Key Takeaways
- Susan Deren offers intuitive sessions intended to help adopters explore a rescue pet’s emotional, mental, and physical state.
- Her service is designed for owners facing unknown histories, adjustment concerns, fear responses, destructive habits, vocal behavior, and other confusing changes.
- A reading can be a source of personal insight, but it should complement, never replace, veterinary care, qualified behavior support, and humane training.
- Susan Deren states that remote appointments can be completed by phone, Skype, FaceTime, or Zoom with a pet’s photo and name.
Adopting a pet can be deeply rewarding, but it also means welcoming an animal whose earlier experiences may be only partly known. A dog that hides when a leash appears, a cat that howls every afternoon, or a senior pet that suddenly destroys household items may be reacting to a routine, fear, health issue, or adjustment challenge that is not immediately obvious. Susan Deren’s rescue pet readings are intended to help owners explore that missing context through intuitive animal communication.
Rather than assuming that an adopted pet is being difficult, Susan Deren’s approach centers on understanding the individual animal. Her readings focus on impressions about the pet’s current state, possible past experiences, and needs within the new household. The goal is to give owners additional perspective as they observe behavior and make thoughtful decisions about their pet’s care.
Why an Adopted Pet’s Past Can Affect Life at Home
Rescue animals often arrive with limited background information. An owner may know an approximate age, whether the pet lived with other animals, or a few notes from a shelter or foster home. Yet important details may remain unclear, including former routines, prior handling, changes in health, time spent alone, or experiences that shaped a strong reaction to a person or object.
Behavior can also change as an animal becomes more comfortable. A dog that initially seems quiet may later become more vocal, energetic, fearful, or protective as the new home becomes familiar. Research into animal adoption and the adjustment period after shelter placement has examined the concerns adopters may encounter after bringing a shelter pet home, reinforcing the value of patience, observation, and appropriate professional care when needed.
For an owner, the practical question is often simple: why is this happening now? Susan Deren’s service addresses that question from an intuitive perspective. A rescue pet reading request may be useful when an adopter wants to discuss a pet’s apparent emotional transition, a puzzling reaction, or a behavior that seems connected to an unknown part of the animal’s history.
How Susan Deren Approaches a Rescue Pet Reading
Susan Deren states that she does not require a detailed questionnaire before a reading. According to her website, a clear photo and the pet’s name are enough to begin. The session is then designed to be interactive, allowing an owner to explain the concern and ask focused questions.
- Provide the pet’s name and a recent, clear photograph.
- Identify the central concern, such as hiding, barking, destructive behavior, fear of touch, changes in food, or difficulty being left alone.
- Share relevant timing, including when the behavior started and whether the household routine recently changed.
- Discuss Susan Deren’s intuitive impressions about the animal’s emotional, mental, and physical state.
- Use the interactive part of the appointment to ask questions and consider practical next steps.
Appointments may be arranged remotely by phone, Skype, FaceTime, or Zoom. This can be especially helpful for a newly adopted pet that becomes stressed by travel, an elderly animal, or an owner who cannot easily bring the pet to an in-person appointment.
Common Concerns Owners Bring to Susan Deren
Rescue pet readings may be relevant when an owner is trying to better understand concerns such as:
- Unknown history: The owner wants to explore experiences that may influence current behavior.
- Fear of collars, harnesses, touch, sounds, or rooms: The pet has a strong response that does not make sense to the new family.
- Howling, barking, or other repeated vocalizations: The owner wonders whether the pet is seeking a former routine, more activity, or reassurance.
- Destructive habits: The animal damages furniture, doors, or other belongings when left alone or in certain situations.
- Adjustment after adoption: The pet may appear anxious, withdrawn, unsettled, or unusually reactive as it adapts to the household.
Food, digestive, pain, and sudden behavior concerns require extra care. An intuitive reading is not a medical diagnosis. If a pet is ill, injured, or in pain, stops eating, has persistent digestive symptoms, or shows an abrupt change in behavior, the owner should contact a licensed veterinarian promptly.
What Susan Deren’s Published Rescue Pet Examples Describe
Josie and Destructive Behavior
One client-reported example on Susan Deren’s website involves Josie, a 13-year-old adopted dog who became destructive several months after adoption. Susan Deren associated the behavior with Josie’s difficulty coping with reduced hearing and eyesight and suggested support from a familiar canine companion. The owner later reported improvement after arranging visits with another dog. This is a client experience, not controlled scientific evidence or a promise that the same result will occur for another pet.
Max and Persistent Howling
Another published example concerns Max, an adopted tabby cat who repeatedly howled despite changes to food, toys, and playtime. Susan Deren associated the behavior with a previous routine of supervised outdoor walks using a harness and leash. The owners reported that Max’s howling stopped after they began taking him for harness walks. The broader lesson is that a former routine may sometimes help explain a behavior that otherwise appears confusing.
Cleo and Fear of a Collar
Susan Deren also shares the story of Cleo, an adopted Labrador retriever who ducked and cowered when approached with a collar. Her reading connected Cleo’s reaction to a possible traumatic experience, followed by reassurance and gradual handling. Owners should always prioritize safety with fearful animals. Severe fear, aggression, biting risk, compulsive behavior, or anxiety that interferes with daily life may require evaluation from a veterinarian, qualified trainer, or veterinary behaviorist.
Why Patience and Follow-Up Matter After Adoption
A newly adopted pet’s behavior is not necessarily fixed during the first days at home. A six-month study of shelter dog behavior after adoption followed 99 dogs from five Ohio shelters at 7, 30, 90, and 180 days after adoption. The study found that several reported behavior measures changed over time, illustrating why adopters may need to reassess a pet’s needs as the relationship and home routine develop.
That adjustment period can call for a layered approach. Veterinary care can identify or treat medical conditions. A qualified trainer can help an owner build skills and use structured, humane behavior strategies. A veterinary behaviorist can assess complex cases involving safety, anxiety, aggression, or medical factors. Susan Deren’s role is different: she provides intuitive impressions and discussion that may give an owner another way to consider the pet’s perspective.
When to Request a Rescue Pet Reading
An owner may consider contacting Susan Deren when a pet reacts intensely to a routine, sound, person, object, or handling task, when the animal’s earlier history is unclear, or when the adopter wants to ask thoughtful questions about the pet’s transition. It can also be helpful to prepare a short list of observations, household changes, the timing of the concern, and questions for the interactive session.
Susan Deren states that her guidance is intuitive and educational, and her website does not guarantee outcomes. Used responsibly, a rescue pet reading can offer a supportive perspective for owners who are learning about an adopted animal one day, one routine, and one relationship-building step at a time.