Chicago has slowly but surely been winning me over. My recent trip was filled with warmth and hospitality that I have begun to associate with the Windy City. My second trip to Chicago in as many years began with a missing dog and ended up in the stables of a horse barn in Beecher. During my stay I headlined the launch party for K94keeps.org – a new Chicago area dog rescue group and put on an animal communication clinic for the ABU Arabian Horse Club in Beecher, IL. In my travels I came into contact with some wonderful people and made new friends, best of all I changed several lives and communicated with dozens of animals, living and past including cats, dogs, horses a monkey and even a lama.

In early August this year Kristin Yoshida lost her dog Milo in Chicago. When she contacted me to locate him I was successful in making contact with him and having him lead us directly to him. He told me the area where he went missing, showed me where he was. He was in a hurry to get rescued, he told me that he was stuck in a parking garage. His leash was jammed under the tire of a vehicle that he described as a cross between an SUV and a sedan. Milo said that the vehicle was white with black and green company logo/lettering on it. He said that he could not vocalize because his collar had gotten tight around his neck in his efforts to free himself. When he was found, he was as I had described, underneath a white Enterprise rent a van.

The story of his recovery was big news as was the story of his disappearance. That night Milo’s story was on TV http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news%2Flocal&id=8295871 and I was once again happy to see an animal rescued due to my ability to communicate with them telepathically. The building where he lived was buzzing with the news of his amazing story and pretty soon one of the individuals who works at the building contacted me about her animals, several cats and horses. She was very happy with the connections I provided for her and she asked if I could connect with her boarders and their horses.

Soon after her initial “reading” she arranged a get together at her stables and the phone was passed around with me connecting everyone present to the horses in front of them. At one point a horse who had passed came through, gave us his physical description and age and then delivered one of the most touching messages I have delivered in some time. The horse said, “When it is your turn to cross over to the other side, I will greet you and carry you across on my back.”

Milo has been going to Bark Avenue Playcare for awhile and Daniel and Amy mentioned that they were launching a dog rescue group called K94keeps.org. After adopting out and helping around 150 dogs over the past few years they along with a few others got together and founded the dog rescue group. To celebrate the launch of their non-profit dog rescue, they wanted to throw a party/fundraiser and thought I would be a great additional to their event.

One of the woman who I connected to her horses over the phone was connected to the ABU Arabian Horse Club and asked if I could put on a clinic for them. So with another missing dog out there, and events lined up I booked a flight and headed out to Chicago.

With my coming out to Chicago, I figured I would have one last chance to try and bring in a missing dog named Queenie, I had been volunteering my time over the phone to search for her and after hitting several snags felt as though we might finally have a chance of connecting with her. In my experience if an animal wants to be found, they typically cooperate fully, provide detail as to their whereabouts and are recovered fairly quickly or within the time frame they specify.  Queenie had not cooperated from the beginning.

What had started out as your typical simple missing animal case had taken on a whole new dimension. Queenie took off near O’Hare airport in Wood Dale and belonged to a truck driver based in Oregon, over 2,000 miles away. Queenie, a “blue” Queensland Healer or cattle dog with a stubby tail had been caught twice, but gave each person the slip. She clearly did not want to be caught.

Shortly after getting involved in the search for her, it became apparent to me that the clues to her location were coming from someone else and not the dog. After having no sightings for over a week I was successful in pulling the search teams out of the wrong town and placing them within less than an hour of her whereabouts. Once the searchers converged on a park that I had led them to, a police officer stopped them and asked them what they were doing. When shown the missing poster he reported having seen the dog himself not more than 45 minutes earlier at an intersection about a block or two away.

With her within a short distance of the search teams she again gave those trying to help return her to her owner the slip, under the cover of darkness she disappeared into a nearby forest preserve. A few months later with winter fast approaching and a trip to Chicago taking place I decided to reach out and try and connect with her, so as to bring her in before the first snows had fallen.

Making contact with information concerning her possible whereabouts and having received no additional sightings since the last time she gave us the slip, a team was assembled and a location to focus on was brought to our attention. This time the search area was another forest preserve, a bit west of the last area she was seen in and far enough from the airport so that the noise of the planes was not as intense. Most importantly it was the type of environment that Queenie could easily survive in and stay hidden from those attempting to bring her in.

After searchers checked out the new location to no avail I figured that I would throw a “hail Mary” pass and try and locate her myself, in person.

