Interview with Jenny Smedley, Author of Forever Faithful: Dogs That Return

Jenny Smedley is a well-known and highly regarded author, animal intuitive, past life consultant and angel communicator, based in the UK. In addition to Forever Faithful: Dogs That Return, she is the author of at least nine other published books, including Pets Have Souls Too, issued earlier this month by Hay House.

Jenny graciously agreed to respond to my questions about her intriguing book, Forever Faithful: Dogs That Return, reviewed here yesterday. She is pictured here with "Ace," the subject of that story.

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Maureen: Jenny, your book Forever Faithful: Dogs That Return tells the wonderful story of how your dog Ace came back to you as “KC.”

Many of us have longed to have a beloved animal companion come back to us. Is there anything a person can do to encourage an animal to reincarnate, or is it entirely up to the animal’s spirit?

Jenny: I don’t honestly think you really have a choice – it seems to happen naturally with those animals you share a special bond with. However, I think what you can do is to enhance the bond. You can do this like it says in the book: by tuning in and making a special effort to feel your pet’s energy and to notice when they seem to be reflecting yours.

Maureen: In your case, you were definitely not looking for another dog when you found KC, but an amazing sequence of events led you to her. How can we attune ourselves to have an open heart, and an open mind, so that we will recognize opportunities to be reunited with our animal companions in new bodies? And how will we know for sure that it’s really the same animal, when we meet him or her?

Jenny: I think this kind of spiritual openness comes naturally when you develop in any area of spirituality, and there are many paths that lead you there.

The very first thing I would do is to learn to meditate, because this is the key to an open mind. You can do it alone, or with the aid of a CD, or in a class of like-minded people – whichever suits you best. Then practice as much as possible. On top of that, read books that you’re drawn to, whether they be about angels or past lives – whatever draws you. Play with crystals and possibly divination cards – anything that gets your spiritual side thinking and moving. If you do get a sign or a message, put skepticism aside, and see where it leads you.

Maureen: One of your interesting discoveries was that animals who reincarnate do not come back as mere clones of their prior selves. Their reincarnation is a progression of their soul’s journey, and as such, we need to recognize that while the “new” animal has the same spirit as the one we knew, his or her habits or temperament or knowledge may not be identical to that which was embodied in the “old” animal. Can you elaborate on your experience with this?

Jenny: Though underneath it’s the same soul, it will be in a new physical body, with all the limitations or special talents that body is capable of. There is also a possible change of breed or even species, so for instance if you have a cat that was once a dog, the cat characteristics will occasionally be a bit "dog-like," etc. Be open to that.

You’ll find also that sometimes the pet will seem to have total recall of their past life, and at other times their personality will show new traits. KC knew everything that Ace knew, and recognized the people Ace knew, but she also had a new puppy perspective on fun, and as she’d had a better start than Ace, she wasn’t so timid. Having said that, there are times when she is nervous of the same things Ace was, but with no current lifetime reason for this.

Maureen: You also learned that even though Ace’s spirit had been reincarnated in the body of KC, you could still communicate with Ace! That was a new concept for me, and I’m sure it will be new to many of your readers. Do you feel that you are still in touch with Ace, even though KC is here, with you on earth?

Jenny: Absolutely – she still comes to visit in spirit. This is because all of us, human or animal, leave our greater part in spirit all the time. Our human/dog/cat, etc. part is very small compared to the whole. I find it of great comfort because this means that you and your beloved pet are never really apart, because there is always a part of each in spirit to be reunited with, even if their physical self is on the earth-plane. Likewise babies and young children who die are never really alone without their parents in spirit.

Maureen: At the end of your story about Ace and KC, you talk a bit about how we can hone our telepathic connections with our animals, and you describe the channel we use to connect as communal energy, explaining that we are all connected to everything and everyone on the planet. How can we better develop our capacity to communicate with and enhance our ability to be energetically in tune with animals we know, and even those whom we don’t know?

Jenny: By recognizing that energy travels between us and our pets, and that we can’t hide our mood from our pets like we can with people.

Start by trying a bit of telepathy. Be in another room from your pets and mentally call them to you. You’ll know when it’s working, because obviously they’ll come. Then mentally ask your pets what they’d like to do and see if they send you an image of it. If you don’t know an animal, just sit quietly without looking at him or speaking to him, and project a very calm mood. If the animal adopts the same mood and perhaps comes closer and sits or nuzzles you quietly, you’ll know they have accepted your energy.

Maureen: I loved your discussion of the fact that dogs are reflective of their person’s mood, attitude, personality, and mental state of mind. So much so that you attribute many of the behavior problems we observe in dogs to imbalances in the people they live with. You say: “the more badly behaved a dog is, it means the more unhappy their owner is, deep inside.” Animal communicators are well aware of the extent to which animals can mirror what’s going on with their people. How can we help our animals by working on ourselves?

Jenny: Use your pet as a barometer. Observe their behaviour and then look inside yourself. Deep within, where perhaps even you couldn’t see them, you’ll find your inner feelings. Most of us, most of the time are like a swan, all serene on top but paddling like mad underneath. So, for instance if your pet is being hyper-active and apparently "naughty," try calming yourself, slow your breathing and physically relax. After a few minutes you’ll find your pet is resting quietly. This is always the right energy to project, so work on it.

Maureen: And finally, you mention that you and your husband gradually evolved away from eating meat, as you developed a deep awareness of the suffering endured by animals who are raised to be killed for food. My own path is quite similar to yours, in that I no longer eat meat, and the seeds of my choice not to do so were planted while I lived on a farm where lambs were routinely slaughtered each fall for food. Have you found that your honoring of animals’ souls by not ingesting their flesh has changed you energetically, or taken your ability to communicate with them to a higher level?

