Hearing Heidi’s Jingling Dog Collar

Witness: K.S.
Location: Rhode Island
Date of Encounter: June 20, 1963

I was 9 years old in 1963. For my 2nd birthday my parents had given me the gift of choosing a young Boxer puppy from a litter. She was the most amazing dog and friend! That summer of 1963 we traveled to Rhode Island from our home in the Southeastern United States, stopping along the way to visit friends in Pennsylvania. We boarded our dog, Heidi, for 2 or 3 days with a vet we’d used when we lived there, and because our friends had animals and didn’t care for dog guests. When we went to pick Heidi up, to our horror, we found she had died suddenly, and no one had contacted us. We cried the entire 5-hour drive to Rhode Island. All that summer as I walked alone on narrow, very rural, dirt roads, I heard the jingle of her collar tags behind me. It never frightened me, I knew it was Heidi… and I have never forgotten that feeling of comfort and devotion. This event convinced me early on that spirit continues positively in animals. It was not a subject discussed in my home, but just a personal “knowing” I had without even considering any alternatives or explanations. There simply was no one else around but Heidi and I.