Dawn Allen has worked professionally as an animal communicator since 1998, having worked with over 20,000 animals. In 2014 Dawn decided to pursue art on a professional level and ultimately combine her two passions… art and animals, creating digital and fiber art portraits of animals. Dawn offers one-on-one animal communication sessions through her practice Dawn’s Animal Connection and has also published several books including, Animal Whispers: A four-week course in animal communication, The Art of Meditating with Cats, and The Art of Meditating with Dogs.
Please tell us a bit about your journey and what inspired you to continue this path professionally.
I first learned about telepathic animal communication while in college in 1995 when I stumbled upon some books on the subject. The idea of being able to hear what animals are thinking seemed farfetched and too good to be true; however, I thought, “If someone can do it, why not me?” I signed up for a course with Dawn Hayman at Spring Farm Cares in New York State. I honestly felt like I wasn’t “getting it” but really wanted to keep trying. I took more courses with Dawn and then with Penelope Smith. At the same time, I was an intern with Linda Tellington-Jones studying her work, TTouch®, which is a bodywork and training technique for animals. I transferred to Goddard College, and my focus of study became “Holistic Methods of Working with Animals.”
After many courses and lots of practice and journaling, my confidence in communicating with animals increased. I graduated from college in 1998 and immediately started offering my services as a TTouch practitioner. At each appointment the client would say, “So this work is nice, but I heard you can talk to my animal. Can we do that?” Within a year I was officially a professional animal communicator, and word of mouth brought me more clients from farther away. I couldn’t drive to all the appointments anymore, so I started offering phone consultations. Telepathy is not bound by location, and I realized that not seeing the animal’s behaviors actually helped my communication by preventing me from making assumptions and personifying the animals.
My mission as an animal communicator is to help animals and people better understand each other, thereby gaining more emotional closeness and finding ways of coexisting peacefully. I have added artwork to my practice because I feel it is another way to celebrate animals and feel close with them.
How would you describe how you connect with animals – an energy field, a frequency, intuition, imagery…..?
Honestly I don’t usually think about those options as separate. I probably do all of the above! I have found that it is important to understand the emotions, physical sensations, and general attitude of the animal, but specific details are not usually necessary in the process of telepathic communication. (Although I do often get specific details). To know that I am communicating, I look at the general behavior and well-being of the animal as an indication of whether or not I am understanding them.
Do you think that feeling compassion and having a deeper understanding of animals can result in a more fulfilling and rewarding life – spiritually, emotionally and physically?
For me yes! I know people can be very fulfilled without animal friends in their lives but for me it is necessary. I get so much love, calm, guidance, and support from my animals. I can’t imagine being without them.
I also don’t think people need to communicate the way I do to have those benefits from living with animals. Just loving them and enjoying their company is enough!
Is animal communication accessible to everyone?
Absolutely! Anyone who has a bond with an animal or is open to loving animals in general can definitely be in communication with animals. I taught hundreds of people in my workshops then later wrote a workbook to help people communicate with their animals. I found the biggest obstacle was people expecting communication to take a certain form (like a booming voice in their head, or vivid images, or signs). When expectations are let go and people are open to however the animal communicates then it flows nicely.
Remember that telepathy is just one way to communicate. Animals also like to use their voices and bodies to communicate with humans as well.
Where can we learn more about you?
My animal communication website is dawnallen.org (you can sign-up for free monthly meditations for you and your animals) and my art website featuring portraits of animals is dawnallen.net
