About That New Dog

We 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 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 Americans say they’ve had a mystical or supernatural 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 back to us. They also say that it may not be your very next dog because there is an element of timing. However, if the bond was strong enough, it could happen, and animal communicator’s say it happens more that you think. Edgar Cayce often called the "father of holistic medicine," was also called a "mystic." He frequently spoke of reincarnation in humans saying, “Each soul or entity will and does return, or cycle, as does nature in its manifestations; thus leaving, making or presenting, as it were, those infallible, indelible truths that is – life is continuous.” —Edgar Cayce Reading 938-1.

There has been an ongoing study at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, since 1961, on reincarnation. Research staff at the Division of Perceptual Studies observes children all over the world, mostly under the age of 7, who speak of incidents that are not relative in any way to their current family life, but directly connected to relatives that have passed on. University studies, tend to provide us with “real evidence,” particularly since today's society sees that research as validated. Can we apply those studies to canines?

I know your looking and your dog and wondering. I have wondered many times too. There are countless accounts of reincarnation, both human and canine; many with what seems to be real evidence that dogs travel with us throughout our lives. Could it be?