For two weeks this summer Willow worked at Penelope’s shop, giving pet psychic readings until the city stepped in and shut the side business down, citing licensing concerns.

“I got all positive feedback,” says owner Karen Caccavaro. “It was cute; people loved it. I wouldn’t jeopardize my business for something that is not good.”

During the two weeks Penelope’s offered “paw readings,” about 40 dogs came in, accompanied by their owners. “People who come into my shop; their dogs are not just dogs,” says Caccavaro. “They’re their babies.”

Part of Willow’s success was no doubt due to the psychic’s colorful personality. She talks in a soft southern drawl of how she learned to “speak” to animals by spending time on her grandfather’s farm growing up. “I’m kind of like… a Mrs. Dolittle,” she jokes.

When reading pets, Willow always begins by handing them a treat to calm them down. She then looks them in the eyes and tries to pick up what’s going on in their hearts and heads.

“After a few minutes it’s like the angels tell me what to say to the owner,” she says, adding, “Vets only can read X-rays; they can’t tell what a dog is thinking or feeling.”

Sound far-fetched? Caccavaro swears that Willow helped her better understand her Chihuahua Penelope (whom the store is named after) when she was going through a moody phase.

“She’d been hiding under the bed,” she says, explaining she had recently gotten another dog. “Willow told me she needed more attention.”

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