Souls on the fourth and fifth planes have insight; their understanding is direct, without thinking with the mind. Illumination means seeing God as He is. The understanding is divine. Realization is understanding oneself as God.
During the process of evolution of forms and consciousness, there are seven turns until the human form develops. Now, every turn has a direct connection with God. We will not now mention the other six turnings; for instance, in the vegetable kingdom, tulsi (the holy basil plant) is on the turning. In the animal kingdom, a dog is on the turning, as it has intuition and also partial insight, without being able to use it consciously.
Saints of the fifth and sixth planes have insight, and they use it. But the dog cannot use it. The dog only sees things that ordinary human beings cannot. The dog’s company purifies thoughts and atmosphere. That is why Zoroastrians have the custom of bringing a dog to see the corpse when someone is dead before disposal of the body; the dog purifies the sanskaras.
Dogs play an important part when used consciously by the Master. In my seclusion of about ten days, I wanted a dog for some work of my own – I won’t tell you what. I could not use Chum, nor any of the other pets. The dog I wanted had to be fresh, new, innocent and young. So, before seclusion, it all came about that Khorshed happened to mention an Alsatian puppy, and eventually we got Warrior. I said, “He is my dog.” I did not say so about Jingo and Bingo or the other pets. Warrior, you all understood, was Baba’s dog! Warrior was not actually a dog, but was temporarily brought down from the spirit world to do this work. I needed a dog for that kind of work. I won’t go too deeply into the matter.
So Warrior came, and I kept on telling Elizabeth that he was to be near me. But I also knew that it would be difficult, as things would crop up that would create obstacles. Therefore, for the first few days, Warrior suffered from worms, germs, et cetera. Eventually, I had him for the time I wanted him. I knew he would die, just as I know that before July 1st, 1941, Chum too will die. So after I worked with him, I fed him with my own hands and gave him water to drink. When my work was over, I sent him back.
–www.lordmeher.org, p2617
*Photo courtesy: http://www.meherbabatravels.com/his-close-ones/animals/