The Break, the Dogs, and the Work That Found Me

By Sharon Burnett

(Animal Communication For Healing)

In early 2018, I broke. Not in a dramatic way, but quietly inside, after years of pushing myself through a life that looked successful on paper but felt completely wrong. My health collapsed long before I admitted how exhausted and disconnected I had become.

For more than twenty years, I built my identity around being the capable one. I travelled for work, managed teams, delivered projects, and kept climbing because that was what I had always done and what everyone expected. But the higher I went, the less of myself I recognised. The success was real, but the satisfaction was not.

Even while I was succeeding, another part of me was quietly pulling away. 

I trained in NLP, meditation, and Ericksonian hypnotherapy and said it was for professional development. In truth, I was looking for meaning, and for a way of understanding people that had nothing to do with job titles or KPIs.

Eventually my body made a decision for me, and I had to stop. Stopping terrified me — I had worn my corporate identity for so long that I no longer knew who I was without it. During my sabbatical, as I rebuilt my health, I trained as a life coach and later in quantum consciousness healing. I started my own business and, for the first time in years, my work felt aligned with who I really was.

The quantum work, particularly, had a powerful impact on my clients. They accessed insights, emotional clarity, and deep release. These were profound transformations happening right in front of me.

Watching this unfold made me curious in a way I couldn’t ignore. If humans respond this deeply, would animals?

My own dogs, Max and Penny, were the reason that question mattered.

Max, a huge German Shepherd cross, struggled with allergies and anxiety. When he was two, we adopted Penny, a rescue who had endured trauma in her first months of life. She was terrified of people, new places, and loud sounds. Max became Penny’s anchor instantly. She adored him completely. If Max said the world was safe, she believed him.

When Max passed away suddenly, Penny unravelled. She withdrew, refused to get out of the car for walks, and her anxiety spiked. She simply didn’t know how to move through the world without Max.

One of my earliest quantum-animal sessions was for Penny, with me acting as her surrogate. This is the same approach I now use with clients: the guardian becomes the bridge. Because they are already emotionally connected to their animal, the communication comes through them, not me. I simply facilitate that connection. Watching people hear their animals for the first time is one of the most moving parts of this work.

In Penny’s session, she shared something we had never considered. She wasn’t only grieving Max. She was distressed that his belongings had been removed so quickly. Her sense of safety had vanished overnight.

When we asked what she needed, she was clear: she wanted his harness. We honoured that request, and now she wears Max’s oversized harness on every walk — and she gets out of the car without hesitation. That single insight changed everything for her. And that is why I do this work.

Animals are conscious, emotionally aware beings. They communicate constantly; we simply haven’t been taught how to listen. Through Animal Communication for Healing, I help people deepen their bond with their pets, address anxiety and trauma, and even reconnect with animals who have passed.

When an animal is understood, everything shifts.

They are already speaking to you.

Let me help you hear them.

Connect With Sharon

www.animalcommunicationforhealing.com