Can Animals See Ghosts?

In the 1990 movie, “Ghost”, Sam Wheat, played by Patrick Swayze, was murdered on his way back to his loft with his girlfriend Molly, played by Demi Moore. He finds his spirit in their loft, having unfinished business to take care of. After Molly leaves, he sees a man, Willy, rifling through his and Molly’s things. He realizes that this is the very man that stabbed him. Molly arrives back at the loft while Willy was still in there. Sam starts to panic, tries to punch Willy and knock over other objects to get Molly’s attention. He was unsuccessful in moving things with his spirit hands. Not knowing what else to do, he sees their cat, stares into its eyes and yells. This startled the cat and it jumped on Willy, scratching his face. Is it possible for that cat to have seen or sensed Sam’s presence? I know this is a movie but it still begs the question, can animals see ghosts?

I have seen this odd behavior with our Golden Retriever, Dusty. We had Dusty since she was eight weeks old until she died at the age of 13 years. Dusty was a beautiful, smart dog. She knew how to get the better of us and her buddy Shadow, our Black Lab/Chow mix. She would watch Shadow spend several minutes burying a bone or treat; then waited for her to leave and would dig it up. She even went as far as showing Shadow what she did. Her main form of exercise besides chasing Shadow and being walked was stalking pigeons and grabbing them out of mid-air. She was amusing to watch. Dusty had this low bark that was followed by a growl which made her sound more vicious than she really was. On many occasions I would hear her constantly barking at something and would check it out. Some of the times she would be barking directly at Shadow being bossy or holding her head up looking towards the sky to bark at the neighbor’s dogs. Then there were other times where she would be looking at a section of our yard or patio, with the hairs up on her back, barking at nothing. Her bark sounded different almost like she was scared. This would occur often during any part of the day and she would not stop until I told her to. Part of the time I thought something might be wrong with her. Then, there were other times when I got chills and wondered if she was seeing something I couldn't see. There was no cat, pigeon or any other reason for the behavior that was visible to me. All of Dusty’s barking odd behavior occurred outside. With our current two dogs their odd behavior has been noticed inside the house. Our Chihuahua, Booger, is usually seen staring at the dark entry room near our kitchen and growling. When I investigate the room, there appears to be nothing unusual that can be seen. He has also done this while looking down our hallway with the hairs up on his back. He appeared to be intently staring at something or perhaps someone. Our American Cocker, Lucy, was lying on the corner of my daughter’s bed looking out to the dark hallway and growling. There was nothing there and this gave my daughter an uneasy feeling. I don’t think my house is haunted but I do feel the presence of spirits from time to time. It just makes me wonder if my dogs were seeing something beyond this realm, perhaps a ghostly presence.

I researched my question online and found more stories than answers. Don’t get me wrong, the stories were interesting, but I wanted answers. Some of “experts” said that an animal’s senses are more keenly developed than a human’s. They are able to see things that we are unable to see with our naked eye. Animals have been known to alert their owners of dangerous situations even before the owner is aware that something is wrong. They can sense danger, even know who the bad people are and when you are feeling upset about something. I know that when I have been feeling bad or upset, my dogs will sit by me as if they know that I need some comfort and love.

And so I put this question to you: Can Animals See Ghosts? Do you have any interesting stories about any unusual behavior by an animal or animals in your life? My only experiences are with dogs, so I am interested in hearing stories on other types of animals.

--Julie--