My dog died.

I was devastated! My heart experienced gut wrenching pain and loneliness. My life was obliterated. His wiggle wasn’t waiting for me, and being in an empty home was more than I could bear.

I watched endless months of weekly photos, daily puppy updates, videos and rescue web cams. Nothing! I really didn’t even care because my heart still mourned to my core and my tears still flowed. However, I felt compelled to keep watching the updates no matter how upset they made me feel.

Then this fluffy little fur ball dragging a LARGE stuffed toy in his mouth ran gleefully zoom zoom across my computer screen. My heart quickened. I must have watched, rewatched and memorized that video hundreds of times. I “felt” him in my soul (sign 1). I called, he was available albeit 2500 miles away. I thought too far to fly the little fellow with stopovers. (Sign 2) as the Universe would have it, the airline carrier added a holiday non stop flight from that area to our airport, so now I had no excuses. I had been unencumbered for years now and a new pup, well…

I talked to and questioned the puppy’s guardian till she was probably really tired of me. In one conversation, she jokingly referred to him as “bad boy.” I asked why. She stated that he had what looked like a B on his right hip and would send me a photo. (Sign 3) the image sent chills up my spine and all my friends into a chorus of “what don’t you get?” He was already spoken for at a higher level then any of us knew at that time. It was as if God had assigned an Angel to monogram my signature on his hip so I wouldn’t be so “human” as to not understand that this dog was meant to be mine.

With a weary heart, afraid and excited I met him at the airport VERY Apprehensive! What if I had the wrong pup and we didn’t connect? I had never picked a puppy from a distance. He launched out of his crate and immediately sat all 7 pounds of 9 weeks old fluff right down in front of me. He looked up and stared directly into my eyes as if to say where have you been? Now let’s get on with our life. Then he hopped into my arms and slept all the way to my house that had now become our home.

I named him Friend. He responded to his “old” name without missing a beat. He knew where his bed was, recognized his past life toys and gathered them into his same toy spot where they were supposed to be! He did not even inspect the new toys, he wanted HIS toys! He talks, hugs, and does all the things all my soul dogs “did.” When I look into his eyes we never left one another. He is my “baby dog,” my best Friend. When my heart asked where have you been, his spirit replied: I had to exchange my old body for this new one so I could be in your life again. At 10 weeks old he knew and responded to all the old dog’s commands, no training was necessary. He’s my old adult dog with few puppy moments except he runs at “wide open”, is learning how to operate those new feet and is a chewing machine!

I am blessed to have gentle paw pads stroking my face to awaken me each morning. All the eccentric little habits, routines, traits, favorite toys, foods, spots and tricks known only to my soul is back in my world in another earthly “monogrammed” fur form as Friend.

If you’ve lost your pet, service dog, companion animal, assistance dog, pet therapy dog, soul dog and forever fur baby child, don’t lose hope. Listen to your heart urgings, watch your dreams, and follow your soul’s knowing and intuition. If you feel that you want to hold onto your pet’s beds and toys, there is a reason, some part of your soul knows that they will be back. Each dog’s soul is a spirit composed of eternal energy that lives forever in all that is.

When it’s your soul pet, animal spirit guide or spiritual teacher in an animal form, God/ the Universe honors his choice to reincarnate to be with you many times in various physical bodies. Know that your pet is not gone forever. Give their spirit time to choose a new body. You’ll KNOW when you see them! “Mom, I’m home!”

Here are some signs that your animal may have reincarnated:

1. Listen to and follow the timing and guidance of your inner urgings to search for their new body form. You’ll “know” whether puppy, rescue dog, animal shelter, newspaper ad, internet search, just listen and trust!

2. Never overlook the little details and just pass them off as not worthy of attention.

Follow through on the details and trust they are correct. There are no coincidences.

3. Look into your pets eyes the window of their soul, you’ll know and recognize your connection.

4. Ask questions with and listen to the answers with your heart.

5. If you feel that you want to hold onto your pet’s beds and toys, there is a reason, some part of your soul knows that they will be back

Sometimes when they return, they embody a new trait that you had been hoping they would have, in addition to their former traits as a further answer to your prayer. The reincarnation timeframe in which they return can be as short as several hours or longer.

There are many pet bereavement and pet & animal loss groups and animal reincarnation books available to assist in your healing. Just Plain Love books provide further information and a list of signs of pet reincarnation. Pet Loss Grief Counselors, animal communicators, animal angel networks have many books on Amazon and in retail stores. Internet resources can provide pet past life and animal reincarnation blogs, discussion forums on my space pet reincarnation will help you deal with the loss of your companion. Listen to your heart, you WILL know if your beloved pet is going to reincarnate and say “I’m Home!”

Love Is Never Ending!

Feel free to reprint this article in its original format