Brodie is a Golden Retriever
A dog of The Ancients, but even such dogs are not allowed to talk to just anybody. The rules require those he is allowed to correspond with to be a soul of The Ancients, not just any human.
He knew that if a human truly believed, then they too could hear the animals speak.
Problem was that not many believed anymore, making it that much harder for the Golden's to keep balance between animals and humans
Book One of the Five-Ever Series
because 5-ever is so much longer than 4-ever!