Why Would Dogs Be Scared Of Ghosts?

[PeniG]

There is also the consideration that animals and humans have different visual priorities. When a human faces a window, we generally focus on the other side of the window, while an animal is more than likely focusing on the surface of the window. It takes a major reorientation of attention for the human to see the moving leaf shadow, or even the nearly-transparent insect, that has attracted a staring cat's attention. When a pet appears to be hunting something invisible, they may be tracking movement without regard to its tangibility, on the same principle as when they chase "the red dot" or a laser pointer. I remember once that my husband was well into a similar game with our cats before he realized that he was part of the game - from his physical angle and human perception, it took him quite awhile to spot that their target was a light reflection off his watch face.

Every sentient creature is bombarded by more information than it can process. In addition to the physical filters which prevent us from receiving certain kinds of information (colors, pitches, nuances of scent, etc.), we all develop psychological filters that sort information in ways that are relevant to our interests. I see far more and different kinds of birds than a non-birdwatcher does, but far fewer recognizable human faces than an extrovert does. When I am walking through a library I scan lots of titles and book covers without registering them, but my inner filters can be trusted to pick out key words and images - the name of a favorite author, an illustration suggestive of something I'm presently researching, and so on. We can consciously change our filters, and sometimes we can adjust them to crudely match the default filters on animals we associate with. Sometimes we can't; either the criteria of the filter are too alien, or the information being filtered can't reach us in the first place.

The same is true in reverse, of course. Human behavior is often as bewildering and mysterious to pets as pet behavior is to humans.

 

[catseye]

The variable focus thing rings true to me too. It's the same in humans. My eldest daughter has Attention Deficit Disorder with its attendant lack of focus on what others would see as 'the big things'. Yet she has amazing attention for tiny tiny details. I was out walking with her once across the moors, we were admiring the view, the big sky (well, I was). She suddenly said 'look!' and bent down and we watched a dragon fly hatching from its cocoon on a reed by the side of the river. I would have stepped right over it. SHE was focussing on 'the small things'.

I think dogs and cats do the same.

 

[escargot]

We may be making the mistake of assuming that dogs' emotions are like ours when they're not.

In my experience of keeping dogs they respond to alarm or threat by becoming protective.

They don't wonder about what's really going on. If they are unsure they go on the defensive by barking and growling.

If something dodgy is going on they are ready to start biting.

That's what we keep them for!

 

[catseye]

We may be making the mistake of assuming that dogs' emotions are like ours when they're not.

In my experience of keeping dogs they respond to alarm or threat by becoming protective.

They don't wonder about what's really going on. If they are unsure they go on the defensive by barking and growling.

If something dodgy is going on they are ready to start biting.

That's what we keep them for!

This is true, and why my unsocialised dog reacts to any fear threat by growling and barking and going on the attack. When she looks 'afraid' it's not because she is scared but because she is uncertain (she will look at me anxiously, wag her tail feebly and tuck it in, and perhaps shake a little). A bystander may think she's displaying fear, but if she was afraid she would have attacked the bystander. It's usually because I am behaving in a way she can't understand (becoming cross at inanimate objects or falling over on ice are big at the moment).

 

[Bororeturn1]

Hi all, had to search for this thread.

Have been in my current house for 7 years now (a new build) the family & I have not felt or seen anything spooky or unnerving in that time at all.

We have a two year old Cockapoo & have had her from a puppy, anyhow two nights ago she jumped on me whilst I was on the sofa & stood up ‘paws on the wall’ & was staring at the wall (nothing there no reflections etc). however she then jumped off the sofa, walked out of the living room door into the hall way & was staring at the same area / spot but on the other side of the wall!!!

Tonight approx 15 mins ago, we heard whimpering & walked into the hall way, there she was sat looking up at the wall (same area)....my wife & I asked her ‘what is it’? to which her reaction was to stand on her hind legs & then to start pawing the wall, whimpering & her tail was wagging excitedly!!! At one point she reacted to something, she moved back & to the left but then moved back to the same spot again.

