Dog Trainer Makes Drastic Career Change After She Claims Pet ‘Telepathically’ Told Her How Its Previous Owner Died (Exclusive)
Jackie Audette training a dog; Jackie with a horseCredit: Courtesy Jackie Audette (2)
Jackie Audette, 36, spent years training dogs, including guide dogs for people with visual impairments, before becoming a full-time animal communicator
During an obedience training assignment, Audette says a dog communicated details about witnessing its former owner’s death
The Georgia-based animal communicator tells PEOPLE the encounter changed how she approached working with animals and ultimately inspired a new career
Jackie Audette was supposed to be teaching a dog basic obedience, but the animal appeared to have something far more troubling to share. During the training session, Audette says the dog communicated that she had witnessed her previous owner’s death, showing her details of what happened inside a living room.
“One of the most pivotal moments in my career came when a dog I was meant to be training simple obedience to, communicated to me that she had witnessed her previous owner’s death,” Audette, 36, tells PEOPLE exclusively. She says the dog showed her “specific details of what happened and the layout of the living room where it occurred,” which the animal’s current guardian reportedly confirmed.
Audette had spent years working with dogs, but she believed this animal needed something that obedience lessons couldn’t provide. The encounter eventually led her to pursue formal education in animal communication and reconsider the career she’d built.
“That experience became a turning point in my career,” she says, explaining that it inspired her to “gradually transition from professional dog training into the full-time animal communication practice I have today.” For Audette, the incident brought new significance to experiences she’d had with animals since childhood.
Jackie Audette posing with a horseCredit: Courtesy Jackie Audette
Originally from New York, Audette earned a bachelor’s degree in animal science from Rutgers University before working at one of the country’s largest no-kill animal shelters. She also trained guide dogs for people with visual impairments and service dogs, completing a three-year guide dog instructor apprenticeship that included a week navigating blindfolded.
“I’ve always been drawn to working with animals,” she says of her early career. Audette believes the blindfolded exercise was “a unique experience that I believe helped strengthen my intuitive abilities further at the time.”
Long before she worked professionally with dogs, Audette says she felt she understood animals differently from the people around her. She didn’t recognize those experiences as what she believes was telepathic communication until her twenties.
“Growing up, I always had a deep connection with animals and couldn’t understand why other people didn’t seem to understand them the same way I did,” she recalls. “It wasn’t until my twenties that I became consciously aware that I was communicating with animals telepathically and realized that this wasn’t something everyone experienced.”
Today, Audette is based in Canton, Ga., and works as an animal communicator and psychic medium, conducting readings with pet owners around the world over Zoom or by phone. Through her website, she offers sessions involving both living and deceased animals, claiming to receive information about their personalities, experiences and emotional needs.
Her background in training remains relevant to her work, particularly when owners are struggling to understand an animal’s behavior. Audette believes some behavioral problems may be connected to experiences that occurred before an animal joined its current family.
She recalls a recent reading involving a rescue dog who, she says, showed her images of domestic violence in his former home. According to Audette, the dog’s current guardian knew his previous owner had entered a domestic violence shelter but had not known the specific incidents Audette believed the animal was describing.
Jackie Audette with a dogCredit: Courtesy Jackie Audette
“Hearing about the trauma their pets may have experienced can be heartbreaking for the pet guardians, especially when they’re learning these details for the first time,” she says. Audette adds that she is equally struck by what she perceives as the resilience of animals who have endured difficult experiences.
“Even after everything they’ve been through, so many express immense gratitude for the love and safety they’ve found in their new homes,” she explains. She believes understanding an animal’s history can help owners approach its behavior with greater compassion.
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For Audette, the dog who appeared to describe her previous owner’s death remains the clearest example of why she changed careers. She had been hired to teach obedience, but what she believed the animal was telling her made her question whether training was enough.
“It was then that I realized this dog needed more than traditional obedience training; she was carrying emotional trauma that needed to be addressed,” she continues.
Source: Nature
