One Sunday when she was a child, Elisabeth Rose asked her pastor why animals don’t go to heaven.

He said, “They don’t have souls.”

“How do you know?” she replied.

He said, “Because they can’t reason.”

“Does that mean,” she asked, “that severely brain-damaged people don’t have souls either?”

“Of course they do!” he said, and turned his back.

This pivotal confrontation launched Rose on a lifelong quest to explore the inner lives of the animals she loved.

Did animals really think, feel, and behave in ways that add up to a consciousness similar to our own–or was that just wishful thinking? 

After bonding with dogs, birds, and a cranky horse, Rose falls for a timid border collie named Kierney. She brings her home and loves her like her own child. Although Kierney proves extraordinarily smart, she suffers terrifying lapses of sanity. Professionals say she’ll always be dangerous. When Rose becomes pregnant with her first baby, the clock starts ticking, and she must fight to save her wondrous dog.

If you were fascinated by Dr. Irene Pepperberg and Alex, Dr. John Pilley and Chaser, and Alexis Devine and Bunny, you will love joining Rose on her obsessive quest to unlock the hidden hearts of animals.

Portrayed with passion, insight, and reckless love, the characters of Soul Dog race off the page and into your heart.

Will Kierney be saved from her demons in time?

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Soul Dog: A Memoir of Spirit, Smarts, and Love
Rose, Elisabeth

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"A STIRRING PSYCHO VOYAGE!"

From Publishers Weekly

Told by her pastor that animals don’t have souls, young Rose (Body Sharers) didn’t believe him and she still doesn’t. This memoir, which recounts her lifelong passion for animals, gathers momentum and gains the reader’s full attention when the adult Rose adopts a Border collie . . . . seldom has the intensity of a dog-human bond been expressed so clearly. 

From Library Journal

Against the backdrop of her relationship to a variety of animals, Rose depicts her development from defiant, 12-year-old atheist to mystically inclined Roman Catholic. . . . The heart of the book, though, is the portrayal of her deep commitment to a “behaviorally challenged” dog. Fans of the border collie will find considerable validation of Stanley Coren’s The Intelligence of Dogs ranking of the breed as first in intelligence in this stunning memoir of the author’s beloved Kierney. . . . the writing here is . . . high quality, with scenes of harrowing emotional intensity.
 

From Seattle Times writer Ranny Green

“For the Love of a Dog is an absorbing blend of tension and passion, firmly tethered to reality. It’s must reading for anyone who has ever been owned by a dog.”

Lisa’s daughter, Delaney, Casey, and Pip, 1994.

Zebra finches in a flight cage