Jenny: That’s a very good point, and yes I would agree on both counts. I am feeling animal’s thoughts more, but it’s especially noticeable with injured wild animals. An injured bird for instance, if you pick it up, will normally view you as a hunter (forward facing eyes) and so will assume it has become your prey and often go into shock and die. I no longer have that problem. Wild birds that I find injured remain quite calm and bright-eyed when I handle them.

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Forever Faithful: Dogs That Return

In Forever Faithful: Dogs That Return, author Jenny Smedley achieves something that many people would think to be impossible: she presents convincing evidence that dogs (and other animals) can come back into our lives after they have died, reincarnated in the bodies of other creatures who somehow manage to find us, so that we can resume our souls' journey together.

Even the most skeptical reader will have to admit that Ms. Smedley's story of her own experience with the death and rebirth of her beloved dog is built on more than just mere coincidence.

I was immediately sucked into Jenny's account of Ace, the mixed-breed black puppy who frantically escaped from a home in which she had been cruelly mistreated, on the day that her owner deliberately scalded her with steaming hot water. Of course, Jenny wasn't actually present as an observer of these events, but she intuited what had happened, from Ace's perspective, and the details feel just right.

After a few weeks of surviving on her wits, and on scraps from kind strangers, the injured puppy collapsed on a beach, where she was gently scooped up by a big-hearted woman named Maggie, who worked at the local Animal Rescue Centre. Having been physically restored by a month of recuperative care, the scarred and still-scared puppy was ultimately adopted by Jenny and her husband, Tony, who had recently lost their sweet dog, Snoopy. It was love at first sight.

"The pup and I locked eyes, and then, with no excitement or fuss at all, she left Maggie's side, and pulling the lead out to its full length, she walked to me, then turned around and sat down beside me, her shoulder against my leg. I was breathless. I felt tears welling in my eyes, and I could see them in Maggie's too. 'Well,' I said, smiling, 'that seems to be that.'"

They called the puppy, "Ace," and, because of the way in which she had instantly bonded with Jenny, they had to wonder whether Ace might actually be Snoopy. Whether that was true or not, Ace had a nobility of spirit and a way of connecting with people that made Jenny realize that she was truly an "advanced soul." Ace literally saved Jenny's life when an out-of-control ram was about to gorge her with his horns, and she miraculously survived a bout with a malignant mammary tumor, in spite of the veterinarian's dire prognosis.

When, after 15 years, Ace's body gave out, and her quality of life deteriorated, Jenny forced herself to make the decision we all dread: to gently cause Ace to leave her physical body with the help of an injection. Jenny was inconsolable for weeks thereafter.

"Some dogs are such a great part of our lives that their demise drops us into despair. I just didn't know how to cope with my loss. She'd been my best friend, an animal soul mate, and I couldn't face life without her. I felt guilty. I felt as though I had killed my darling Puppy, even though I knew that given a real choice I would never have taken that decision."

Some months later, Jenny and Tony went to Sedona, Arizona, where, on September 13th of that year, Jenny had a consultation with a clairvoyant named Claudia Coronado, who told her that she had a message from "your dog," describing a big black dog with white whiskers: Ace!

Claudia calmly told Jenny that the black dog wanted her to know that "you two are united through all time and space." And, stressing the importance of what she was about to share, Claudia relayed Ace's main message, "Today I am young again.

Jenny was appreciative of the fact that Ace had come through during the reading, but didn't realize the significance of her dogs words until many weekslater, after she had returned home, and found an ad in the paper for some Lab/Springer mix puppies.

She initially discarded the ad, but mysteriously, it popped up again on the coffee table several days later. Jenny decided to call to ask about the puppies, and was stunned to learn that they had been born on September 13th, which she instantly recognized as the day that the psychic had said that Ace was "young again." She knew then that she had to meet these black puppies, who had been born on a nearby farm.

When Jenny and Tony arrived, six of the seven puppies were wriggling and writhing and whining and rough-housing. But one was decidedly different:

"One puppy didn't do any of that. She sat, poised and elegant, to one side, quietly aloof and waiting for the melee to clear. When things calmed down, the farmer opened the french doors onto the garden and the swarm of pups shot outside like a black and white tide, for a play, but this one coal black puppy didn't follow them. She finally got up and walked over to me. We regarded each other. She was extremely quiet for a puppy. No jumping, no squeaking, just a calm regard. She clambered onto my knees and settled herself there. She gazed up into my face, making complete and unabased eye contact. Tony crouched down beside me and she casually flicked a paw onto his arm, as if to say, 'Hi, I've been waiting for you.' looking directly into his eyes just as easily as she had mine."

Jenny thought that the puppy's demeanor was rather remarkable, but it wasn't until the little dog rolled over on her back that she knew for sure what her heart had been trying to tell her. This puppy was missing a nipple, and it was the same one that Ace had lost when she'd had her mammary tumor excised. There could now be no doubt. Ace had returned!

The new puppy, named "KC," has taught Jenny that reincarnated animals are both the same, and yet distinctly different, from their previous selves, and she has also shared many other wondrous lessons about the nature of life, death, and the way in which a spirit endures and evolves.

If you have ever experienced the magic of a dear animal's reincarnation, or if you long to be reunited with one you have lost, Forever Faithful: Dogs That Return will provide solace, consolation, understanding, and most of all, hope.

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My interview with Jenny Smedley will be published in this space tomorrow. Jenny's latest book, Pets Have Souls Too, has just been published by Hay House.