to be open to this and to understand it.

I’m glad I’m doing it. I feel very comfortable with Jeannie who is very direct and empathetic. Very comfortable experience for the first time. I will share these experiences here. Maria and I were both grateful for the Frieda communication. Maria said she now sees Frieda differently, as a more independent being. She and I are another part of her varied life, not the only part. And she is a great free spirit with a huge heart.  It helped both of us to see her more clearly and understand her.

Next week, Simon, then Orson.