So, with two events, private readings being booked, and a missing dog to locate, I drove to the airport in Sacramento and on a stormy Thursday boarded a flight to Denver where after a layover of a few hours I would be flying on to Chicago, Midway.  Airplanes are entertaining in the sense that you are afforded a group of strangers who must spend several hours together in cramped quarters. Sometimes I will channel animals connected to those who I am sitting with. On one of the flights, a woman who had a fear of flying was flying with her daughter of college age. He daughter kept trying to calm her down and she was nervous about everything that was going on in the plane, she kept asking if various sounds etc., were normal.

After we had taken off I revealed what kind of work I do. The woman and her daughter asked about one of their animals. In attempting to make a connection I saw an older screen door that had a wooden frame and that opened outward on hinges. Bother the woman and her daughter said that they did not have a screen door like that, theirs was a slider. I then heard the number 16 to which I saw a cat being connected to it and the screen door. The woman then told me that she had a screen door like the one I described at their last house and that a cat who would be 16 now had gone missing outside that very door.

The flight went by very quickly and after landing the woman and daughter expressed appreciation for the connections as well as the very distracting conversation which kept her from panicking on the flight. She mentioned that on a previous flight she ended up on the floor of the aircraft with a flight attendant holding her. Once I had exited the aircraft and met my host for my stay in the Chicago area, I picked up my luggage and we drove a little over an hour to the south of Chicago, to a town called Beecher.

For the duration of my stay I was the a guest at a private residence among the cornfields and horse ranches on the outskirts of Beecher, about a city block from the state line with Indiana. When we pulled up to the 100 year old farmhouse I was staying at I briefly was concerned that there might be a presence in the house, to my relief it was ghost free and I found myself soon making good friends with a dog named Johnson. Chris and Diana showed me great warmth and hospitality and I greatly enjoyed my stay at the farm house. It was like a bed and breakfast, I quickly adjusted to central time and enjoyed my morning cup of coffee while taking in the view of the fields and gently rolling hills.

After sleeping in the first morning, I went over to the stables and met the horses and barn cats. Later that Friday evening I had the fundraiser I was doing for the dog rescue up in the city, but for now I was free to connect with the horses that I had only previously met telepathically. Several of the cats and horses connected with me and I greatly enjoyed my morning and afternoon. I had a few phone readings that I knocked out from the house and then after a bit we headed up to Chicago Party Animals on Fulton in Chicago where the fundraiser party was taking place. I had a few private in person readings before the event got underway and with not a minute to spare we made it to the venue.

The private readings went very well and then it was time for the fundraiser to get underway. People were hunting for parking, getting stuck in traffic and so we started late as people were still arriving. After a quick introduction by Daniel, I went on and after a brief lecture and had fielded a few general questions, I began the portion of the evening that everyone had been waiting for.

An open channeling session is what I call it when I simply bring through animals that I see coming in of their own accord, and not necessarily those that people are wishing to connect with. By doing an open session I can for the most part eliminate what I call “line jumpers” or those who show up on occasion instead of the individual I am being asked to connect with. After an open channeling session of 30 minutes or so I will then switch to a focused channeling session where I will call on members of the audience who have raised their hand and who then provide me the name of an animal to connect with followed by a quick question for them. This approach works equally well for living or deceased animals.

The first connection I had coming through was a dog who had been disabled. I saw a harness for the back legs being assembled, but never completed or utilized, like the animal had crossed over before ever using the harness. A woman in the crowd raised her hand and after I called on her, she confirmed that was her dog coming through. She had built a harness for him and just before it was completed the dog had died. The dogs message was that even though he never had a chance to use the harness, that it meant a lot to him that she had put the effort forward to help him and that it did not go unnoticed.

After I was done with the dog with the harness, I looked over to the left side of the room and saw a monkey standing against the wall. Since this was a dog rescue fundraiser I was surprised to see an animal that walks upright coming through. I brought forward to the crowd that I had an animal coming through that walked upright. Briefly flashing on videos I have seen where dogs who have their front legs either missing or disabled, have learned to walk upright I realized that this was no dog. The monkey informed me that they were not a dog or an ape and that they were a Capuchin monkey.

