The pickup line "What's your sign?" has been replaced. The '90s version: "What's your dog's sign?" as cosmic as it sounds, it is a down-to-earth question for some astrologers who hope to give dog owners insight into their pooch's personalities. Animal horoscopes are popping up everywhere: in magazines, at bookstores and on the Internet, a medium perfected for unconventional ideas.
But are animals, like people, affected by the positions and vibrations of the planets?
Of course, believers say. "Dogs, like everything else, have personalities: They're just not as intense as human personalities," says Nancee Belshaw, an astrologer and psychotherapist based in L.A. "The planets affect them in subtle ways."
Because astrological charts can be drawn for almost any event based on the time, place and date of an occurrence, they can also be created for dogs. If you tell an astrologer your dog 's birth statistics, they can chart your pet's horoscope, tell you his sun sign and discuss effects on your dog's disposition.
For example, Belshaw's Welsh Terrier is a typical Pisces — she loves water, she says. The terrier jumps into empty bathtubs to lick the sides and dumps her water dish on the floor so she can sit in the puddle.
What's more, the terrier has a "Capricorn moon," meaning that at the time of the dog's birth, the moon was positioned in the section of the zodiac ruled by the constellation Capricorn. Capricorns are "stable, sensuous and persistent," astrology books say.
The moon is said to be the planet that forms habit patterns. Combine the two and you have a Felix Unger personality, Belshaw says. "Everything [in her life] has to be in order."
Belshaw runs an astrology website and charts $50 horoscopes for dogs. Her customers use the information for everything from selecting a dog to understanding his idiosyncrasies. "If you have a nice clean house, you wouldn't want a digger [earth signs]," she says. "Or if you are an older person, you might not want an air sign because they're so hyper."
Laura Vasquez of Phoenix, Arizona, hired Belshaw a few years ago to chart her three cats. Now her family wants a dog. At her next appointment with Belshaw, Vasquez will have a basic family chart done to find out the breed that best suits them.
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