Communication with dead pets

[anubisa]

I was wondering if anyone besides myself (i'm sure there are) hear from their pets beyond the grave. I have had a few experiences with two of my fur sisters. One is the day after we put down our last dog Trini who we had to put down because she had a bad seizure and she was just going down. She was very sick. Anyway, the next day in the early morning my second dog that I had in my early childhood to early 20s flashed in my mind as if to say that Trini was fine and with our other dogs. I've also had other experiences with Trini. Sometimes she would wake me up when she was alive to put her up on the bed with my parents. She would bark at me. So every once in a while I will hear her barking at me from nowhere. It's like she's telling me 'don't forget me' or 'wake up sis.' So do you have any experiences?

[Rhythm]

I don't know if this counts...but I have a hill on my farm where I've been laying my dogs down under cairns for about...10 years. There are four of them out there now. Ranger, Charlie, Easy, and Echo. My pig is out there too, PigPig. I do sometimes wake up in the middle of the night, walk through my house, and open the door to let them in because I think they're scratching at the door. Then I remember that they're dead, and I feel silly. Sometimes I'll push pillows or blankets..or my family... around on the bed and mumble "bad dog" or "get to the foot" - like they're still there. Isca (my wife) giggles about that. Always has, just like she had to get used to me sleeping with alot of dogs when we met and...maybe...that there was no room for other significant others. She used to call Easy (mother of beagles, first of her name) The Other Woman, or my girlfriend, lol.

Full disclosure, I have ptsd, so hearing or feeding or talking to ghosts isn't really all that strange for me. My wife notices it too, though, our property still feels like they're on patrol, like they always were early in the am when she had to walk the kids up the lane for the bus at o-dark thirty. I've even heard her walk out there to get in the truck and say "cmon girls", then laugh at herself. Dead or alive, they made her feel safer out here in the sticks.

I think we just miss them. They used to be my only friends, for my fam they were extensions of me - always there, always doing whatever I was doing. They were my kids pillows and personal space heaters for years. I'm pretty sure that my eldest son thought he -was- a dog for the first few years of his life (or he thought they were people, same difference). I get that, lol. The wife and the boys are riding me to buy a whole new pack, Easy got hit by a dump truck coursing rabbits between litters, after we'd already found her pups other homes, so we're left dogless. I just can't bring myself to do it, I guess. It's hard work making a grave in this hardpan ridge, and nobody else is going to help me pick up a mattock or haul rocks...or..for that matter, be the one to pull the trigger. IDK, I might do it, but I think I'll condition new dogs on my sons accepting the responsibility for their end, however that comes. It's time he learned what it means. So it'll be a few years either way. Still, I feel like the last man (dog?) standing in so many ways. It's lonely. I've been surrounded by dogs for about four decades. We even had a service dog in my unit while I was away that slept in C-unit, on my rack. I've had bad experiences too, like anyone who's spent most of their time around dogs. I;ve got a scar that runs from my forehead to my chin from a fight i got into with a german shepherd/rottie mix. I won. Still, he got his licks in, went out like a boss. He was a big dog too, Bear, name fit.

I think I'm entering that portion of my life where I put down my gun and pick up a walking stick, and I just don't need a bunch of hunting dogs to do that, and I really don't agree with keeping dogs in a yard or in the house as pets. It's no good for them. So it'll be up to Ronan and Cormac. My daughters, Allannah and Morrigan...they couldn't care less. They have an endless supply of cats to keep them company. Momo found a Red Tail nestling on the ground a few weeks ago. I built a little enclosure with an open top in case it ever wants to fly away...but I don't think it will. Maybe I'll get into falconry or something. Nice quiet hobby.

Long story short is I feel ya. Maybe you should do something for their birthdays, or the anniversary of their death. They were family, that's what we do for family. Whether that satisfies their ghosts or satisfies our conscience is immaterial. They're with us either way and it doesn't hurt to recognize that.

[anubisa]

I don't know if this counts...but I have a hill on my farm where I've been laying my dogs down under cairns for about...10 years. There are four of them out there now. Ranger, Charlie, Easy, and Echo. My pig is out there too, PigPig. I do sometimes wake up in the middle of the night, walk through my house, and open the door to let them in because I think they're scratching at the door. Then I remember that they're dead, and I feel silly. Sometimes I'll push pillows or blankets..or my family... around on the bed and mumble "bad dog" or "get to the foot" - like they're still there. Isca (my wife) giggles about that. Always has, just like she had to get used to me sleeping with alot of dogs when we met and...maybe...that there was no room for other significant others. She used to call Easy (mother of beagles, first of her name) The Other Woman, or my girlfriend, lol.

Full disclosure, I have ptsd, so hearing or feeding or talking to ghosts isn't really all that strange for me. My wife notices it too, though, our property still feels like they're on patrol, like they always were early in the am when she had to walk the kids up the lane for the bus at o-dark thirty. I've even heard her walk out there to get in the truck and say "cmon girls", then laugh at herself. Dead or alive, they made her feel safer out here in the sticks.

