About That New Dog... by Polly Elliott
W
e become so very attached to our dogs. Because their lifespan varies greatly from ours, real dog lovers experience loss over and over, or do we? There many books written about canine reincarnation. The new movie, A Dog's Purpose, based on a book by W. Bruce Cameron, speaks on the subject. Another book by Gail Graham, Ph.D., Will Your Dog Reincarnate?, details her “experience” with reincarnation. It also talks about the feelings associated with grief, including that ever present question, will you see them again? The book explores the unusual feelings surrounding the introduction of a new dog into your life or as it may be, according to the book, the re-introduction to your "old" dog. Psychologist William James describes mystical experiences as being ineffable, noetic, and transient. According to a National Opinion Research Center survey, several years ago in Chicago, : 43 percent of all 16
Delmarva Unleashed
Winter 2017
Americans say they’ve had a mystical experience. Have you? Have you experienced that sixth sense when picking out a new dog that you have known them before? Is that how you know, as you browse the dogs in a shelter or a litter of puppies, that one particular dog is the one you've been looking for? Animal communicator's often talk of that overwhelming sense of connection to a new animal. They say that when people utilize their services to question if a new to them dog, is their old dog reincarnated, that people are often correct. Somehow we seem to know instinctively; that in some way the universe just takes us along the correct path to a new beginning with our old dogs. Does this happen in every instance? According to my research, many animal communicators say that it's not a given. That there truly has to be a very special bond for a dog to come
