Do Animals 'Fix' Our Problems?

One of the questions I'm often asked during consultations is whether animals give advice. People want to know if their animal can tell them what decision to make, whether they should change jobs, move to a new city, or make a difficult choice.

After communicating with animals for almost a decade, I've realised that they rarely approach these situations the way we do.

They aren't interested in solving our problems. They're far more interested in helping us see them differently.

As humans, we spend a lot of time thinking. We replay conversations, imagine different outcomes, worry about the future, and try to control situations that haven't even happened yet. Our minds are constantly searching for certainty.

Animals don't experience the world like that.

Their perspective is much simpler. They live in the present far more than we do, and because of that, they often notice things we've completely overlooked.

I've had animals point out that their human is carrying far too much responsibility for everyone else. I've had others gently remind their humans that they don't need to fix everything immediately. Sometimes they bring attention to an emotion that has been ignored for months. Other times, they simply reflect back how much pressure their human is putting on themselves.

What's interesting is that they don't usually say, "Here's the answer."

Instead, they help shift the way the human looks at the situation.

And that small shift can change everything.

When we begin looking at something from a different perspective, we often find our own answers. We become less reactive. We notice possibilities we hadn't considered before. We stop trying to force an outcome and start responding with more clarity.

I think that's one of the greatest gifts animals offer us. They don't tell us how to live our lives. They remind us to pause, observe, and become curious.

The next time you're feeling stuck, you could ask your animal for guidance. But instead of asking, "What should I do?" try asking, "What am I not seeing?"

You may not receive a direct solution. You may receive something even more valuable. A new way of looking at the situation.

Sometimes that is all we need.

The conversation hasn't changed the circumstances. It has changed us. And once our perspective changes, our choices often begin to change too.