What did the dog see?

[Elin]

Me and my husband went to visit my grandmothers grave. i was going to plant some flowers. Suddenly the little dog went like crazy, she barked at a spot near the grave, and started shimmering with fear. After awile trying to calm her down we went away and as i hadn´t finished planting we came back from another angle. The dog went crazy again, her eyes seemed to be always on the same spot, barking and showing her teeths. She was all shaky so we just went home.
This was spooky and not the usual behaviour of that dog.

(It was abt 5 years ago but whenever we come to my granny´s grave this comes to mind and we have talked alot about this, what did she see.)

What do you think?

[Matt]

Me and my husband went to visit my grandmothers grave. i was going to plant some flowers. Suddenly the little dog went like crazy, she barked at a spot near the grave, and started shimmering with fear. After awile trying to calm her down we went away and as i hadn´t finished planting we came back from another angle. The dog went crazy again, her eyes seemed to be always on the same spot, barking and showing her teeths. She was all shaky so we just went home.
This was spooky and not the usual behaviour of that dog.

(It was abt 5 years ago but whenever we come to my granny´s grave this comes to mind and we have talked alot about this, what did she see.)

What do you think?

It could be a variety of things from slow worm to insect or even nothing at all.

A dog's vision is very different to a human's (http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/LA/davis2.htm) and in many respects slightly worse in than ours daylight so there might have been some kind of optical illusion that looked odd to her but with our improved vision could be seen as a normal part of the scenery.

It seems more obvious to suggest that there was something that the Dog did sense that would be below our sensory threshold. Scent and Sound are the obvious candidates. I'm no sure but do some insects emit ultrasound? Perhaps the dog wasn't looking at something but looking for something, the source of a scent or sound that you would be unaware of.

Anyway a few minutes thought generates such a broad array of suggestions that it would seem impossible to narrow down to any specifics.

Of course none of these have the same charm as the idea that your dog sensed the presence of a ghost in a graveyard. I wonder how spooky you’d have considered that behaviour if it had happened in different circumstances. Enticing though that idea might be the attraction is little to do with the probability of it being correct.

The fact is that you'll always have a huge number of suggestions as to what might have lead to this behaviour and it will be a mystery. the desire for certainty shouldn't lead us to make unverifiable assumptions.

[Elin]

Thank you Matt.
The fact she did this in a graveyard is why i questioned, and as you say does made this more spooky for us who watched.
Ok I have been wondering this for years, the dog did sense something we didn´t, and you say lt might have been scent of someone who had been there earlier.

(I go tell hubbyO0

[Cuddles]

The most likely explanation would be a mouse or rabbit hole. They can be virtually invisible unless you're really looking for them, but dogs and cats can get very excited by them. Even smaller things like flies can get them excited, but they wouldn't usually react as extremely as you describe without some pretty interesting smells and sounds around as well. One possibility is if it was stung, which will tend to upset dogs (although it never stopped ours from eating wasps::)).

[FarSideOfTheMoon]

I think the important thing to note, as highlighted above, is that even though it was unusual and strange behaviour, it is probable that there is a rational explanation as opposed to a supernatural one, even if it was in a graveyard! :ghost:

[Elin]

The most likely explanation would be a mouse or rabbit hole. They can be virtually invisible unless you're really looking for them, but dogs and cats can get very excited by them. Even smaller things like flies can get them excited, but they wouldn't usually react as extremely as you describe without some pretty interesting smells and sounds around as well. One possibility is if it was stung, which will tend to upset dogs (although it never stopped ours from eating wasps::)).

Thank you Cuddles:smiley:
The dog didn´t bark at the ground but like to middle of the air. We both walked the spot she was barking at, no holes or flies...
The scent in the air is the explanation most likely to us.

Or...maybe just a ghost ;D