Sensing Ghosts?

I watch quite a few paranormal TV shows, an addiction I'm only marginally embarrassed about.  You may or may not believe in ghosts, demons, or things that go bump in the night, but it is interesting to see how the paranormal and the sensory abilities of dogs are connected.  Dogs and ghosts work well together on several levels.  Pet owners claim their dogs start acting "funny" and this is the first indication that paranormal type incidents are in their immediate future.  

Animal Planet's The Haunted is a show that tells stories primarily about families who move into a new home and start to experience a haunting.  More often than not the family dog is the first to pick up on something abnormal.  Scary, creepy experiences are often reported as the family dog growls at some unseen presence, or cowers away from a particular area of the new house.  They're the first to sense the paranormal.

Another show, SyFy's Ghost Adventures, recently featured a ghost hunting dog, Maddie.  She's the pup of Jason Hawes, one of the team's founding members.  The team is training Maddie to go with them on investigations and alert to paranormal activity.  While her debut episode only featured her for about 5 minutes, I was sucked into watching the show because of this gorgeous German Shepherd / Cattle Dog beauty.

Maddie, ghost hunting dog of Jason Hawes of SyFy's Ghost Hunters

Another show I watch is Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures, which has absolutely nothing to do with dogs, but features a very nice to look at ghost hunter, Zak Bagans, and his team.  T and I enjoy watching this show more for pure female entertainment value.  Eye candy, if you will (T calls Zak "the beefcake" because he reminds her of the beefcakes at the gym).  But I digress.  The last paranormal show worth mentioning is A&E's Paranormal State, an investigative team started by a group of students interested in ghosties out of Penn State.  They focus on the human side of these situations, which always makes the stories more intense.

We know dogs are gifted with extraordinary olfactory abilities, better night vision than us, and better hearing than us.  These make them great ghost hunters!  Whatever the case, a good ghost story and dogs always make for good entertainment.

 
There are times when our girls stare at a particular spot on the ceiling, or at the wall with such focus that I'm relieved to follow their gaze and  find a mosquito or other flying bug dancing along.  An intruder?  Yes.  Paranormal and terrifying?  Thankfully no.  But I know the girls would let me know one way or another.  And then you'd see us on TV,  Arwen trying to get the ghost to give her belly rubs and Nyxie trying to chew on the investigators.

Move over Scooby Doo - we ain't afraid of no ghost!