After 5 mins of this she came back into the room, but then went back into the hall way & was sat on the floor again staring at the same part of the wall!!!

Your thoughts please enthusiastic ones.

ps pics attached

 

[gattino]

Sometimes there are noises in the wall from mice moving around in the cavities...though that looks like a pretty thin wall so i don't know if it would have any. The fact its directly over the radiator may indicate something... water in the pipes maybe? Again I'm not convinced of that in the slightest but they'd be the two things i'd make a stab at if sound was what was attracting the dog's attention. Smell would hardly be locate half way up the wall, and im not sure dogs are noted for having greater vision than people. So the choices seem to me to be a sound behind the plaster that you can't hear (perhaps put your ear to the wall when the dog is looking there to find out), or it really is seeing something invisible to human eyes.

 

[Bororeturn1]

Not sure, yes the walls are quite thin (what new builds aren’t), we did think she was looking at the mirror or light, or a reflection from it but she’s looking below the mirror to the left of the radiator.

You may have something with regards to sound (even though we can’t hear anything) I’ll try the ‘ear to the wall thing next time she does it’ I think the freaky thing is the tail wagging, whimpering & head tilting reactions to ‘something’ & the fact that this has only occurred in the last two days.

In the video my wife took a ‘streak’ (or orb depending on POV) shoots from the bottom of the screen up !!!

Ill post it.....

 

[gattino]

Oo..another suggestion . Apart from putting your ear to the wall , perhaps put up something to visibly obstruct that section of wall ..ie a picture, mirror, poster, even just a sheet of cardboard. If the dog is merely fixating on something visual but real ( albeit not obvious to you) then the barrier will cover the distraction, whatever it may be, and pooch will instantly lose interest. . But if it's looking at something ghostly, for want of a better word, a sheet of card or paper is unlikely to form any more of a barrier to the spirit than the wall itself does so doggy will continue to stare.

 

[RaM]

Did wonder about the radiator, was it on, if so the heat would cause a air current above it,
maybe some sort of shimmering effect maybe.
Next door had to block access to the rear of the tv as their dog would go round the back
looking for the people on the screen or under it looking for their legs.

 

[PeteS]

Hi all, had to search for this thread.

Have been in my current house for 7 years now (a new build) the family & I have not felt or seen anything spooky or unnerving in that time at all.

We have a two year old Cockapoo & have had her from a puppy, anyhow two nights ago she jumped on me whilst I was on the sofa & stood up ‘paws on the wall’ & was staring at the wall (nothing there no reflections etc). however she then jumped off the sofa, walked out of the living room door into the hall way & was staring at the same area / spot but on the other side of the wall!!!

Tonight approx 15 mins ago, we heard whimpering & walked into the hall way, there she was sat looking up at the wall (same area)....my wife & I asked her ‘what is it’? to which her reaction was to stand on her hind legs & then to start pawing the wall, whimpering & her tail was wagging excitedly!!! At one point she reacted to something, she moved back & to the left but then moved back to the same spot again.

After 5 mins of this she came back into the room, but then went back into the hall way & was sat on the floor again staring at the same part of the wall!!!

Your thoughts please enthusiastic ones.

ps pics attached

That is a strange reaction which is apparently sudden and new. I wonder if there is an airlock or similar in the water or central heating pipes, causing a new strange sound which the dog doesn't like.

 

[catseye]

Is there wiring or piping in the wall? As it's a new build I would take bets on there being some noise that you can't hear, that maybe starts up when the heating turns on or off.

She looks adorable, by the way.

Edited to add: if you've been in the house 7 years, something may have moved and be tapping against something else. Our heating started 'thrumming' after a while.

 

[Kondoru]

I think Dogs rely on human cues as to how to react.

Same as Toddlers, a bold one will want to play with everything, but if mother makes a `danger` reaction they will retreat.

 

[feinman]

It might be that dogs (and other animals) react to things like ghosts and UFOs for the same reason that people do --the extreme otherness of them.