We study and utilize deep relationality and animal communication every day on the farm. It’s one of the most joyful aspects of our life here. It really boils down to respect, observation, and feedback. We also use the principles of positive reward from the best of operant conditioning.
Through our relationships with the animals here, we have been deeply changed. We are leaving behind a more arrogant, human-centric view of intelligence. We are moving into a greater respect for the dignity and intelligence in the animals. Oddly, this has brought us more self-respect as well.
We love just hanging out and communing with our animals. And, we have a farm to manage. Our choice for studying animal communication is a practical as well as a spiritual one.
It’s much nicer to cooperate rather than to use brute force or emotional violence to get our farm work done. For example, all the four-footed animals know their names and come when we call (the chickens come en masse).
Every day is a chance to build more trust and understanding. These lead to more flow in everyday tasks and the greater efficiency and safety in emergency situations.
After years of this work, we are just scratching the surface. We have learned practical ways to live with animals with positive training from:
- Karen Pryor, Reaching the Animal Mind
- Turid Rugaas, On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals
- Brenda Negri, The Way of the Pack
- Joe Hutto’s work with a mule deer herd
Other Communication
Every day we work on the land, tending the soil, plants, animals, and all the life here, including ourselves.
We were inspired by our friend Judith Hooper’s suggestion that we look into Monica Gagliano’s work on science, intimacy, communication, and connection. This YouTube on Plant Intelligence and Reimagining Science is describing experiences that seem quite familiar in tone to our experiences here on the farm, but with the added twist that Dr. Gagliano is a research scientist and braving the social headwinds to publish her experiments as correct science. We are inspired.
Dr. Gagliano’s language is so evocative, pure, human, and direct—we hope you will listen and be inspired.
It is inspiring Amy to think about writing in more detail about some of our communication experiences with the land and the life here.