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"Differences in animal instincts and animal learned behavior" Psychic Advice Column addresses inquiries related to: Stressful animal behavior, List the types of animal behavior, What significance does animal behavior have to us, Use of animals for healing, Why is behavior important for species and animal survival, and more...

DIFFERENCES IN ANIMAL INSTINCTS AND ANIMAL LEARNED BEHAVIOR

Question: "Can animals sense characteristics in people? My dog shakes a lot every time a Particular Client comes over. He goes into this strange needy routine. She doesn't give him treats or lavish him with love or anything to create this kind of reaction. I wonder if he can see her aura or sense something about the kind of person she is."

Psychic Advice:
Animals are amazing creatures; they are loving, kind, caring, compassionate, empathic, intuitive and intelligent - many animals derive great joy from serving and pleasing humans in various ways. Animals can learn behavior that is not natural to them: they can be taught to do tricks, to be obedient and behave in certain ways, to work hard, to act in movies, and even to rescue people. Service dogs can be trained to dial telephones to call for help when their person is in distress. Killer whales can be trained to lift their huge bodies out of the water on cue to delight and entertain people. Horses can be trained to be ridden, even with people standing on their back; they will pull a cart, run a race, jump over fences, hunt other animals, and serve whatever else is asked of them by humans. Dogs can sniff out bombs, drugs, illegal foods or people for customs and law enforcement; dogs can follow the trail of missing or escaped persons, or even those buried in avalanches.

Animals can be trained to do a lot of amazing things to serve and to please humans, but there are differences in animal instincts and animal learned behavior. Although dolphins can be taught to do extraordinary tricks and seem to delight in doing them, they are also extremely telepathic, compassionate and healing beings. Dolphins have been known to protect people from shark attacks. They are also drawn to pregnant women and communicate with the unborn fetus (many of whom become highly intelligent children and adults). Dolphins have also had remarkable healing effects on children with autism and other disorders (horses and dogs have also had positive effects on children with autism, special needs, or even "at risk kids" with violent tendencies). While dolphins are naturally playful and loving beings, they can also be trained for military purposes and warfare to perform tasks such as locating nuclear missiles, torpedoes and enemy mines in the ocean; some claim that dolphins have been fitted with explosives and trained to attack enemy vessels in wars from Vietnam to Iraq.

Even massive elephants can be trained to be ridden and perform tricks to entertain crowds at the circus. Yet elephants in the wild mourn and remember their deceased loved ones and regularly visit their bones to honor their ancestors. They adopt and protect each other's young when necessary, and remain in family units for decades.

Before humans went into space, space programs in the United States and Russia sent animals such as monkeys, chimpanzees, mice and dogs into orbit. Chimpanzees have long been used in medical research, but they are also highly intelligent and sensitive beings. Several years ago, Hugh Downs did an extraordinarily poignant story for "20/20" about a Chimpanzee named Booey, who had been part of a research program in which chimpanzees were taught to communicate using American Sign Language (ASL). One of the trainers became very close to Booey, but when the research period ended, Booey was sent to a biomedical laboratory where he became a living experiment for various human diseases. Booey was shown slumped in a cage at the lab looking extremely sad, dejected and despondent, but when he saw his former trainer whom he had not seen in years, Booey immediately got up and started gesturing to him in sign language. No one had continued communicating with Booey in sign language during all those years, yet this amazingly intelligent creature not only remembered everything he had learned, but still felt love in his heart for his old trainer despite how he had subsequently been treated by other humans.

There are many differences in animal instincts and animal learned behavior. Humans often seek to control nature and to tame beasts, yet nature is far more powerful than man will ever be, and it cannot be controlled no matter how hard we try. Animals are much closer to nature and they respond to their natural instincts and senses, while humans have learned to override their own senses and instincts in most cases. Animals live and function according to the natural cycles and rhythms of nature - this is how the salmon know when to return to the river where they were born to spawn, and how birds and whales migrate with the seasons, and why bears hibernate and other animals gather food in preparation for winter months. All of this has functioned perfectly and naturally since before the dawn of time on Earth without man's interference. The laws of nature are the natural laws that govern the lives of all creatures, including mankind.

