Animals are gifted with heightened senses. Homing pigeons always find their way back home. Horses sense electrical changes through their feet and are thus able to avoid lightning strikes when out in a field. Dogs and cats sense whether there is fear in humans around them.

All pets detect spirits much quicker than we do. Their instincts are more defined and praciced for sensing subtle changes in their environments. By paying attention to changes in their behavior and how they respond we can become more aware of spirits around the home as well. 

How to know if your pet is detecting the presence of spirits?

1. Staring intensely at an area in which nothing is there.

This will not just be an idle daze on the pet's part. It will be a deliberate and focused stare at a specific spot. Often they seem to be looking directly over your shoulder.

2. Running through the house, chasing and barking at what isn't apparently there.

Our home is also our pet's home and all animals try to protect their territory instinctually. They guard it against intruders. 

3. Growling, snarling and hissing at what isn't apparently there.

4. Avoidance of entering a room that is not usually avoided.

This can sometimes be accompanied by whining and submissive postures.

5. Staring at doorway, windows and corners of the rooms.

All intersections are places where there is a thinning of the veils between the physical and the spiritual. Most people who see spirits often do so in doorways, windows and corners. These 'Tween Places' are natural intersections. A doorway is neither in nor out; it is in between.

When we encounter these behaviors or any that seem to indicate the presence of something unusual by your pet, take a moment to sense for yourself. It doesn't mean that your house is now haunted or that you are being visited by evil spectres. Relax. Take a few deep breaths. Close your eyes. What do you see? Do you feel anything different? Is there a particular person that comes to mind? Often loved ones return to make their presence known, to let us know that they are still with us.

Want to know more? 

• What our pets can teach us
• Book:  Animal -Speak | Ted Andrews