[mrvoodoo]

Hi all, I've been doing some reading about this, so thought I would come to a place with lots of dog owners to see if they'd had any similar experiences.

Have a quick read and let me know your thoughts:

http://hubpages.com/_1yze1gg3p11lr/hub/Can-Dogs-See-Ghosts

Many Thanks.

 

[RonE]

Here's a story I've told here before. My background is in science and I'm not a particularly superstitious person.

Years ago, I would take our big black lab to the dog park first thing every morning before I went to work. I didn't want him running on a full stomach, so his breakfast was always waiting for him in the basement family room when I brought him home, and he would charge it eagerly.

One morning, we came home and he started down the stairs to his breakfast, but stopped about halfway down. His fur went up and he actually backed up the stairs (which I would have guessed was impossible.) He made a low growl, unlike anything I've heard before or since. This was not, BTW, a nervous or fearful dog.

I was afraid there might be someone downstairs that shouldn't be, but that wasn't the reaction I would expect from that dog when encountering a human threat. I explored the basement, a little nervously, and there was nothing there - unless you count my mother-in-law's ashes in an urn on a shelf, awaiting burial. They had recently arrived from Denver, but that's another story.

My two children had each experienced odd things in that basement since my MIL had arrived in that urn, but I was inclined to dismiss them as young, overactive imaginations. I don't believe dogs have imaginations, so that wasn't so easy to dismiss.

He actually skipped breakfast altogether until I returned that evening and went downstairs with him.

 

[LuvmyRotti]

I was sitting on the bed watching tv and Quinn was laying down at my feet. Out of know where, he jumped up liked a scared rabbit and ran out of the room. Literally 2 minutes later I hear Cartman running down the hall, into my room only to stop dead in his tracks when he entered my room (normally he would jump on the bed) turned around and ran out. What the heck? Should I be running out too?

Several times (in this house) Quinn and my previous dog Jake would be sleeping/laying on the floor and do what Quinn did on my bed. Jump up like something scared them, and sheepishly run to another spot. They seemed scared. My hushand has witnessed this - and we both agree this is odd, and always said I wonder if they see/feel something we don't. I'm not close minded to these things - but still question what it is, especially since 2 dogs have done this. Cartman has only done this twice that I have seen.

 

[hulkamaniac]

Ghosts don't exist. There's no way a dog can see or detect something that doesn't exist any more than we can.

 

[mrvoodoo]

Very Very interesting accounts, thank you both so much for sharing, there definitely seems to be something to this. I suggested to a lady who visited my page to try and take a few pictures of where the dogs were looking, she replied a few days later shocked that the picture appeared to contain some kind of 'orbs', I'm hoping she'll post the pic and drop me a link to it.

It does seem like very odd behavior and as Ron said of his dog 'This was not, BTW, a nervous or fearful dog.'

I've never seen a ghost, but this is the closest I've come to seeing them (through my dog).

Thanks again. =)

 

[Marsh Muppet]

I had one of those moment, whee if I were the least bit inclined to believe in ghosts, whould have nailed the lid shut on the topic for me. I was working in a closed (old) nursing home, and my Rottie alerted to the sounds of footsteps and moving furniture on the floor above us--for a few minutes. He wasn't growling or raising hackles, but super alert. More like he was going to greet a "friendly".

We went to investigate and he looked in the rooms the noise originated from. He didn't sniff around; he just looked around. We checked out the entire building and found nothing out of place, and no point of entry or exit where any intruder(s) could have passed without leaving evidence of their presence. Mack's reaction to those noises were completely out of character for him. They were never seen before that day, nor after it.

 

[mrvoodoo]

Ghosts don't exist. There's no way a dog can see or detect something that doesn't exist any more than we can.

It would seem to me that one persons opinion does not equate to fact, but thank you for your reply.

 

[deege39]

It's always been my belief that dogs have a "sixth"-sense...

I suggest reading the suspense novel, Seeing Eye, it's about a blind man, that is surgically connected to his "seeing eye dog", and that dog has visions about a murderer, and his owner sees them through the dogs eyes...

However, my point... I believe dogs can see ghosts... There have been some suspicious, unexplainable, activities that have been happening recently in my apartment, and Donatello doesn't seem any more oblivious to it than I am; Which means there's "something" there...

Just my opinion.

 

[zimandtakandgrrandmimi]

Until there is testable, concrete evidence pointing towards the existence of ghosts, I can only offer the current scientific stance...

I don't know. Ill let you know once some evidence presents itself.

 

[SweetJeannie]

Ron! That is just freaky!! My dad totally believed there were ghosts. He passed away recently so I am hoping he's haunting me so I can see him again. Maybe lil Aiko will let me know when he's around.

On the other hand I hope he's not haunting me and is happily resting in heaven waiting for us.

Anywhere else I can find good stories about this kind of thing. It intrigues me. I want to know as well.

 

[BrittanyG]

How weird, I had a dream about this just last night.

As for real world experience, nothing concrete. Of course there is the occasional barking at air, staring fixedly into space..but it doesn't give me 100% proof that it's supernatural.

