Thursday, January 27, 2011

Can A Dog's Spirit Inhabit Another Dog?

Those of you who know me on Facebook know I had to put my dog down just after Christmas because she was suffering from cancer. She was a good dog with some quirks that made her endearing. But as difficult as it was to take her that day, I couldn’t watch her suffer anymore. Little did I know that I wouldn’t have to miss her as much as I thought.

Barrie’s dog, Nik, is a 15 year old Jack Russell. He’s a very calm, sweet, very loveable, and well behaved dog who normally just lays around contentedly unless it’s time to eat or time to go outside. (He does go on an adventure when he can – see “Nik – the Flying Wonder Dog” from October 17, 2010.) But overall, he’s simply been a quiet, trouble free dog. But that seems to have changed.

Can dogs come back from the grave and inhabit another dog? I have to wonder.

While Nik was always the one who stayed in his bed, or under our bed, while Lucky used to follow me everywhere, particularly into the kitchen. She was always hoping I would either give her some small treat or drop something on the floor. (Once something hit the floor it was normally hers. It was the only time she ever got to eat people food.) When I would leave the kitchen she’d stay, nosing around for a few minutes just to make absolutely sure I hadn’t slipped and let something fall unnoticed.

When I was feeding her she would always finish her food before Nik and then wait for him to finish so she could lick his bowl and make sure it was completely clean. I swear if it wasn’t for the germs and saliva I wouldn’t have ever had to wash them.

When we went into the back yard Lucky was all about chasing the birds, squirrels and rabbits out of her yard. It was her yard and she didn’t like sharing it with the wild creatures. She was OK sharing it with Nik but no one else.

Once the feeding was done, she’d been outside and the yard was clear she was content to lay down beside me and stay there for hours. That was just her.

About two weeks or so after Lucky was gone I started to notice new behavior in Nik. He was starting to follow me to the kitchen and wait for me to drop things. I then noticed he would remain in the kitchen checking the floor after I left.

We got a new dog in early January (Barrie said it was because Nik was lonely) and now there were once again two dogs in the house. Nik tolerates Gizmo well, except when Giz gets in Nik’s bed, and there has been no problem between the two. What’s interesting is that Nik has assumed almost all of Lucky’s traits.

As I said – he follows me to the kitchen looking for handouts and dropped items. Gizmo, being younger, always finishes eating before Nik and Nik goes from his bowl to Gizmo’s to lick it clean. Nik has begun to notice the birds and squirrels in the backyard and now, when I let him out, he runs around the yard constantly chasing them away. I sometimes have to call him several times before he’ll stop chasing the squirrels (they bother him the most) and come inside.

Finally, once the feeding and chasing are completed, Nik simply wants to come in and lay beside me for hours without moving. He’s content to just be there where we are and sleep when all is right in his world.

So can the spirit of one dog come back and inhabit another? It was so bizarre one afternoon, Nik was acting so much like Lucky that I looked at him and asked “Lucky – is that you?” almost expecting an answer. I didn’t get much of a chance to miss Lucky after she was gone because she seems to have quietly returned and take up residence in Nik. Nik doesn’t seem to mind. He’s adapted to his new activities well, particularly the laying beside me for hours.

Coincidence, you say? Probably. But it’s an interesting coincidence to say the least. The change in Nik is remarkable but fun. Lucky – if it really is you, welcome back.

19 comments:

  1. Hilarious! My guess is, Lucky was more bossy and now Nik finds his chance to be the boss especially with Giz around. LOL! I love it.

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  2. I believe Lucky's spirit now shares Nik's body with Mik's spirit. I have had the same thing happen recently with a dog of mine that died and the other dog started doing things that the dog that died did. Bjt she never ever did these things before my other dog died. My girlfriend also noticed this without me saying anything.

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    1. i have also many experiences with my dogs that force to believe that dogs' spirit come again in another dogs.

