Do pets ‘see’ things that we can’t?

[FiveFarthings]

Do you think pets can see things that we can’t? A few times recently my dog has been growling/barking seemingly at nothing. I’ve been sat up with DD in the middle of the night- no Telly on, no windows opens, no noise, and he’s just suddenly looked up from sleeping and growled at the corner of the room. He’s done this a couple of times and seems to be looking at something (not the same place in the room each time).

I’ve also had numerous cats over the years who would stare at ‘nothing’ and appear to watch something moving even when there’s nothing there!

Is it ghosts? Not sure I believe in that or not! Anyone got any other theories?

Don’t know why I’m thinking about this in the middle of the night in the half dark, bloody freaked myself out now!

[Zippetydoodahzippetyay]

Not sure about ghosts (not sure whether or not I believe in them). But there's a lot of evidence that suggests animals are much more sensitive to and aware of things such as impending death/illness/pregnancy.

I can't seem to insert a link but google Oscar the nursing home therapy cat. Really fascinating.

As far as looking and growling at the corner, it could be anything from a bug to a neighbour. My dog rarely growls but I've noticed lately she will growl at the front door when the neighbours across the road walk out their front door. I couldn't even hear them and only figured it out by chance, but she senses or hears them.

[LiveInAHidingPlace]

My dog is definitely sensitive to things moving even a tiny bit, eg if there is a pile of boxes for recycling and they shift even a tiny bit, he'll bark and growl at them, even if we don't notice them moving.

And he knew that I was pregnant before we did. He started guarding me and growling at anyone who came near. And he would lie with his head next to my belly, which he had never done before, he wouldn't even lie next to me usually. So weird, we thought he'd gone crazy til we did a test.

[Girlintheframe]

Don't think I believe in ghosts but certainly when out walking in the woods my dog will stop and stare intently at 'something'. As far as I can tell there is nothing there and nothing I can hear. To be honest he often scare the living daylights out of me when he does it when we are walking in the dark/alone!

[Jesaminecollins]

I do believe in ghosts and I once lived in a haunted house. Sometimes the door would open by itself and my cat would watch someone or something walk across the room - I was glad when I moved house.

[Knitclubchatter]

their hearing is much more sensitive than ours and they hear different pitches of sound (stuff we wouldn't hear anyway) so even though you don't hear anything your dog probably does.

[LiveInAHidingPlace]

"Don't think I believe in ghosts but certainly when out walking in the woods my dog will stop and stare intently at 'something'. As far as I can tell there is nothing there and nothing I can hear. To be honest he often scare the living daylights out of me when he does it when we are walking in the dark/alone!"

I fucking HATE when my dog does this. We live right next to a hill that is covered in really rustly leaves and there are so many birds and animals rustling about and my dog is forever stopping and staring with his ears forward.

I'm always stressed that I'm about to get serial murdered/ghostied.

[BrokenWing]

More likely to be a noise his sensitive hearing has that you haven't, maybe a tiny bit of rubble settling in the walls, central heating pipes making noises, or maybe a mouse in the wall space. Both much more likely than a ghost!

Our ddog can hear dh's works van coming as soon as he pulls into the end of the street and gets up to welcome him, their hearing is really sensitive.

[Drogosnextwife]

More likely he is hearing frequencies that you can't hear, like mice under the floor or birds outside.
I do believe in ghosts though, and it is extremely freaky when animals do things like that but the most rational explication is the noises. Our hearing and sense of smell are shit compared to dogs.

[Bunnybigears]

I dont think its ghosts. All the cats I have ever had have looked at things that arent there, that's just cats I think. They also chase things that arent there. Our dog will growl at seemingly nothing every now and then and I just think he has obviously heard something I havent. He was growling and barking a few weeks ago at seemingly nothing turns out at the time he was doing it the shop at the end of our road (a long road) had been broken in to..

[lazylinguist]

No, they hear and smell things we don't, which is perfectly explicable and not supernatural at all.

[LouH1981]

🤷🏻‍♀️ The night my Dad died, I was at the care home with him and my mum. When it became obvious that he didn’t have long left I phoned DH to suggest he came up.
He said our Lab had been acting really strange. Running around the house barking, growling and generally on high alert. So much so, DH thought there was an intruder and marched round the house with his metal baseball bat.
Our Lab is usually pretty chilled and takes himself off to bed at 10am on the dot.
Not longer after DH arrived Dad peacefully passed away. I wonder if he’d popped in to say a final farewell.
That being said, I’m currently 30 weeks pregnant and he’s still all paws when he greets me - literally no clue about that 😂
Who knows. But obviously their senses are amazing so could be just hearing things going on outside etc.

[pigsDOfly]

It's just that they're more sensitive to sounds and subtle movements.

Unless you live in a sealed box your home will have some level of air flow going through it and sounds that you can't hear but your dog can.

My dog often wakes and looks around in a 'what just happened' way, I've always assumed she's woken from a dream and is puzzled by the fact that one minute she was chasing a bear up a tree, or whatever, and now she's lying on the sofa in the living room.

It definitely isn't ghosts your dog is seeing.

And cats stare at nothing because they like to try and freak you out.

[sweetkitty]

Apparently they can hear the electricity going up the cables their hearing is so sensitive.

Cats are arseholes, sometimes mine all stop and stare at a spot on the wall to freak me out.

[Longlongsummer]

My dog does this, growls suddenly in the night. And she’s rarely growly.

He does it when DH is away and I’m in our house in the countryside on my own... !

Always totally freaks me out. I wonder if it’s because DH is a night owl so knocks around until quite late. When he’s not there perhaps my dog can hear other sounds better.

But of course at the time I think I’m going to be murdered / ghostied!

[missbattenburg]

Battendog stops and stares at 'nothing' in the woods all the time. However, he thinks it is dangerous when the bins have been moved. I wouldn't trust his safety assesment