 

[winniec777]

Several times (in this house) Quinn and my previous dog Jake would be sleeping/laying on the floor and do what Quinn did on my bed. Jump up like something scared them, and sheepishly run to another spot. They seemed scared.

My dog has done this as well, but I'm thinking she just had a scary dream and was awake enough to get up and run from it. Not that I'm dismissing the idea of ghosts or dogs being able to see them. I have no evidence either way, so like zim, I don't know...

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
-- Hebrews, Chapter 11, Verse 1

 

[hulkamaniac]

It would seem to me that one persons opinion does not equate to fact, but thank you for your reply.

It's not an opinion, it's a fact. There is absolutely no scientific evidence whatsoever to the existence of ghosts. Therefore they do not exist. You cannot claim that something exists and then admit that there is no scientific proof of it.

 

[mrvoodoo]

Anywhere else I can find good stories about this kind of thing. It intrigues me. I want to know as well.

There are some here at the page I've created about it: http://hubpages.com/hub/Can-Dogs-See-Ghosts

And some more here: http://www.oes.org/page2/3649~Can_dogs_see_ghosts.html


Thank you all for sharing your stories, I've very much enjoyed reading them, I'm hoping the woman who claims to have taken a picture of where her dogs were barking at gets back to me, and shares the pic. I guess I'll never know if dogs really do see ghosts, but it's interesting to consider it.

It's not an opinion, it's a fact. There is absolutely no scientific evidence whatsoever to the existence of ghosts. Therefore they do not exist. You cannot claim that something exists and then admit that there is no scientific proof of it.

The greatest scientific minds on Earth once thought the Earth to be flat, then they thought that the Earth was at the center of our solar system. If you really believe that all of the wonders of our universe can be explained by a man in a white coat with a bunsen burner, then I feel sorry for you.

p.s. I never said I believe in ghosts, just that I'm not closed to the idea.

 

[SweetJeannie]

It's not an opinion, it's a fact. There is absolutely no scientific evidence whatsoever to the existence of ghosts. Therefore they do not exist. You cannot claim that something exists and then admit that there is no scientific proof of it.

God. Can he be scientifically proven to exist? No but yet BILLONS of people in the world believe there is a god and have claimed to be touched by him...

....its called..... Faith.

There are lots of things that aren't scientifically proven, however that doesn't make them false. Its sad that someone has such a closed outlook on something so huge...

 

[akitalover09]

I suggest reading the suspense novel, Seeing Eye, it's about a blind man, that is surgically connected to his "seeing eye dog", and that dog has visions about a murderer, and his owner sees them through the dogs eyes...

Are you sure thats what its called? I did a search and came up with nothing.

 

[Keechak]

It's not an opinion, it's a fact. There is absolutely no scientific evidence whatsoever to the existence of ghosts. Therefore they do not exist. You cannot claim that something exists and then admit that there is no scientific proof of it.

I don't believe that humans have discovered all of what the universe is. Heck Scientists can't even properly explain "dark matter" yet.

I am not closed to the possibility of ghosts, because I believe that as a species we still have a long way to go in the knowledge department.

 

[SweetJeannie]

Are you sure thats what its called? I did a search and came up with nothing.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Seeing-Eye/Jack-Ellis/e/9780786014071

 

[BrittanyG]

That video did nothing for me. It looked like someone the dog knew, outside messing with a light. The blinds were nicely done but unconvincing. It just didn't show me the proof I'd need to make an informed decision.

 

[Independent George]

The greatest scientific minds on Earth once thought the Earth to be flat, then they thought that the Earth was at the center of our solar system. If you really believe that all of the wonders of our universe can be explained by a man in a white coat with a bunsen burner, then I feel sorry for you.

This is rapidly veering off-topic, but the burden of proof is not on the skeptics to disprove the existance of ghosts, but on the believers to prove it.

Second, the 'flat earth' theory was not as widespread as believed - at least, not amongst sailors. Erasthothenes actually managed to calculate the circumference of the earth to within 1%, over a millenia before Leif Ericson. All of the mathematics of navigation is predicated on a curved surface; even superstitious 15th century sailors instinctively understood that the world wasn't flat. The fear among Columbus' crew was not that they would fall off the edge of the world, but that they would be stranded in the ocean, dying of thirst in the middle of nowhere.

I don't believe that humans have discovered all of what the universe is. Heck Scientists can't even properly explain "dark matter" yet.

I am not closed to the possibility of ghosts, because I believe that as a species we still have a long way to go in the knowledge department.

Dark matter is something different - it was first theorized based on available data, then its existence was confirmed decades later based on continuous observation and experimentation.

Ghosts, ESP, astrology, etc - these are all typically offered as an explanation based on the lack of data. I don't necessarily preclude their existence, but I'm going to need some very compelling evidence to even begin considering the possibility ahead of more mundane explanations.

Anyway, back to the OP: my dog is afraid of her own food bowl - I had to lay a towel down under the feeder in order to get her to eat. We've all had experiences where our dog freaks out when encountering a person wearing a backpack, or a hat, or with an arm in a cast, for the first time. Given all this, is it more likely that a dogs can detect a ghosts, or that they are reacting to a particular object, scent, or sound that we don't even notice ourselves?

And yes, I'm a contributor to the James Randi Foundation.