This time of year is all about ­making memories with loved ones – but also remembering those no longer here. And that includes our treasured pets.

Little wonder that the past three years have been devastating for me because I have said goodbye to all seven of my dogs.

Yes, seven – mostly rescues, acquired during my late 30s and early 40s while going through infertility treatment. They would lovingly accompany me on walks in the French countryside I call home as I came to terms with each failed IVF cycle and then the fact, at 43, I would never become a mum.

They were my steadying presence, too, when my ­husband almost died in 2023. He spent months in hospital and more months recuperating at home.

It has been just me and them at times. But our daily routine never wavered and they rewarded me with love. They were my world. But from March 2023 the usual diseases – cancer, heart failure, arthritis – picked them off one by one.

I’ve always been spiritually curious, so I was interested to know why my dogs went so closely together. Also, were the ‘signs’ I was convinced they’d sent me really from them?

After my black and white spaniel Maya was put to sleep I was power-washing her dog crate when a beautiful black-and-white butterfly hovered next to my face before darting around me in circles, something Maya used to do too.

I consulted a pet psychic – and during my hour-long ­session with Lizzy Adams she described each dog’s ­character perfectly.

Samantha Brick with her Old English Sheepdog Indy, the first of her seven dogs to have died in the last three years

Foxie, Maya, Bebe and Ego have all passed on, but their spirits may endure

First was Indy, my Old ­English Sheepdog. She was also the first to die. Dogs with outgoing personalities are easy to connect with, said Lizzy.

One of my biggest questions was why three of them all passed within three months of one another. Maya from heart disease in February 2024, and two fox terriers, Joe (a virus in March) and Foxie, who ­succumbed to a tumour that April. Maya’s was a chronic condition but the other two were out of the blue.

Lizzy explained that they knew their time was up and as they played together in real life, they wanted to stay together on the other side. One of my other dogs, matriarchal terrier Bebe, put to sleep in November 2023 because of kidney failure, was there to greet them, she said.

A pet psychic since 2018, Lizzy says: ‘When I tune in to their energy, I will pick up on their personality and mannerisms. I’ll often “see” them in my room, and it’s not uncommon for them to “play” with my own departed dog, Louis.’

Every owner will receive signs, she says. Being open to them is key. The sign they give you will be unique to their personality and circumstances in which they lived with you. These may include...