Last night I had a dream that I had a stalker. He showed up at my house with a dog that ran in and started eating my dog’s food. When I was trying to kick the dog out, I realized it had claws like a chicken and was scratching my feet. – Jennifer 38, Nashville, TN

Lauri:The stalker represents some issue or mind-set you can’t seem to shake, to the point that it may even be intruding upon the dynamics of your home life. The dog with chicken claws suggests it may be connected to a relationship that is now “eating away” at you, hence the dog eating your dog’s food. The chicken claws seem to indicate this is about an issue or a person threatening to claw into your life or into your psyche. Also, have you been “chicken” to do anything about this? The attention brought to your feet may be the way your inner mind is telling you to put your metaphoric foot down about this issue once and for all.

Jennifer replies: I think the stalker is my hubby’s ex-wife. She is very difficult and bitter toward us both. We have been battling with her over summer schedules with their kids and have finally decided we need to get a mediator to help us negotiate. She rarely includes us in planning birthday parties, etc., and it’s so infuriating. I have become very resentful that I spend so much time caring for her kids and she is so ungrateful and disrespectful. When I try to throw her out of my mind, she claws her way back in. This makes sense now.