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  3. I know this is an old thread, but I have pondered this for years after what happened to us. We had four Yorkshire terriers that had been together for years and were a tight pack. Three males and a female. One of two elder males Moe was clearly the alpha. The second one Sammy was the omega. The younger female Pickles was the beta and last and not least was SoSo, who was in the middle somewhere. Sammy had one very difficult to deal with issue which was fear of thunder. He was a rescue Yorkie and he went completely nuts during thunder storms to the point of waking us from sound sleeps at 3am. The other three cared less and slept like babies through every storm. After Sammy died, our beta Pickles took on that same exact fear to the same degree. The change was the very next storm after Sammy die, but I don't recall how long from Sammy 's death the storm occurred. To this day Pickles has a severe fear of thunder.

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  4. My dog recently died and our other dog immediately started showing traits that the other one did. The Akita(Zoe) was lazy and wouldn't do anything not even play with the kids and my pug(Bella) was the hyper one always running and playing around she was wired all day. Now that Bella is gone Zoe does everything she did. She will follow me around won't go outside unless I take her. Zoe was bought for the kids and Bella was mine. I've never been one to connect with Zoe cause I loved Bella so much and Zoe would sit in the background and waited her turn. I'm still having a very hard time accepting Bella's dead I think about her constantly but at times in get comfort thinking she came back in Zoe.

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  5. From my experience, it does happen. My Sister and Mom had 3 Labrador retrievers. A happy intelligent yellow female lab, a big goofy lovable black male lab, and a spiritual youthful chocolate female lab. Each are about 1-1.5 years apart in age. The youngest, the chocolate lab, is the only lab alive in body. The labs are sisters and brother to each other and very much a members of the family each having very different interests, mannerisms and personalities. The chocolate lab every now and then displays the other dogs mannerisms and facial and body language that are distinct of the other labs. It is very obvious that they come through her and use her body to feel the moment in body. It is actually funny and the chocolate lab is fine with it. She was always the spiritual one from the time she was a puppy. I am not surprised. They are all very close to each other, family, and extremely loyal to my sister. They look after her in body and spirit. My Mom died mysteriously before the first lab past. I know her spirit is around every now and then when she not busy inspiring peace and love on this worldly plane. The dogs spirits, however, seem more consistently present and are my sister's guardians.

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  6. A few years ago on august 11,2014 i had to put my baby boy cheddar bob he was a rotweiler and he was only 8 months and he had a reaction to his shot the vet gave him and i had to make the hardest decision of my life and put him to rest a couple years later i got my girl luna she is a shar pei and now almost 2 years old and I have my boy Nacho also a shar pei and he is 1 years old they had puppies and i kept one for a reason I had thought she was done giving birth to her fourth puppy so we let her outside so she can use the bathroom i herd nacho barking but i was not thinking anything at the time i was tired it was a long night watching and helping my luna give birth to 4 beautiful and healthy puppies so we came back inside and we went to bed at 6 am only an hour of sleep i heard a puppy crying like crazy so i leaned over to check but luna and her babie were sleeping but i just kept hear this puppy crying so i looked under my bed thinking maybe one wiggled its way under but there was no puppy so i got up my husband was passed out on the couch i go outside and i hear crying louder and walk over into the grass and saw right by my window a puppy i quickly picked her up and brought her to luna quickly so she knows that was her baby and to get her to latch on luna and have some milk my baby girl was the runt of the litter but she is a survivor and now she is 12 weeks old and very healthy but i ve noticed she is doing things my rotweiler cheddar bob had use to do he use to bring rocks in the house and she does the same and she is very very close to me she sleeps in my lap she has to go every where i go and i was very close to my cheddar bob the same way my other dogs luna and nacho never did anything like that when they were puppies but now they had babies and my sol is just like cheddarbob and i believe his soul his spirit everything was born with her

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  7. Ditto, female pit died, and then the younger male started acting like her

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  8. Thanks for sharing this. I think yes it's possible, because when my dog died and right after her pet cremation seattle we get right away the new dog from the shelter and I can't explain my feelings when I was saw my new baby at the first time. I feel the presence of my loss dog to my new one.