I think we just miss them. They used to be my only friends, for my fam they were extensions of me - always there, always doing whatever I was doing. They were my kids pillows and personal space heaters for years. I'm pretty sure that my eldest son thought he -was- a dog for the first few years of his life (or he thought they were people, same difference). I get that, lol. The wife and the boys are riding me to buy a whole new pack, Easy got hit by a dump truck coursing rabbits between litters, after we'd already found her pups other homes, so we're left dogless. I just can't bring myself to do it, I guess. It's hard work making a grave in this hardpan ridge, and nobody else is going to help me pick up a mattock or haul rocks...or..for that matter, be the one to pull the trigger. IDK, I might do it, but I think I'll condition new dogs on my sons accepting the responsibility for their end, however that comes. It's time he learned what it means. So it'll be a few years either way. Still, I feel like the last man (dog?) standing in so many ways. It's lonely. I've been surrounded by dogs for about four decades. We even had a service dog in my unit while I was away that slept in C-unit, on my rack. I've had bad experiences too, like anyone who's spent most of their time around dogs. I;ve got a scar that runs from my forehead to my chin from a fight i got into with a german shepherd/rottie mix. I won. Still, he got his licks in, went out like a boss. He was a big dog too, Bear, name fit.

I think I'm entering that portion of my life where I put down my gun and pick up a walking stick, and I just don't need a bunch of hunting dogs to do that, and I really don't agree with keeping dogs in a yard or in the house as pets. It's no good for them. So it'll be up to Ronan and Cormac. My daughters, Allannah and Morrigan...they couldn't care less. They have an endless supply of cats to keep them company. Momo found a Red Tail nestling on the ground a few weeks ago. I built a little enclosure with an open top in case it ever wants to fly away...but I don't think it will. Maybe I'll get into falconry or something. Nice quiet hobby.

Long story short is I feel ya. Maybe you should do something for their birthdays, or the anniversary of their death. They were family, that's what we do for family. Whether that satisfies their ghosts or satisfies our conscience is immaterial. They're with us either way and it doesn't hurt to recognize that.

I'm so sorry about your dogs. I think doing something for their birthdays or their death anniversaries is a great idea. Also that you for being in the armed forces. You have no idea how much it means to us.

[anunitu]

this might help with morning pets
Only Dead Roses..

Framed behind memories, in plastic and glass
Pressed into service, the moments will pass
Congress of energy, broken and torn
Cast upon waters, dark and forlorn
All this be memory, that fades in the light
Coming to haunt you only at night
Flowers are fragile, as beauty must be
But shadows are waiting close by the sea
To whisper the secrets, to you and to me
Of resurrecting the Roses, and setting them free

Anunitu (C) 1994

[monsno_leedra]

Over the years myself and a number of my grandchildren, wife, daughter-in-law's and son's have had experiences with crossed-over pets returning. Sometimes it's been relatively shortly after they have passed and lasted for a few days only. Things such as seeing their ghost in the house, hearing them bark, even feeling them climb into the bed with us and get into their normal places where they'd sleep.

I know when my dalmatian Fred passed his spirit climbed into bed with me every night for about a week and would snuggle into the bend of my legs. I'd feel him climb onto the bed and feel the weight of his body and he plopped down onto the bed and against my legs. When our dog Blackie, Fred's pup, died it was about 3 months after we lost Fred. I could hear both Fred and Blackie howling and saw shadow forms of them running out through the field and around the yard. Both of their ashes sit on our mantle and will be buried with me when I finally pass.

A few months ago we lost our dog Scrapper who was close to our grandson Gregory. Gregory can still hear him barking and has felt him rub up against his legs when he's out in the yard. When he's been really upset he can still smell Scrapper around him and gets comfort from that.

We've buried Scrapper, Lady and Missy in our yard and will go out and talk to all three of them. Scrapper and Lady went about a month apart and recently time wise. Missy went about a year and a half ago. All three of them were from the same litter and were pups from Fred and Sassy. Gregory will go out and sit and talk to all three of them. I'll talk to them occasionally and talk to them when I cut the grass over their graves and clean the area up. In the same area we have the grave of one of their rabbits though they don't tend to talk to the rabbit that much. Eventually Sassy and Angel will be buried next to the others when they cross over.

When the time comes well do their traveling songs and their passing notes will be buried with them as well. A marker will be placed over their graves just like their siblings / babies (Sassy was all their mother)

[Rae'ya]

I overheard a conversation between some of my workmates (vet nurses/techs) about this very same subject today! None of them are particularly spiritual but the general consensus was that deceased pets often visit us or make their presence known. I've certainly had experiences with my pets and others', and there are multiple nurses at work who swear that deceased patients sometimes stay around in our building for a short time. I don't think it's just pets, but all animal spirits have the potential to stay 'earthbound'. At our previous house there was a ghost cat who made his presence known clearly to both my husband and I. We invited it to move with us but it opted to stay, so clearly it was attached to the house and not the family who lived there.

[anubisa]

I believe all animals have souls. I just find it interesting that when our pets pass they can sometimes still be attached to us like they were in life. Dogs are comforting animals to me, but any other kind of animal could be comforting. I had a rabbit and a bird growing up but was never attached to them the way I was with my dogs. And I'm not surprised that deceased pets sometimes stay at your work. My mom was a nurse and she worked at a couple of nursing homes as a supervisor. I read about whenever a patient dies in a funeral home there is a light or some instance that forewarns the soul leaving the body, especially at night. She was a night shift supervisor and said she had the feeling it happened. All I know is that I am always open to receive any messages or visits from my babies.I love them and miss them much.