Track

It's a fascinating, unanswered mystery. Can dogs see souls? Charley was a gregarious mix of who-knows-what breeds, his dad was never curious to find out. Charley's persona was basically Everydog, a very happy guy, tail always wagging, even as he slept.

Happy dreams mean a dog is loved deeply and dearly, like us, the very same principles of joy and kindness. But, do dogs have perceptions far beyond our known limitations, sensing certain phenomena involving broader realms of reality? We know they hear a mile away, and constantly pick up scents we never smell. What else do dogs sense?

Charley's dad was the best parent any dog could hope for, always thinking of his dog as his third child, the dad's first two grown with their own families. An enduring widow for years now, Charley has helped his grieving dad go forward. But it was the very day of his wife's passing that Charley's dad began seeing his dog very differently.

As a final silver lining, Charley's dad was able to bring his dying wife back home near the end, her biggest wish after surviving her cancer fourteen years past her doctor's expectations. With hospice now at home, Charley was at her bedside, seeming to know it was the family's very special time.

When the end came, a blessed deep coma took her, and the last breaths were counted in peaceful slumber. Then, something unexpected, amazing, and perhaps wonderful happened, and all the folks there witnessed it together. In the exact moments of the wife's passing, Charley suddenly jumped to his feet. His nose and attention pointed upward, as the dog's gaze moved methodically from walls to ceiling, then to the kitchen and back door. Charley ran to the open door's screen, staring out at the large yard and garden, attention steadfastly riveted- then Charley, still staring, yelped out three sharp barks.

The dad's wife was an ardent gardner, a world-class rose grower, it was her favorite place in the whole world to be. Everyone was astonished with Charley's eerily precise behavior. Is this where she's gone, her beloved garden, the dad wondered, and did his amazing dog just track her very soul departing?