Experts Weigh In: Can Dogs See Ghosts?
When it comes to whether pets can see into the paranormal realm, it all depends on who you ask.
Karen Anderson, a professional animal communicator, psychic and medium based in Elk, Washington, says pets can most definitely interact with the spirit world.
“Dogs can absolutely see spirits,” says Anderson, who claims she can communicate telepathically with dogs and cats. “It can be a human, another animal, sometimes non-human, like angelic energies that are around. But, just like humans, some pets are very tuned in and more sensitive, and others don’t have a clue. Every animal is different.”
The ones that are more tuned in use their specialized senses to pick up on spirit energy, she says.
“Dogs can see the spirits with their eyes because they have the ability to see things that we can’t,” Anderson says. “And they can hear things we can’t, so they can pick up the energy that way, too.”
But are they seeing ghosts or normal things that us humans simply can’t with our duller senses?
Belle Marie Nibblett, DVM, a board-certified small animal internal medicine specialist with Oregon Veterinary Referral Associates in Eugene, says that, when compared to humans, dogs do have a heightened ability to smell, see, hear and feel—which could, in theory, help them sense otherworldly visitors.
Paws down, smell is a dog’s top sensory superpower, Dr. Nibblet says. Dogs can smell pheromones as well as odors—something humans cannot.
But can dogs “smell” ghosts? Probably not, she says.
“If you are fearful of something, though, your dog will know through your pheromones,” she says.
As for hearing, a dog’s ability to hear higher frequencies than a human is well known. Think of the classic dog whistle—the dog can hear it, but humans can’t, says Dr. Nibblett, noting we can hear between 64 Hz–23 kHz, whereas dogs can hear between 67 Hz–45 kHz.
That’s significant, but even more interesting is that dogs can focus on a particular sound.
“Dogs have a better ability to focus on a specific sound that they’re hearing and, essentially, block out other sounds,” Dr. Nibblett says.
When it comes to vision, dogs can only see in the blue/violet and red spectrums, but they excel at seeing movement—particularly subtle movement, Dr. Nibblett says. They also have very sensitive night vision, she says.
“Dogs’ sense of sight developed around them being predators,” she says. “They needed that ability to see movement and motion in order to catch their prey. Everything is developed for seeing things that move.”
Dogs also can sense movement and vibration with their super-sensitive whiskers, Dr. Nibblett says.
“Their whiskers—vibrissae—have a tremendous sensory input,” she says. “They can feel the slightest bit of movement in the air, sending a message to the brain about the animal’s distance from the given object.”
Dogs’ intuitiveness of their surroundings means they may be able to see or even feel quick movement in a room. If you’re a skeptic, you might say that quick movement is just a mouse or a bug that’s too quick for us humans to see. Or, if you’re believer like Anderson, you might say it’s a spirit.
Spirit energy, Anderson says, sometimes appears as visible orbs or shadows that fly across the room or pass through your peripheral vision, so dogs’ extra-sensitive motion-detector eyes might allow them to see subtle ghostly movement.
“The orbs will shoot by with lightning speed, day and night,” she says. “And the shadows, they’ll appear like a bullet out of the corner of your eye. Sometimes it’s like, ‘Did I really just see that?’”
So, what’s the truth? Can dogs see ghosts? Or are they just sensing everyday objects and sounds that we can’t. If it seems like it could go either way, that’s because, well, it can‑at least, according to Jordan F. Slavik, an instructor at the University of Maryland who is currently working towards his PhD in philosophy.
“The most honest scientific answer to whether or not dogs can sense the paranormal is that we simply don’t know,” he says. “Much like ghosts or spirits themselves, science can neither completely prove or disprove such a claim—at least not yet.”
Signs Your Dogs Can Sense the Supernatural
Because most of us are unable to communicate with our four-legged friends telepathically, how can we tell if our dogs have a sixth sense? Anderson says to look for these three clues:
The Post-Ictal Phase
Once the seizure is over, your dog won’t recover right away. They’ll be dazed and restless. They could even suffer from temporary blindness, so expect a lot of stumbling, bumping into walls, and whatnot. Excessive drooling is also normal during this phase.
After a seizure dogs will appear disoriented and uncoordinated. Dogs may become very tired. Keeping your dog calm and relaxed is key to keeping the safe after an epileptic episode. Be patient, altered behavior and disorientation can last for an extended period of time and in some cases may last as long as 24 hours after the seizure has ended.
5 Dogs That Saw Something Their Owners Couldn’t See
When your dog acts like he sees something, sometimes it’s nothing and sometimes it’s a symptom.
Dogs may experience the same neurological conditions that affect humans and have their own way of communicating with us that something is wrong.
If your dog is looking around frantically for no apparent reason, it may be due to old age or to a particularly stressful situation.
But if you can rule out these options, then your dog may benefit from a medical examination.