Soul Dog

An exploration of animal spirituality and the ability of animals to communicate with humans even in the afterlife. Looking for companionship after a near-fatal car crash, Elena Mannes, an award-winning television journalist and producer, decided to get her first dog. But what she found with her dog Brio shook the foundations of her physical and spiritual worlds, sending her on a quest to discover the nature of his spiritual origins and to contemplate and seek out the possibility of interspecies communication--even after death. Soon after bringing her puppy home, Mannes realized that the master-companion relationship would not be possible with Brio, who quickly showed that he had a mind--and a spirit--of his own. A healer Mannes visited immediately focused on Brio, exclaiming that he was an old soul. Manness growing curiosity about the intelligence, emotions, and consciousness of Brio and other dogs led her to contact an animal psychic in California who described, with amazing accuracy, Brios favorite walks and the authors apartment from the dogs point of view. Motivated by her experience, Mannes produced a filmed segment with Diane Sawyer featuring the same psychic, who described Sawyers country house and her dogs favorite spots in the yard. Spanning the entire life and afterlife of Brio, including his last days and his messages to the author after he passed on, this book also explores Mannes investigations into the spiritual life of animals, offering a new understanding of the unbreakable bond between humans and animals.