Opening Up to Signs from Animals in Spirit (and Their Perfect Timing)

Recently I listened to a podcast where a man described being incredibly heartbroken after his dog crossed over. One day after several months had passed, he was walking down a street in Manhattan and saw another man walking a dog in a handsome sweater. All of a sudden, he felt the grief overtake him and knew he was about to burst into tears. As he tried to find a discrete space to break down on the street, his phone rang.

He recognized the name of someone he’d met in an online writers’ group a long time ago, but he didn’t ever remember meeting the man in person. When he answered the call, the acquaintance told him to look out for a package he’d sent that should be arriving that day. Bewildered, the man walked home and found in his mailbox a small book called The Last Will and Testament of an Extremely Distinguished Dog by Eugene O’Neill. Apparently the colleague at some point had seen a Facebook post about the dog’s passing and at some point felt compelled to send the book.

The spontaneous wave of emotion, the surprise phone call from someone he barely knew, and the perfect essay to help heal his soul…The grieving man couldn’t deny it all was a sign from his dog on the other side. And the timing was impeccable.

When I heard the story, I felt deeply that his dog was showing him that it’s possible to heal. That he didn’t want his person to be sad, that there’s always hope in the darkest times.

It’s amazing how animals on the other side can use timing and other people to get messages through.

One day during the pandemic I had to take my cat to the vet to get something checked out. We weren’t allowed inside the building, so I stood with all the pet parents on the sidewalk after I had handed Calla to the vet tech at the front door. We had just moved to the neighborhood and it was the first time I’d been to this vet. I suddenly started to wonder if this was the right practice for my animals…without being in person with the vet made me nervous and I began questioning everything.

The moment those worrying thoughts popped up, the man standing next to me spontaneously said to no one in particular, “You know, I’ve been bringing my dog here for 20 years. They’re the best vet practice in New York.” Wow, I thought, that was kind of mind-blowing…Then right after that I heard a woman at the front door say to the vet tech, “I’m here to pick up meds for Willow.”

Willow was the name of my soul kitty who passed in 2012. Through the timing and the two human messengers, I knew Willow was blessing this vet group, and I could breathe a sigh of relief.

I have another cat named Nell on the other side, and one time when I realized I hadn’t received a message from her in a while, I simply told her it would be nice to hear from her…no pressure.

A week later, my boyfriend and I were walking home from the grocery store when, out of the blue he said to me, “Have you heard from Nell lately?”

I stopped in my tracks and asked, “Why did you just ask me that?” I hadn’t spoken to Adam about Nell in a long time. He didn’t know her that well and never lived with her, so why did she pop into his mind at that moment? Adam had no idea (which I loved — that clearly meant it was Nell working her magic).

I speak to so many clients who are yearning for messages from their animals on the other side. In my experience, these are the best ways to open yourself up and set the stage for messages to come through:

1.     Ask and let go. Putting your desire and intention out there is powerful, but keep it in the energy of love, rather than hopelessness. Literally ask your animal for a sign, and then give it up to them to decide how and when it will come through. Knowing that they’ve got it from there is crucial. Please note: if you are in deep, deep grief, allow yourself the time to process and feel all the stuff. It may take a little time for your vibration to lift a bit higher and then the messages will flow. It doesn’t mean your animal isn’t with you — it just means you as a human need some time to experience and move through the grief.

2.     Set up sacred space in honor of your animal. If it resonates with you and makes you feel good, place their picture in a special place, light a candle for them, or set up something tangible in honor of them. It will inspire you to talk to them and send them love which will help keep the channel of communication open.

3.     Give it time and trust your intuition. It took Nell a week to speak to me through Adam. Understand that your animal knows how to work with timing and come up with the best way to speak right to your heart. The timing and content of signs are often neither logical nor explainable. If something made you feel deeply connected or brought sudden peace or emotion, trust that it was real.

At some point during the day that I’d listened to the podcast I mentioned above, I remembered it was the anniversary of Willow’s passing. Thirteen years later, and she still knows how to send her love and show me our connection is forever. How about that timing? 💜