Ghosts & Hauntings

Paranormal encounters may prove beneficial for grieving pet owners

By T.K. Randall
April 16, 2024

Image: Border Collie
Credit: Iceblueblue / CC BY-SA 4.0 (adapted) To conduct the study, Jennifer Golbeck - an affiliate professor of computer science at the University of Maryland - ventured onto social media and asked users "If you have lost a dog, have you had an experience like seeing their ghost, receiving a sign, did they communicate with you?"

Her goal was to get an idea of the types of paranormal encounters reported by owners who had lost their dogs as well as what those experiences might mean to them.

By far the most common type of paranormal experience reported with 37% of the vote was audible phenomena such as hearing the dog bark or the sound of its paws walking across the floor.

Quite a few people also reported actual sightings of their dog, sensing their dog's presence, seeing their dog in dreams or even feeling as though their dog was lying next to them in bed.Some also believed that their dog had visited them in dreams or even moved objects in their home.

Overall, the vast majority (76%) of respondents reported that it had been a positive experience and that the encounter had brought them reassurance and a sense of comfort.

Golbleck found this particularly interesting because "psychology largely characterizes externalized continuing bonds - particularly seeing ghosts - as negative and even maladaptive."

Indeed, it seems that there is a distinct difference between how paranormal encounters with a deceased pet are perceived compared to encounters with other types of ghosts or entities.

Source: University of Maryland

Tags: Ghost, Dog