Dear Rain,
You have to take this with a grain of salt, because I have never had a pet. Of course, I lived with pets that belonged to room mates and even my first husband for a while, and helped to take care of them.
The natural ability of a dog is to be a scout. To run ahead. I have even seen one friend's cat do this. This was a very old cat. My friend had to give up her home for a couple of years and move with her husband to a distant city. They were not going to be able to take the cat, because they had to move to an inner city apartment. It was as if the cat sensed this and quietly took a nap one day and died.
One theory is that there are sacrificial souls. Some Native American people believe this and call these ones Grandmother, even if they are young. One time my Native teacher called me Grandmother and I was startled. My first reaction was that my son had gotten somebody pregnant, but that wasn't the case. I believe we used to have teachings on here from a Grandmother Chandra who was quite ill, very wise and quite young. Many things are a mystery to us. My one Narcotics Anonymous friend used to tell me, "That's why they call it a mystery.", whenever I would get too lost in my wondering/wanderings.
I believe there is more choice here and on the other side that we know. Spirits have the ability to come and go. When we first moved into this house that was obvious. There was a lot of spirit activity at first. They would play fiddle music, and a child's wind-up toy that wasn't here. They would talk to me. They were interested in what we were doing with the place. I never felt the need to tell them to go into the light, or cleanse the place or any of that. Being directionally challenged as I am especially. I feel that it was just as if you were driving thru an old neighborhood and decided to drive by the old house. And pets have this ability to come and go as well. After this house's spirits saw that we were about fixing up the place, they moved on. To a place of light that is filled with music and dancing for they loved that.
Hope any of this helps.
Gentle hug,
Shaylee
Some people feel as if a crossed over pet can bring in a new pet. I have a George Anderson, the medium, book that has a whole chapter on pets. I can get the title for you if you want. He is a deeply spiritual medium.