As I brought forward the monkey and described them to the audience, the same woman who had the dog with the harness raised her hand and claimed a connection to the monkey. When she was younger her mother had a jeweler she would frequent. This jeweler owned a monkey that sat in a cage on one of his display cases. In order to entice her young daughter to accompany her at the jewelers, the mother would remind her daughter that once there she could visit with and play with the monkey. The girl began to look forward to her visits with the monkey. The monkey from her childhood was coming through to confirm that she too enjoyed those visits and looked forward to them as well. Very touching.

The rest of the evening was a blur as the connections pick up their pace and as the crowd loosened up and really got into it. After I was done and the last door prize had been raffled off, I hung around a bit and had the opportunity to meet some of the people whom I had channeled animals for. I made some great connections with people who greatly appreciate the work that I do and who themselves care greatly about animals and their welfare. With the launch party declared a success and talk of making the evening an annual event, we left and returned to Beecher for the evening.

The following day, Saturday was filled with private readings for those who had attended the event the prior evening. After spending the morning taking care of email and voice mail as well as working with the horses at the stables, we returned to Chicago. Before connecting with people from the prior evening I had a request to make a house call in old town and we headed out to the north end of downtown Chicago.

There was a woman who had some dogs who were overly aggressive to visitors and she was looking for help in dealing with their behavior. As promised, when I entered the home, two of her dogs went into full attack mode, everything short of actually biting, very aggressive barking and flashing their teeth as well as the whites of their eyes. After entering the kitchen/dining room, we sat down to talk about their behavior, pretty soon one of the dogs came over to me and began licking my hand and saying that he was sorry for his display of aggression.

I realized that there were a few issues that could be addressed. For one thing when the animals would go off barking and showing an aggressive display, the woman of the house would strongly react. She would become anxious and stressed out herself, while trying to get the animals to stop, she would get agitated and seemed to only feed their behavior. I told her that they were simply trying to be good guard dogs and that to help them she should tell them thank you for alerting us to a possible threat and now that you (the dogs) have done so, we can take it from here. In addition, if she and her husband told the dogs that while they are home they can watch things, and the dogs can relax until they are gone or in bed, and then it’s the dog’s turn to keep watch.

Secondly a lot of what was going on was that every guest who came over was subjected to the same treatment I had received and that by doing so, the visit became one about the dogs and their behavior and not about the guest and their reason for visiting. So if they instead put the dogs in time out for such behavior instead of having to explain it to their guests and then having  one of the dogs coming over to lick the hand of the guest after the show of aggression, they could restore the visits to being focused on the guest and not the dogs who had figured out how to make every visit from someone into an event that was focused on them.

By rewarding the good behaviors and by setting small goals and by ignoring/properly responding to the bad behaviors and by taking the focus off of the dogs during visits and using a time out room if needed, I expect that in time order will be restored. My favorite part of the visit was when I was working with the dog who has proven to be the most aggressive. I was warned that he has bitten or nipped in the past. He was sitting on his bedding in the dining room, I then asked the dog if I could sit beside them. I was cautioned that when the housekeeper tries to clean near the dogs bedding that the dog becomes very aggressive and does not tolerate people coming near their bedding.

I simply sat on the edge of the bedding and pretty soon the dog began scooting closer and before long a paw was resting on my lap, by the time I was done we had really connected I was petting them as they lay beside me. Even the most savage (acting) animal wants to be loved and understood. I also spoke to the owners about using positive reinforcement with the way that they discuss their dogs behavior. I have high hopes that before too long the dogs will be much more relaxed and open to visits and will only go on the attack when needed.

Kristin, Milo and Charles Peden

My next series of in person readings was due to begin soon and so we left old town for the west side of Chicago and soon found ourselves at Bark Avenue Playcare on Fulton. Above their facilities is a photography studio and we utilized that space for private readings. My favorite connection that day was with Milo and Kristin. This was my first chance to meet Milo in person. I was cautioned that he does not seem to like men very much, however he would not stop giving me kisses for the longest time, finally someone grabbed a camera and got a few photos of the last few kisses he gave me.

Charles Peden with Milo the dog whose life was saved by telepathic communication.

Once done with the private readings we returned to Beecher and turned in for the evening. The following morning we woke up to a change in the weather, for my visit so far, the weather had been in the sixties and clear, now it was wet and windy with a chance of snow being forecast for a little later in the week. We began the day by attending to the horses at the stables and after mucking stalls, feeding and watering them I got ready for the afternoons event that was scheduled to begin around 2 pm. Prior to that I had one in person reading to do with a couple who could not stay for the event, after their reading was done people began showing up and I took a few minutes to relax before going on and doing a lecture followed by a group reading.