Why is behavior important for species and animal survival? Some stressful animal behavior can be a direct response to stresses that the animals are feeling from their environment. Animals can sense earthquakes before they happen and will seek to run to safety; long before an earthquake hits, animals that are in captivity will behave as if they are going berserk, doing things like running in circles and becoming very vocal. Before the great Tsunami hit Thailand, animals ran for high ground - although the great Tsunami claimed almost 300,000 human lives around the Indian Ocean, reportedly not a single animal that was free to move lost its life.

Stressful animal behavior can also be triggered by the stress they feel from people or other animals. Detecting stress is a natural animal instinct for survival. Animals sense fear and stress, and for many, this becomes a natural trigger to attack prey. However, many animals can have such a deep compassion that they seek to rescue, nurture and care for other creatures who are in danger or under stress. There are many photos and videos on the Internet of animals that are natural enemies who bond with and nurture each other: a lion takes care of a baby antelope, baboons become friends with chickens, a male tortoise mothers a baby hippo, and even a duck and a cat can become best friends. We might think this kind of interspecies adoption and nurturing is unnatural, but love is the essence of nature for all creatures.

Animals can perceive energy on various levels. Just as dogs can hear frequencies that humans cannot hear, many animals can also see and perceive other dimensional frequencies that most humans cannot see. Cats will seem to stare into space and follow something with their eyes, then either try to attack it or run away - cats are able to see and perceive spirits, which is one of the reasons that they were associated with witchcraft.

Dogs can sense the energy in humans. They have a deep desire to love, to serve and to help humanity, no matter what is asked of them or how they are treated. Dogs can sense illness, need and disease; they will try to lick our wounds, and will empathize with our pain. They try to make us happy when we are depressed, or comfort us when we are sad. Many animals actually take on the ailments and behaviors of their humans in an attempt to heal them by relieving pain and suffering.

Animals are meant to serve humans by teaching us and giving us unconditional love. They support us through the challenging times in our lives - many people feel that their pet is their best and most reliable friend. Animals will stay in service with us as long as they are needed, even if they are in tremendous pain, and they will leave whenever they are no longer needed.

Animals tend to respond differently to different people; this is both a reaction to how each person responds to them, and also a reflection of the energy that each person is emanating. Dogs will bark or growl at some people and not at others, regardless of whether they are familiar or unfamiliar with them. Dogs have a good sense of determining a person's character, and because dogs are highly protective of those they love, they will act in a defensive manner when they encounter a person whose energy is threatening or uncomfortable in some way.

There can be a long list of the types of animal behavior and their various causes, but because animals are highly empathic, intuitive and sensitive, one must often take an empathic and intuitive approach to understanding their behavior. Shaking can be a sign of fear, nervousness and anxiety that the dog senses when in the presence of a particular person. A dog that acts needy with only a certain person can be picking up on that person's need to give and receive love. It can also be that this dog has a soul connection with that person from previous lifetimes, and recognizes the love that they have shared before. Just like humans, animals also reincarnate, and they can remain connected to a particular soul or group of souls over many lifetimes.

What significance does animal behavior have to us? Animals can show us the reflection of our own issues and what we need to heal. When animals are in a stressful environment, particularly where there is a lot of arguing or conflict, they can start to exhibit stressful animal behavior, which can even affect their health. This is a way for them to get our attention so we can see how our behavior and energy is affecting everyone and everything around us.

Humans are the only species that kills for reasons other than food. Humans are also the only species that allows animals to suffer intentionally and needlessly. And humans are the only species that takes from nature more than it needs to survive. Although humans pride ourselves on being the most intelligent and most highly evolved species on Earth, we have a lot to learn from the animals.

Animals and humans are meant to serve, honor and take care of each other, and there are many ways to benefit from the use of animals for healing. Animals can help the elderly live longer by giving them love and companionship - animals lower blood pressure, and can act in ways to save human lives in an emergency. Children and convicts have experienced profound healing through taking care of animals and experiencing the healing power of unconditional love - for some criminals, being with animals can be the first time they have ever felt love or compassion, which are vital elements necessary for treating other people with kindness and respect. These are some of the things that create the differences in animal instincts and animal learned behavior - which applies to all animals, and to humans as well.

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