Dogs on Battlefields

NFB22

Sergeant Major
Joined
Jun 21, 2012
Location
Louisville, KY
It's October so it's that time of year when friends will start talking about ghosts and spirits while those themed movies endlessly play on TV. While at a local watering hole tonight a friend brought up an experience where his dog went nuts at a supposed "haunted house" belonging to a family member.

I personally have never seen anything at any of the battlefields I've visited but it did get me thinking. Last summer/fall my girlfriend and I took our dog with us to Perryville on a visit when we detoured on our way back from Lexington after a few days of racing at Keeneland.

I did find it odd on certain parts of the battlefield, Ava (my pup), was very hesitant to enter or even walk at times. This happened twice that day. The first time was when we walked up what would have been the Confederate center and their attack into the so called "Valley of Death". She WOULD NOT enter that area. We had a pinch collar on her (in case we ran into others) and she was not coming along unless we literally dragged her so we ended up circling around to the south up to the road to the Dixie Crossroads (Hays Mays & White Rds). She went along no problem but she just did not want to seem to head towards that hollow. The second place that she would enter but hesitantly was the space between Starkweather's Hill and Open Knob which would have been on the Union left and the scene of heavy fighting. You could tell she did not want to be there.

My question is if anyone else has ever experienced something like this with their four legged friends? I certainly believe in something happening on these battlefields but when my normally active and no-nonsense dog is being hesitant…gives me something more to think.

(On a side note, if you take your pup with you to a battlefield (if they allow it) take some bags and make sure you pick up after him/her)
 
Yes, while not on a battlefield, I have seen dogs and other animals react to areas of known "energy" as a result of something significant happening there. We also had a cat growing up who refused to enter the room where my Grandfather died. I wont pretend to know the answers on this or deem that this phenomenon does not exist.
 
Many years ago, I took our dog out for a walk in the woods on a nice crisp November day. Upon approaching the bottom of an embankment for the Garden State Parkway, I saw a suitcase lying in some brush. I figured it came off somebody's car and rolled down hill. I figured I would check it out for an ID or if none, anything of value. As I got near the suitcase, my dog became VERY reluctant to go any further. Paying her no mind, I grabbed the handle and proceeded to flip it over in order to unzip it. That's when I noticed the suitcase was not zipped entirely up and a bare human foot was sticking out of the corner! I literally felt the hair on the back of my neck sticking up. I then ran home and called the police who came out and roped the area off for an investigation. So in my opinion, dogs do sense when something is not right.
 
Many years ago, I took our dog out for a walk in the woods on a nice crisp November day. Upon approaching the bottom of an embankment for the Garden State Parkway, I saw a suitcase lying in some brush. I figured it came off somebody's car and rolled down hill. I figured I would check it out for an ID or if none, anything of value. As I got near the suitcase, my dog became VERY reluctant to go any further. Paying her no mind, I grabbed the handle and proceeded to flip it over in order to unzip it. That's when I noticed the suitcase was not zipped entirely up and a bare human foot was sticking out of the corner! I literally felt the hair on the back of my neck sticking up. I then ran home and called the police who came out and roped the area off for an investigation. So in my opinion, dogs do sense when something is not right.
This was my incident : https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/05/nyregion/new-jersey-daily-briefing-woman-s-body-is-found.html
 
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