The event for the ABU Arabian Horse Club of Beecher was well attended and after my talk I began channeling. The first few connections were a bit rough with people not claiming them right away or with them completely forgetting about the animals coming through until later in the evening. After awhile things really picked up and many horses as well as other animals connected – including a lama. One of my favorite connections was this large black stallion that came through early on, he was bringing forward a message about how much he was sorry for having thrown his person and injuring them. No one claimed a connection to him until a gentleman arrived late. He jokingly asked his wife if “Cricket” had come through apologizing about the “moonshot” bucking he had delivered to the gentleman and the subsequent injury he received. I realized that this was the horse that had not yet been claimed and sure enough we got a confirmation.

After the event was done I had several private readings to attend to. One of my favorite private sessions involved a woman’s mother who I saw standing behind her daughter during the private session. When I described the woman and her style of glasses, the woman confirmed that was indeed her mother with her and that she was very much aware of her presence in her life, since her passing. After everyone had left we turned in for the evening and I began thinking about what I had scheduled for the next day – going out in person and looking for Queenie the missing dog.

Monday morning was foggy and cool, we drove nearly two hours away and to Mallard Lake Preserve east of O’Hare. We met up with a few other searchers, volunteers with the PACT Humane Society and after trying to get a read on Queenie’s location at the preserve – with no luck, we headed out. I typically do not search for missing animals in person, I simply make a telepathic connection with them and if they wish to be found, recovery usually takes place fairly quickly. Queenie had been missing now for months, with no additional sightings and I figured that this was a “hail Mary” pass, and that the odds were stacked against us, however being in Chicago right before the winter set in I figured it was worth one more attempt.

Prior to coming out to the preserve I had repeatedly told Queenie where to meet us and she had several days to get into position to be easily located. As it turned out she was not cooperating and after a few hours of wandering around in an area that seemed to be to her liking I called off my involvement in the search. If I had been receiving additional details as to her location within the preserve we would have continued looking, however if an animal does not wish to be located we could have been within ten feet of her and never known about it. Greatly disappointed, we left and decided to swing by a pet store and treat our dogs. We had brought Johnson a chocolate lab mix with us and my red healer, Peaches was back home in California.

As we went through the store I asked Johnson what he wanted and he picked out some treats for himself. I looked for a squeaky toy and some treats for her as well. While shopping for my dog I had a telepathic conversation with her where she let me know what type of treats she wanted and after checking out we returned to Beecher. Two hours later in Beecher I was on the phone with my wife when she mentioned Peaches telling her about a squeaky toy, I then told her that I had indeed purchased one for her. My wife said that Peaches had brought it to her attention 2 hours ago. I checked my receipt, I had purchased the toy and treats exactly 2 hours earlier. Diana, (my host for my stay) had overheard our conversation and asked me to ask my wife what color the squeaky toy was, without hesitation my wife replied that it was orange – it was.

Tuesday was originally going to be spent continuing to look for Queenie, provided that she was helping with locating her position, she was not cooperative and so instead I had some time to work with the horses in person. I spent the day mucking stalls, working the horses on their jumps in the arena and feeding and watering them. Tuesday evening was colder than all the other days I had been there and so on Wednesday we returned to the stables and I once again worked with the horses.

One of the horses in particular had an issue with men, Tia was known to shy away from men and she avoided them at all costs, so I was determined to connect with her. This time instead of just feeding, watering and cleaning stalls I also brushed all of the horses and put their blankets on. One of the horses had never worn a blanket before and when I dressed him, he took to it right away without fuss. When I approached Tia she was at first a bit shy, however pretty soon I had her brushed too and in her cold weather gear. She and I connected very well, she responds to a gentle approach and most men had tried to force their will on her which she would then reject. I really enjoyed spending time with her, and all the other horses for that matter.

During my last few days staying at the farmhouse in Beecher I had bonded very closely with Johnson and he had taken to sleeping with me each night, he made a wonderful bed mate and on my last day he was moping about – he’s not good with saying goodbye. As I waited for my flight at Midway, the first real snow of the season hit and I realized I was leaving just in time. My flight home was filled with my channeling animals connected to those sitting beside me and time passed quickly. I look forward to my next trip and to what adventures lie ahead. A heartfelt thank you goes out to those I connected with in Chicago, I will reflect fondly on the warmth of the hospitality that I found in the windy city.