Tarot Hound

Browsing on Etsy, as one does, I found Laika the Psychic Dog, who does one card Tarot readings (via Rare & Pretty). Or did do them; by the time of this posting, she has evidently given up prognosticating. Given that one of the Trick Dog tricks is 'picking a card', I'm sort of kicking myself for having not come up with this before. Doberman Tarot Card Reader would have been a pretty cool thing, but i don't want to step on anybody's toes. One also needs an actual Fortunteteller's License to prognosticate in my town, an interesting detail which involves a test of some form that the city clerk would be required to provide. Depending on how much that cost, it might be worth it, just for a lark. Maybe not. But Elka wouldn't be able to take the test (though it would be hard to prove a Clever Hans style fallacy in this situation as well. Part of the point of pulling cards blind is, well, you're blind.)

I'm also not sure how I would pick a deck to use. I mean, there's a certain respect that one has for the tools of the trade, besides tarot cards being beautiful. Being taken into dog mouth, or even pawed, would ensure a certain undue wear and tear on the cards. I suppose I could make my own deck (I've thought about that before), this one tailored for Doberman use. I am not an artist, however, and this could throw a monkey wrench into the works. It could be a lot of fun, though, and I'd probably redo the suits, and play with the Major Arcana imagery. I think lamination or cardboard would be a necessity, though, if only to help make the cards more sturdy. In our case, errant drool isn't really a factor.

A lot of us have seen, or believe, that dogs have a sense and understanding beyond what humans do. Does this extend to fortunetelling, though? Can your dog smell out the future? Perhaps hear which way the wind blows?

(evidently, prognisticating is tiring)