Elena Mannes - Soul Dog: A Journey into the Spiritual Life of Animals

To Brio

Yours was the heart I cared most for in this world,

and yours was the heart that cared most for me.

HAFIZ

Soul Dog

Soul Dog is a very thought-provoking book. Steeped in science and heart, Ms. Mannes passionately shares her own experiences with Brio. This book opens the door for wide-ranging musings about what dogs can teach us if we open our minds and hearts.

MARC BEKOFF, AUTHOR OF CANINE CONFIDENTIAL: WHY DOGS DO WHAT THEY DO

Do you have a dog and wonder about your relationship? Then this is a must-read. A touching, insightful, and thought-provoking book that compels you to look at your animals in a new way. It is a wonderful example of just how deep and mutually enriching the dog-human relationship can be.

DIANE BUDD, ANIMAL COMMUNICATOR AND HEALER AND AUTHOR OF ENERGY MEDICINE FOR ANIMALS

Elena Mannes writes eloquently of her unfolding journey of awareness with soul dog Brio. With gentle nudges and congenial canine humor, Brio guides Mannes through the mysteries of animal communication and ultimately helps her awaken to the magic that occurs when we learn to trust and listen to the truth of our deeper self.

DAWN BAUMANN BRUNKE, AUTHOR OF SHAPESHIFTING WITH OUR ANIMAL COMPANIONS, DREAMING WITH POLAR BEARS, AND ANIMAL VOICES, ANIMAL GUIDES

Elena and Brio's soul story showcases the precious trans-species adoration and communication in life and the afterlife between a woman and her dog. Discovering Brio's creative and original mind, Mannes's own testimony, both reflective and humorous, weaves science and personal experience into a kind of Tao of dog. She shows that sentient animal kin are teaching humans how to sit, walk, stay, and lie down in reciprocal respect, love, and joy. This book sparkles with delight.

ZOHARA M. HIERONIMUS, D.H.L., AUTHOR OF WHITE SPIRIT ANIMALS: PROPHETS OF CHANGE

Hidden in the fabric of a curly coat, Elena Mannes discovers a real, in-the-flesh angel whom she comes to know as her soul dog, Brio. She teaches us that a soul dog connects us with our own all-knowing soul, the indestructible force of God that lives within us and within the animals that we may take for granted. This brave author beautifully balances incredibly precise messages from animal communicators and psychics with scientific studies all directed at the same discoverywe are more connected than we might think. May every reader be inspired to listen to the far-reaching wisdom of a trusted pet and be blessed to have your heart blown open by the healing power of their unconditional, and forever, love.

BELINDA J. WOMACK, AUTHOR OF LESSONS FROM THE TWELVE ARCHANGELS: DIVINE INTERVENTION IN DAILY LIFE

Acknowledgments

THIS BOOK WAS BORN OUT OF MY OWN EXPERIENCE, yet it would have remained a mere seedling struggling to bloom without the talent and support of many people. The extent of their generosity seemed truly miraculous.

I am profoundly grateful to my wonderful agent, Jane Lahr, and her partner, Lynn DelliQuadri, of Lahr & Partners. Their efforts on behalf of Soul Dog have been above and beyond what any author could expect of an agent, providing faith, enthusiasm, and Jane's invaluable and profound knowledge of spiritual teachings relevant to my subject.

To Maria Cooper Janis, who introduced me to Jane, I owe a great debt of gratitude. She too helped sustain the creation of this book with her understanding of my story and my intent in working to bring it forth.

The journey that I've recounted in this book is one that I took in the company of animal communicators and psychics who became my guides and my friends; their voices are inextricably woven into the fabric of the story. They opened doors to new understandingof our fellow beings and of myself. I am deeply grateful to Alecia Evans, Dawn Hayman, Donna Lozito, and Silvia Rossi. You know what you did.

There were many others who contributed their time and expertise by allowing me to interview them for this endeavor. I am very much in their debt. (For more information about the many contributors to this endeavor, please see the interview credits at the end of this book.)

I also thank Dr. Jennifer Chaitman, Brio's wonderful veterinarian, who gave her support and time. I'm grateful to Brio's other longtime caregiversStacey Baum, Sally Hastings, Jim Moran, and Micky Niego.

For their friendship, advice, and support over the years of my life with Brio and then through the writing of this book, I am so very thankful to Michael and Susan Batcheller, Susan Buckley, David Buksbaum, Bob and Arline Prince, Giuliana Robertson, and Arnulfo Vargas.

I want to thank Jamaica Burns Griffin, my editor at Inner Traditions Bear & Company, for her hard work and valued input. I'm grateful as well for the support of the superb team at Inner Traditions. I thank Jon Graham, who championed the book; John Hays for his marketing wizardry; Manzanita Carpenter Sanz for her skill and dedication in promoting the book; and publisher Ehud Sperling for bringing this book to readers.

I am also fortunate to have received invaluable advice from Carmen and Alexandra Harra and Beverly West.

To Robert Thurman, who wrote such a beautiful and profound foreword, I give great thanks for his understanding of the book and of what our relationship with dogs and other fellow creatures truly means.

Finally and forever, thank you to Briomy inspiration.

Foreword

WHAT A WONDROUS JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY and fulfillment does Elena Mannes tell us about in this deeply moving tale of her relationship with the brilliant, elegant, wise, and loving poodle Brio, her soul dog! She falls in love with him and becomes deeply entangled for as many years as possible in the all-too-short life span of our canine friends. He becomes not only best friend and soul mate but even a kind of Yoda-like spiritual mentor, causing a down-to-earth, practical, hard-nosed journalist and documentarian to go deep within herself while also expanding her investigations into the far-out realms of mind or spiritual science. This most subtle area of human scientific exploration is called inner science in India and was highly developed there in classical times. It was considered the peerless queen of all sciences, in contrast with the mostly externally oriented Euro-American material sciences.

Ms. Mannes brings to life the extraordinary persona of Brio, the soul dog, in his many graceful manifestations and takes us with her on her own inner journey of finding her deeper humanity by realizing her vitally enriching interconnectedness with the sparkling intelligence of especially that dog, and through him the multifarious world of all conscious animals. Some of the phenomena she experiences are nothing short of miraculous, yet her deep engagement and vivid description has a powerful ring of authenticity that is utterly convincing.

In spite of her own starting point of having been indoctrinated in the scientific materialism that is the orthodoxy of our twentieth-century American culture, Ms. Mannes follows her intuitive heart under the psychic guidance of the soul dog Brio, while using her relentlessly critical, investigative journalistic methodology to explore the realm of animal communication and the history of the one-hundred-thousand-year-old human-dog relationship. She consults in careful detail all kinds of conventional and unconventional experts and chronicles in an intricate tapestry of anecdotes the amazing world of human-canine interactions in our contemporary hi-tech but fragmented world of the information age.