Ghost Stories

Dog Ghost

This is my firsttime to submit a story anywhere so please excuse my lack ofexpertise. This is not a particularly sensational story, butperhaps one that other people may have experienced somethingsimilar to. I have other strange events happen to me but don'tquite feel comfortable discussing them as they are highlypersonal

When I was a childwe had a beloved dog that was a member of our family just asimportant as the all the official people members were. He wasnamed Sergeant and was a beautiful large German Shepherd that wehad gotten while I was only 2 and he was only about 8 weeks. Sowe grew up together. He was included in all facets of our familylife. He was very protective gentle and loving. A great dog forkids. Sergeant was always allowed to run free as we often didn'tlive in a real urban area. He was very protective and no oneapproached us or our home uninvited. At night Sarge would sleepin the living room (the couch, he wouldn't lay there during theday because he knew he wasn't supposed to but felt secure with itonce we were all in our beds) and would periodically waken andclimb down to make his rounds. Our house had somewhat of acircular type hall that began in the living room went past allthe bedrooms then led into the kitchen and circled back into theliving room.! !

At night he'd leavehis couch and walk down the hall, pausing at each bedroom door tocheck in, then complete his trek clicking his toenails on thelinoleum kitchen floor and return to his forbidden couch.

Unfortunately,nature does not allow canines to live as long as we want them tolive. At age 11 (old for a dog I guess) he developed cancer andwas nearing the time when we would have to have him put to sleepwhen oddly he was killed by a motor vehicle. After 11 years ofbeing street smart. We were of course heart sick but consoledourselves with realizing the pain of loss is but a small price topay in comparison to the many years of joy he brought us. Wedidn't have the heart to think about acquiring another dog assomeone so beloved cannot be easily replaced. A time of mourningis needed for the loss a loved one even if it's not a human lovedone.

I was 12 at thetime and I remember so clearly lying in bed at night and I couldactually hear him (he was a large dog) walk down the hallway,pause at the bedrooms and then head back down the hallway to thekitchen where I would then wait to hear his toenails click on thelinoleum of the kitchen. He never stepped into the kitchen though.I often heard his nightly ritual, then one day mentioned it to mymother. She was at first somewhat stunned and a little at a lossfor words. I could tell that she had heard him too but of courseshe said that it was just the sound of the furnace. Thiscontinued for several months.