She's a pet psychic, able, she says, to communicate with animals on a level deeper than running the can opener or jingling a leash. Ms. Schultz is so good at this that she doesn't have to meet the animal or even see its picture to ascertain its innermost thoughts. She does phone and Internet consultations all the time. With others, it takes more effort to get under their fur. She started a side business in reading paws about a year and a half ago, and travels the Midwest offering workshops and consultations.
Field booming It's apparently a crowded and growing field.
The last couple of years have seen a boom in new books and Internet sites by people advertising their abilities to communicate telepathically with animals and to help pet owners learn to do the same. Ms. Schultz said her clients include a dog that suffered separation anxiety from its owner, another that slept all the time to escape depression from the trauma of having none of its litter mates survive, and a three-legged cat feeling guilty because he couldn't adequately bury his treasures in the litter box. She also counseled a dog trapped inside a cat's body. Another client was a dog, Juniper, who wouldn't play outside with other dogs. As a solution, Ms. Schultz told the owner to tell Juniper that she was beautiful.