It can't just be us that blames mercury being in retrograde for literally everything going wrong in our lives. But then we started to worry that the astrological phenomenon might affect our beloved dogs too.
We consulted Yasmin Boland, award-winning astrologist and the author of the upcoming The Mercury Retrograde Book, to see if our pooches might be affected - and Yasmin claims that every living thing is indeed affected by astrology.
"Astrology is the study of the stars and has been around for millennia but is currently enjoying a peak in popularity, especially among millennials," explains Yasmin.
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"One of the best known phenomenon in astrology is so-called Mercury retrograde. Mercury is the planet of communications and appears to go 'backwards' up to four times a year.
"Of course, it doesn't actually go backwards, it's an optical illusion, a bit like if you're sitting on a train and there's a horse running alongside of you, and the train is going faster than the horse, then the horse appears to be going backwards.
"Since astrology can apply to every living thing, and indeed to some non-living things, it can apply to animals, including dogs. The main problem with using astrology for animals is that we don't usually have an exact birth date for our pets (unless they're pedigree), let alone a birth time.
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"If you want to get really accurate predictions with astrology you do need to know the time, date and place of birth. However it's enough just to know the star sign, for a really basic reading. In other words if you know what time of the year your animal was born, you should be able to work out its star sign, the same way as you would work out the star sign of human.
"Once you have that, you can start to work out how any astrology will affect them, including Mercury retrograde. Then you just have to extrapolate the meaning of the astrological chart in dog terms!"
Yasmin says that as long as you know your dog's star sign, you can figure out how Mercury retrograde is affecting them.
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"If Mercury is retrograde in their sign, it's a great time for a doggie makeover," she says. "Right now Mercury is retrograde in Leo and will move back into Cancer in about five days time so if your pooch is Leo or Cancer, get them to the grooming salon.
"If your dog is Aquarius or Capricorn, then Mercury is currently retrograde in their doggie love zone. If you're trying to breed them, it's a great time to reconnect with a dog you'd coupled them with before. That said, if they're not spayed, and you don't want them to get pregnant, keep them indoors.
"If your dog is Leo, Virgo, Aquarius or Pisces, it could be that you have to spend a bit more cash on them now. If you had some expenses with them in the past Mercury retrograde, those issues could come up again and there could be more money to outlay.
"Note that Virgo and Gemini dogs will be more affected by Mercury retrograde than others dogs because those two signs are ruled by Mercury.
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"The current Mercury retrograde is also going to strongly affect Taurus and Gemini dogs because it's taking place in their mind zones. When Mercury is retrograde in your mind zone, you do tend to get a bit more scatty than usual!
"For Scorpio and Libra dogs, Mercury is retrograde in the part of the chart that's to do with achievement. So if you show your dog, and they've done well in the past, they could do well again now. On the other hand, it can also pan out that if they didn't manage to achieve success at a show in the past, that success could come now as Mercury retrograde is basically giving them a second chance to achieve."
So there you have it. We can now not only blame our current mood swings on Mercury retrograde, but can also use it to better take care of our pooches.
Featured Image Credit: PexelsTopics: Life News