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  9. I came across this looking for an explanation to my dog's recent change in behavior. In October 2018 our 4 yr old pug got very sick and declined rapidly within days. The vet misdiagnosed cancer, not that it would have mattered, but he struggled to live for a week. Six days later we were putting our precious baby down. Almost as soon as Chesley died, our other pug Buddha (10 year old) began acting like a frisky playful--naughty puppy. This was Chesley's behavior. Buddha is a senior dog and acts very much like a senior dog, struggling to do any sort of physical activity, yet here he was just running through the house. Since then, stranger behavior has been the new normal for Buddha. He plays with Chesley's toys (Buddha had given up playing with toys several years ago). He zooms through the house like he's young. His senior traits are totally gone. The most peculiar behavior of all his is recent 'naughty' behavior. Buddha has never had to be in his crate when we are away but now he does because he is constantly getting into things, again, this was Chesley's behavior and not Buddha's. We have tried to chalk it up to that Buddha is lonely or he's trying to make us not miss Chesley so much by mimicking Chesley's behavior but it's so much more than that. I feel it must be something we cannot truly comprehend. What brought me here this morning was Buddha took it upon himself to run about 500 feet of address labels through our entire upstairs. Buddha would NEVER have done something like this but Chesley most certainly would have. So I totally accept and believe that another dogs spirit can go into a living dog, as crazy as that sounds.

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    1. That doesnt sound crazy at all. I firmly believe that my dogs had that happen. I have Dot (lab/pit mix) who doesnt wanna come anywhere near me, doesnt like affection at all and was very standoffish. I also had Mow Mow 1 year old puppy with crap loads of energy, was a cuddler and loved kisses and attention. Dot was not very fond of mow mow but tolerated her. August of 2018, mow mow and dot were together when they crossed the stret together but mow mow didnt make it, and died on the side of the road. Ever since mow mow died I feel like I dont even know dot anymore. She is a cuddler hardcore now and she has energy and loves affection. I am a firm believer that mow mows spirit was given to dot. Sometimes dot even looks like mow mow when she turns a certain way. I love my dot but I am glad I stil have a piece of mow mow with me.

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  10. Hi we've recently lost our dog Milly a small collie cross she was 14 & had kidney failure our other dog is a pugapoo called Sasha she is 10 & was always bossing poor Milly around & picking on her but , since she has passed she is a lot quieter & has suddenly started doing things Milly used to like pulling to cross the Rd or she waits for you if you've walked off waiting for you to return & won't move till you do & tonight she did high five just like my sister taught Milly to do & at the end Milly was spending a penny all the time with the kidney failure & the other day Sasha every 5 mins on a walk was spending a penny when she normally only goes a few times at most, she also has been following us everywhere in the house to.

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  11. My dog JiJi had to be put down this passed March due to cancer spreading throughout her body. When it got to her lungs it made breathing difficult. She would stare straight into my eyes as if letting me know she did not want to suffer any longer. She and I had a very deep connection and she was very intuitive. When I would meditate she would be there to join me. She also had quirky habits, such as grabbing my wrist with her teeth when I came home from work. When it was time to come in the house after playing in the yard she would walk so slow to make me wait until she was ready to come in. She also would never, ever drink out of a community dog water bowl, but would rather drink from a puddle. I guess she didn’t want dog germs. :) I could go on and on with her quirks. Our other dog Toby, did not have the quirks she had, but a few weeks after JiJi passed My husband and I noticed Toby taking on these quirks. I kept saying, I think JiJi soul is sharing Toby’s body. Not sure I’d that’s the case or if Toby picked these quirks up cause they worked so well for his sister and she was the alpha dog. But with JiJi’s intuitive spirit, I could see her coming back.

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  12. I lost my sweet Babie J on May 11, 2020. This past weekend my neighbor stopped in with her dog Ajax. He and Babie J where best friends. Ajax was licking my leg and then jumped up on the couch with me and just sat quietly next to me. Of all the times my neighbor visited me he never sat by me and only with her. She told me Ajax has never done that with anyone in eight years she ha had him. I truly believe Babie J's spirit was in his body that day.

