By Nate Jones
Staff Writer
“I’m not a circus act, if he doesn’t want to believe, that’s fine,” says Valorie Moloney of Scarborough about a client who questioned her abilities. “I’m not smart enough to make this stuff up.”
For the past 15 years Maloney has been surrounded with canines of all kinds, especially bearded collies, which inspired her to start the Bearded Collie Club of Maine. In addition to raising awareness about this particular breed through the organization, Maloney spearheads The Pawsitive Path, a holistic wellness program that focuses on direct communication between owner and animal.
Maloney, 53, has lived in Scarborough her entire life and has been married for 33 years. Her husband helps take care of their three bearded collies, although her two children “want nothing to do with them.”
“We had dogs before we had kids,” Maloney said. “I think that’s a good way to start.”
Maloney said her relationships with dogs began with an old English sheep dog 15 years ago.
“When you see them running with the wind in their hair, it’s like something from a scene on television,” Maloney said.
After the dog was diagnosed with cancer, Maloney said she began to treat her pet using natural, holistic methods of care she has since incorporated into her own life.
Maloney said she began opening up the lines of communication unexpectedly. She said one day she was sent a picture of water by one of her dogs.
“I thought ‘Oh, you want a drink!’ Communicating isn’t always just words; it can be pictures, or even just a feeling. It opens up a whole different way of looking at things,” she said.
Maloney said she believes that all people have the ability to open up these same lines of communication she uses in her treatments.
“It’s just learning to open up and use a different part of the brain that we don’t normally use,” she said.
Rarely are communication sessions held in person, Maloney said. She said she is able to communicate with animals across the country with as little as a location and a photograph or description of the animal.
Maloney’s favorite communication sessions are with dogs that have passed away, as dog owners usually want to know what their pet was thinking in their final days.
“Usually if you’re thinking they need to be put down, the animal has sent you that thought,” she said.
Maloney said she still speaks with her first English sheep dog.
“She takes credit for the way I lead my life now,” she said.
Her practice is not immediately accepted by all of her clients, Maloney said. One client in California who had doubts about the validity of her practice was surprised when Maloney produced the name of a coworker from a session with his pet.
One common example of animal communication at work is something Maloney said most pet owners have experienced; an animal will start looking out the window several minutes before one owner arrives home. Maloney also said owners can practice simply thinking of a certain pet toy, and 90 percent of the time the pet will find and bring it to them.
One of the most emotional sessions Maloney conducted involved a bearded collie that communicated it had been a German shepherd on the front lines of World War II in a previous life. Maloney said the dog still suffered from the emotions generated by its experiences.
“There wasn’t a dry eye in the house,” she said.
Maloney’s communication is not limited to canines, either. She said she has spoken to everything from gerbils (who don’t really have much to say) and cats (who have major attitudes) to horses.
“Horses in general are psychic and intuitive. They’re on a different level, she said.
The Pawsitive Path program Maloney uses is largely dependant upon Reiki, a Japanese method of healing.
“If you think of you’re body as a river going from one side to the other, sticks and stones can get caught up in it sometimes. Reiki cleans those out to get your body back in balance,” Maloney said. “After a Reiki session you feel like you’ve had the best nap in the world.”
Maloney started the Bearded Collie Club of Maine almost two years ago. She said there is a national club, the Bearded Collie Club of America, and a regional club in Massachusetts, but often she and other bearded collie owners would not be able to make the long commute to shows and events.
“We’ve had a lot of support from the national club,” she said, which included conversations of hosting the annual bearded collie show in Maine. “It takes a lot of cash and time. It’s our Super Bowl.”
The primary goal of the club is public education, Maloney said.
“Bearded collies are showoff dogs; If you’re not careful they’ll walk all over you,” she said. “They have personalities too.”
The club organizes fundraisers in addition to releasing a yearly newsletter, hosting picnics, shows and get-togethers for bearded collie owners. Their presence is greatest online, where owners may connect directly through an email group.
In addition to serving as a resource for bearded collie owners in Maine, Maloney said the group does participate in some rescue efforts. Some dogs that aren’t bred properly can be difficult to train, she said.
“Some people just don’t know what to do with them,” she said, as some of the dogs may not have been socialized, having never been out of a crate in their lifetime.
Maloney said animal communication is a large part of socializing dogs that have been rescued, and in some cases, finding them.
“I’ll send a picture of what I look like, let them see it for a while. It’s tough to track them down after what they’ve been through,” she said.
Maloney will host a Basic Animal Communication Workshop from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 23 at Camp Ketcha in Scarborough. The workshop is $75 to attend and no animals are allowed. For more information email Valarie Maloney at mebeardies@maine.rr.com or visit the Bearded Collie Club of Maine Web site at www.BeardedCollieClubofMaine.org.