Do animals see things we can't?

[Stacey Steve]

Every morning I take the dog out for a walk on a particular route. There is just one part where he goes really alert, hackles starting to raise and he keeps stopping, turns around and stares very intently. I pull him to get him to come in the direction we should be going but he stops every few steps and does the same routine.

This goes on for maybe 50 yards and then he's OK and walks on.

This only happens when it's dark or twilight (normally is for morning walks), he's OK in daylight (if I get a lie in at a weekend).

I know he's only got one eye and his vision isn't great in the other but I've looked carefully trying to see what spooks him and there is nothing that I can see that can account for it.

Does this happen with anyone else's animals?

[Two_Sheds]

He can probably see/hear/smell a fox or badger.

[Stacey Steve]

Could be, at the far end of this stretch (the way we are walking to) there is a mound with scrub and trees on it where we often see foxes coming from the houses entering this area. The bit that disturbs him did have rabbits but they got slaughtered when stoats visited and I haven't seen any since.

[lynda66]

dogs senses are thousands of times better than ours ...... so yes they smell see and hear things we don't ...... and if he doesn't see too well, the other senses will increase to compensate, maybe you should go and have a wander and see what it is ...... maybe it's a ghost.

[Digger-07]

It all depends what the dog has between it's ears. Mine definately see things that are not there for me to see. Like the alarm clock at 6am when it is set to go off at 10 past but they are ready for breakfast. And again when they see their leads being picked up when I'm at the other end of the house.

But out walking one will watch planes while the other never notices. And a hot air balloon makes one go wild while the other looks puzzled as to what the fuss is about.

[Nicos]

Our horse sees wolves hiding in hedgerows and carnivorous sheep!....well that's his excuse as he leaps about the place when out on a hack!

Dog's noses are incredibly sensitive...apparently they can smell cancer.

I would have gone with the idea of fox or badger too. Clever boy!

[Black Dog]

Its the other way round for our pooch! Black Dog doesn't seem to be able to see the things we can! We think its because he is getting more advanced in years and if he acknowledges that there might be something out there, then he might have to give chase!! He's particularly amusing when it comes to spotting rabbits-recently we were crossing a field that had hundreds of them, and he didn't manage to "notice" any of them!

[HeyWayne]

My mums dog doesn't seem to see the wall/radiator he repeatedly runs into at her house. Daft little thing.

[pipscariad]

I think they can - we used to live in Scotland, in a lovely part of the Lowther Hills, and at the time had a wonderful border collie, who was a big strapping dog and afraid of nothing. We had a 'regular' circuit that we used to do as a night time walk, rain or shine, summer or winter. One night my OH took him out as per usual ('twas a bit of a chilly winters night, so softy me stayed by the fire ), but after only a short while they both returned, OH quite shaken up - he'd got to one part of the route when our dog had suddenly stopped dead, hackles up, growled, and then emitted a bloodcurdling howling bark and refused to take a step further - not turned and run scared, just really having a go at something. The road at this point was fairly open, and it was a still, cold moonlit night, and OH could see/hear nothing at all. He (our dog that is, not OH!) had chased foxes in the past, and wasn't too phased by badgers, so that wasn't it. The dog refused to go on, and by this point OH wasn't too keen either - to put it mildly - so they headed home at top speed! It really shook him up, and it's made a shiver go down my spine typing it....

We'll never know for sure, but I'm pretty sure it was a ghost - and I don't really believe in them!

[crazy_red]

If it only happens at dark or twighlight, it's probably an animal of some sort.

I don't think ghosties only come out at night, they'd be there all the time

Red x

[sharonr]

Every day when I come home, if OH is home and the dogs are loose in the house. Storm is looking out the front room window. I come home at different times everyday but she is always there. And my cat (rest in peace) use to do the same sort of thing, he use to sleep on my mothers front lawn (she lives next door). We thought it was the car that they recognised, but my sister has the same car and they don`t/didn`t do the same thing for her.

[Gro-Bag]

My pointer used to get spooked by all sorts of things that we could see too - but that he seemed to see differently - like big rocks, snowmen, unusually shaped logs, canal lock-gates, you name it. He would growl and shiver, stare intently and back off, but then when we took him up to them you could see at what point he realised it was something everyday, as he would just wag his tail and skip about looking embarrassed. What we didn't realise was that he was losing his sight in one eye, which might have been part of it. He's a one-eyed dog now and has adapted well. He doesn't get spooked by much anymore, but our young springer sometimes gets spooked by shapes of branches/ logs etc in poor light. At least I think that's what spooks her because its usually in woods that it happens - and if I follow her line of vision I can usually see a tree that's leaning in a bit or something. It does freak me out a bit sometimes.

[madmax]

Do dogs see things we don't?

Deffo yes. Ludo has this ability to see an opportunity to rob food off us when we don't.