The best way to build and maintain a relationship is through a steady flow of communication. Marti Miller, pet psychologist and intuitive, offers her services as an intermediary between pets and pet owners.

Miller utilizes her communication talents to solve pets’ behavioral issues. Though these practices are unorthodox, she maintains a sizable following in Austin.

“People either call me because they’re at their wit’s end [with their pet’s bad behavior] or they’re open to exploring something different,” Miller said.

She claims to have had intuitive talents since she was a young girl, but she didn’t begin working with animals until after her cat, Cubby, passed away in 1994. At the time she was in her second year of graduate school pursuing a master’s degree in spiritual psychology at The University of Santa Monica.

“I believe we all can do it,” Miller said. “It’s just a matter of tuning in to your intuition. When I work with an animal, I’ll get a feeling, or I’ll get pictures, or sometimes I’ll get words. When that information comes forward, I have to trust it and put it out there, [and say] this is what I’m getting.”

After she completed her master’s degree, she relocated to Austin to pursue her passion for the well-being of animals. She has communication experience with dogs, cats, birds, reptiles and fish.

In a recent case, Miller talked to a dog that was marking inside his owner’s home after the owner adopted a new dog.

“They didn’t consult with him about bringing in another dog,” Miller said, raising her voice to illustrate the dog’s emotions. “It was like, ‘You didn’t even ask! So piss on you!’”

Though she has not yet conducted her follow-up with the owner, usually after she communicates and addresses an animal’s complaint, she claims the unwanted behavior ceases.

“Usually, once we talk, they quit. It’s just like talking to a toddler, really,” Miller said.

When she communicates with animals, she does it one of two ways, either over the phone or in person. While on the phone with a pet owner, she asks him or her to look at and describe the physical characteristics of the pet. While the owner focuses on the pet, Miller said she is able to tap into the pet and communicate with it.

“I work on the belief that there’s no separation. There’s no separation between me and this table, that plant, anything. Because they’re focused on their animal, it bridges any kind of gap or separation there may be, so as long as they’re focused, I can communicate with the animal,” Miller said.

In addition to communicating with pets, she also offers pet-sitting and lost pet services.

“Finding a lost animal is really hard to do because the owner’s hurting, and I don’t want to have to tell them their pet is dead. [To find an animal,] I have to actually go into the animal and see through their eyes where they are,” Miller said.

For a communication sessions, she charges $2 a minute over the phone and for an hour-long house call, she charges $150. As for her pet-sitting services, she charges $20 to 25 for a 30-minute visit and $60 for an overnight stay.

When faced with incredulity from potential clients about her profession, Miller shrugged it off.

“Have them call me. I’ll make them a believer,” she said.

Printed on Thursday, November 17, 2011 as: Animal intuitive offers unique pet communication