Dog that couldn’t leave the basement - An Article & Commentary

Dog that couldn't leave the basement
DALE JARVIS

TheTelegram.com Original Print: 21/05/07
The Telegram New Foundland-Labrador

Only a short number of years ago, a family lived in a small, wooden house on Livingstone Street. The family had a young son. On those days when the weather forced him to play inside, the small boy was more than content to wile away the hours playing down in the basement of the old house.

The boy played by himself, but at the same time, he never seemed to be alone. His mother could hear him talking as he amused himself, as if he was chatting with someone else. One day, she asked her son to whom he was speaking.

"My dog," replied the boy.

"Does your dog have a name?" asked his mother, smiling to herself.

"No," said the boy, seeming quite content that his invisible pet remained nameless.

"Does he go with you to school?" she asked, playing along.

"No," said the boy again. "He can't leave the basement."

The mother thought that having an imaginary pet was relatively harmless. In fact, she was more concerned about the state of the basement itself than she was about her son's active imagination. The walls had never been finished properly. The concrete floor was uneven and cracked and looked as if it had been poured in great haste.



Surprise discovery

She found a workman who was willing to redo her basement and on the first day he was available, the woman showed him exactly what she wanted done.

"My son plays down here all the time," she told the workman. "He has an invisible dog which he claims can't leave the basement."

The workman only nodded, more concerned with the practical issues of how he was going to start work than he was about an imaginary beast. The wife went upstairs and the man set to work with a sledgehammer, breaking up the concrete floor.

The house rang with the sound of the man breaking up the old floor and dust started to seep under the crack of the basement door. Then, suddenly, the sound of the blows ceased.

For awhile there was silence. Then the sound of footsteps slowly climbed the cellar stairs. The workman emerged from the depths and called out to the owner.

"Miss," he said. "I think you better take a look at this."

"What is it?" she asked.

"I think you better just look," he replied.

Together, they went back down the rickety stairs to the basement through a cloud of dust. The man brought her to where he had started to break up the old concrete floor, revealing the dirt beneath the house. The man picked up a heavy iron pry rod and slipped one end of it under a large chunk of concrete. He heaved up the concrete, flipped it over with a great thud, and then stepped back out of the way. The wife gave a great gasp and felt the blood drain from her face.

There, uncovered from where it had lain hidden for countless years, lay the skeleton of what could only be a large dog.

In shock, the woman stared down at the skeleton of the hound, speechless.

"Get rid of it," she said, finally. "I don't care what you do with it. Just get it out of my house."

The man nodded as the woman fled the basement. He removed the old bones along with the rest of the broken up concrete. Work progressed without further incident.

A new floor was laid, the walls plastered and painted, and before too long the basement was finished. The workman was paid and went on to his next job in another part of the city. The wife never mentioned the bones to her husband, or to her young son.

From that point on, on those days when the weather forced him to play inside, the small boy was more than content to wile away the hours playing down in the new basement of the old house. But he played alone, quietly, and his imaginary dog was never mentioned again.

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Commentary:

Now this is an aspect of the paranormal that I truly find interesting. How to validate or attribute that a haunting is that of a past family pet or animal that resided on the land. Would the animal make a noise when asked? Would it understand what your asking and respond in the case of EVP? (In the case of cats, I don't think it matters which side of the Veil they're on, they would only respond if it suited them.) How do you discern the animal noise you heard on an EVP is that living or dead if you capture a sample?

I've spoken with several people who say they're beloved family pets still visit or reside with them. Several personal experience point to physical contact -- nudging, nuzzling, pressure on the bed where the animal frequently laid. Several personal experiences point to sounds -- the clicking of nails on the floors, stray animal sounds with no locateable source. There were even a few olfactory reports of smelling the animals.

One lady recounted that on several occasions she has been visited by the family's deceased cat at night. This particular cat would hop on the foot of the bed and stroll up to the pillow upon which she was sleeping and then curl around her head. She stated that on multiple occasion, especially when she or other family members sorely missed the cat, that it would come and assume the position on the pillow -- warmth an all.

Another lady recounted the return of the family dog on several occasions. That the visit left a change in the air, the smell of the dog and a "feeling" of its' presence.

I'd love to hear anyone's encounters with animal hauntings or thoughts/insight on the subject. Feel free to share your experience with animal hauntings or children's interaction with entities.

As always -- feedback is welcome.

Thanks for stopping by!!!




Original MS Post: 08.24.08