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  13. I lost my sweet Babie J on May 11, 2020. This past weekend my neighbor stopped in with her dog Ajax. He and Babie J where best friends. Ajax was licking my leg and then jumped up on the couch with me and just sat quietly next to me. Of all the times my neighbor visited me he never sat by me and only with her. She told me Ajax has never done that with anyone in eight years she ha had him. I truly believe Babie J's spirit was in his body that day.

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  14. Cobalt was 10, his nephew Tesla 6 were both Border Terriers. Both in fairly decent health. Cobalt suddenly developed seizures so bad that could not be controlled and within 36 hours we felt that he needed to be at peace. It was heartbreaking, not just for us but for Tesla. 2 nights after he passed Tesla was in the middle of the house very close to our large white crystal and began growing then barking at the darkness. When me wife and I walked through the area we could feel the energy. Tesla did not want to go into that area.

    These two dogs were very close. They hunted, slept, ate, and played together.

    Now for the strange. Tesla's voice has gotten deeper, closer in tune to Cobalt's. Cobalt loved apples while Tesla hated them. Now Tesla likes apples. I can't explain how this is happening. So I can't rule out the possibility that Cobalt's spirit has returned and is having some physical impact on Tesla.

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  15. I had 3 cats and one of them - Valka - passed few days ago. I asked deeply to see her in my dreams the first night. I had a dream where I was trying to protect my two other cats, the living ones, she was not there. On the next day I saw some different behavior of my female - more like the one which is not here anymore. Both cats are trying also to amuse me, to play a lot. I'm almost sure Valka's spirit has merged with the spirit of her friend. As animals have separate individuality but common soul, it is quite possible, I think. And also the dream - she told me - take care of my furry friends, I'm in them...

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  16. My 12 year old Samson just died 5 days ago. He was my 1st dog and I had him his whole life.. He was everything to me.. I acquired another dog 4 years ago Cassius, same breed but totally different behaviors. I started noticing Cash 2 days ago drinking water out of the water hose like Samson used to do. Cash is afraid of the hose as he thinks I'm going to give him a bath. Cash doesn't smile or open his mouth much when he breathes but I noticed him doing that yesterday when I took him in the car for a ride.. He was smiling just like his brother Samson. I also noticed today that Cash laid on the floor and put his head up on the sofa where I was sitting I've never really noticed him doing that before but Samson did it all the time. I truly believe Samson's spirit is sharing Cassius's body.

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  17. I think it really is a possibility, especially since I believe dog souls become connected to their owners. I'll tell you my story which, to me, proves it. I got Mozart as a 2 month old bichon puppy when I was 20. Something about him was so special the moment I met him. After a few months, I came across Rini, a coton de tulear, at 4 months old, and decided to adopt her also so Mo-Mo would have a buddy, and she was such a gentle and sweet puppy. They grew up together, inseparable. Even when they accidentally got out of the house, and I got calls from neighbors that they had them, they were always found together. Best of friends. When Rini was 11 years old, she had a tumor on her spleen that burst, and I had to make the tough decision to put her down. Mo grieved for weeks, and I didn't want him to be alone, so I went to the humane society and found Boo, an 8 year old poodle/schnauzer. Boo acted so much like Rini that Mo took to her immediately. She acted so much like Rini that I would accidentally call her Rini. Then recently, at 15 years old, Mo had renal failure and had to be put down. Boo grieved, and then she started feeling better, and I noticed things about her that only Mo did start to emerge. She would scrape her feet like Mo would after going to the bathroom. She never did that. She started to be more vocal with barking and whining like Mo, and she was almost always quiet. She also HATED bananas. She'd spit them out and never ate them, but Mo loved them. Just to test it, I gave her some banana, and she ate it like it was the best treat! Not only did she take on Rini's personality with her own, but she took on Mo's the moment he passed away. So, yes, I think their souls linger with you, because I can't explain the sudden change in her behavior any other way.

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