Soul Dog
Do animals have thoughts and feelings? Consciousness? Souls? Is interspecies communication possible? Can animals reincarnate? Soul Dog is an exploration of animal spirituality and the ability of animals to communicate with humans, even in the afterlife!
Book Spotlight – Soul Dog: A Journey into the Spiritual Life of Animals
“What a wondrous journey of discovery and fulfillment Elena Mannes tells us in this deeply moving tale of her relationship with the brilliant, elegant, wise and loving Brio, her soul dog!” ~ Robert A. F. Thurman, Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Buddhology, Columbia University
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. Soul Dog: A Journey into the Spiritual Life of Animals explores Mannes’ investigations into the spiritual life of animals, offering a new understanding of the unbreakable bond between humans and animals.
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. Mannes’s 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, Brio’s favorite walks and the author’s apartment from the dog’s point of view.
Motivated by her experience, Mannes produced a filmed segment with Diane Sawyer featuring the same psychic, who described Sawyer’s country house and her dog’s favorite spots in the yard.
Mannes’s skeptical journalist background compelled her to investigate further. She delved into the world of animal communicators, psychics, and scientists studying animal intelligence, including Rupert Sheldrake, to find answers to her multiplying questions.
To learn more or to purchase Soul Dog, click here or on the book cover.
Soul Dog chronicles the Mannes’ profound relationship with Brio, his ability to read her mind and emotions, and the messages she received from him after his death. She shares her research with animal communicators, psychics, and scientists specializing in animal intelligence such as Rupert Sheldrake, and explores animals’ thoughts and feelings, interspecies communication and telepathy, animal souls and the afterlife, and animal reincarnation.
Dogs have held the title of “man’s best friend,” for eons, which is a fitting moniker for their loyalty and protective disposition towards their human companions. It is now believed that the dog-human relationship began tens of thousands of years ago, with genetic evidence dating back as far as 145,000 years ago between a wolf and wolf-dog. Evolutionary biologists and zoo archeologists have discovered pre-historic dog burial sites paying homage to their companions. Today there is much evidence that dogs are more able to understand the world from a human perspective than had been previously recognized, which is reasonable considering we have evolved alongside each other for the past 100,000 years. Dog people will easily share that their pets can read them like a book. Recent research has also led some scientists to argue for the legal rights of animals. Besides this growing body of research, there have been stories of psychic animals throughout history.
Mannes shares her life and afterlife of Brio, including his last days and his messages to her after he passed on. Soul Dog invites readers to move beyond the owner-pet relationship and shows us how to see animals as thinking, feeling, spiritual beings whose connections with us extend far beyond life and death.
“Soul Dog takes Elena beyond science into mystical paths—she writes that animals teach us to listen. Elena is their friend, ready to hear.” ~ Diane Sawyer, American television journalist
To learn more or to purchase Soul Dog, click here or on the book cover.
About the Author
Elena Mannes is an award-winning independent documentary director/writer/producer whose honors include six Emmy Awards, a George Foster Peabody Award, two Directors Guild of America Awards, and nine Cine Golden Eagles. She has written, directed, and produced series and documentaries for CBS, PBS, ABC, and the Discovery Channel, including The Amazing Animal Mind and the PBS primetime special The Music Instinct, which led to the writing of her first book, The Power of Music. She lives in New York City. Visit Elena Mannes at www.souldogbook.com
