![Just Checking In To Say "Hi!" (Artwork by Rémi Jouandet [see page for license], via Wikimedia Commons)](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Two_dogs_%28painting%29.jpg)
Note: I’m going to respect my folks’ privacy and only tell the minimum of specific names and such.
While my dad was watching TV and his dog, Boomer (name has been changed for privacy), was lying on the floor by his side, I was in the kitchen, doing something that most probably involved food, when I heard a bark—then my dad calling me over.
When I get into the living room, my dad tells me that Boomer was just lying quietly on the floor, when he all of a sudden went upright…and stared at this painting that was on the living-room wall. Barked at it. When I came in, Boomer was no-kidding-up-on-the-couch with his forepaws, back straight as an arrow, nose angled directly into the painting. He was very agitated, did those doggy “whiny sounds,” and may have again barked. But, both my dad and I looked to each other (definitely amused…highly curious)…and to Boomer…and the painting.
What the hell?
Preserving the privacy of this artwork, all I’m going to say is that in the painting (that had been up on the wall for a while, maybe towards a year?), two dogs are depicted: Boomer, and another, Rin Tin (again, not its real name).
Rin Tin is deceased.
Boomer remained agitated and brought his nose right up to the painting, less than an inch away from it, again, his whole body straight as an arrow. I put one hand to the painting’s frame, while holding the other nearby Boomer’s face, in case he decided to lunge and/or bite at the frame or painting. Dad and I are chuckling and wondering what the heck was going on, when Boomer did the weirdest thing:
He stuck his nose directly to the depiction of Rin Tin, sniffed it for a second or two…then abruptly departed.
That was it.
He jumped off of the couch and came to us as if nothing had happened.
Dad and I are laughing and looking to ourselves, totally baffled (well, truth be told, I had an idea). For the rest of our near week and a half there, Boomer never paid anymore attention to Rin Tin’s painted image.
Okay, you know I’m about to get kinda weird, here, but here’s what I believe happened:
Rin Tin was my folks’ previous dog and had to be put to sleep (turns out we were there, visiting, my wife and I, and one of my brothers, Chris). I love animals, and am particularly fond of dogs. I miss Rin Tin, and the day we arrived on the current vacation two weeks ago, I was actually wondering if Rin Tin might make, well, an appearance, now that I was here. Rin Tin’s cremains are in an “urn” my dad made (which was what I’d seen that first day and got me to thinking about all this), and I made a point to go to it a couple times while there, and “reach out” to Rin Tin. After all, I reasoned, I had a really cool experience with my last dog, Mac, and wondered if I would have a similar experience with Rin Tin.
I really believe that Rin Tin had reached out to us to let us know she was there…and was just saying “Hi.” I had lots of fun with her. I just have a way with dogs…and dogs generally like (okay, love) me. And I couldn’t be there when she was actually put down. I feel this was her way of saying “hello” one more time to dad and me…meeting the “new fur”…letting us know that she’s still “around.” The only ones in the area were my dad, Boomer, and me.
That painting had been up on the wall for a long time, and Boomer had never reacted to it at all. What the heck else could it have been? What the heck could have possibly caused a dog to behave that way? He went right to Rin Tin’s image, not his own.
I was right there, with Boomer, at the painting when it happened, saw exactly where Boomer’s nose went—it was directly and unhesitatingly to Rin Tin’s image, not concerned with his own image at all. I’ve seen dogs bark at the TV, but never a static image like that, especially when the image had been around in the dog’s presence for a while, with no prior reaction to it.
It truly ranks as one of the weirdest things I’ve ever witnessed!
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Wow – very cool! It sounds like you, your dad, and “Boomer” had a visitor! I hope they come back to visit us occasionally. 🙂
I keep thinking about what it could possibly have been other than a “visitation,” and nothing comes to mind. As Paul, below, suggests (and I though of), some kind of a test could be done…but, really, would that prove or disprove anything? After all, the dog portrait he talks about is pretty large and full of dogs, and the other portrait’s dog images were smaller than that dog portrait. But I don’t think such a test would really prove or disprove anything, because if it really was Rin Tin stopping by, other “blinds” could produce the same reaction…which doesn’t intrinsically disprove what may or may not have happened. It would just prove that Boomer can recognize the “poker dogs”…not so much disproving a visitation. To me the fact that Boomer never took issue with that portrait in the first place—nor during the rest of my stay there—is proof enough. And he didn’t sniff both dog images—just Rin Tin’s. Period. No hesitation. I was right there by his face and saw where his nose went *directly* to.
And there’s my experience with Mac that summer day, and Mac at the top of my childhood stairs. Again, I know what I saw.
Yes, I believe Rin Tin stopped by. I believe some pets do make post-death cameos…. :-]
Well, as Twilight Zone fans, we know from “The Hunt” and “Little Girl Lost” how dogs are a bit more in tune with the supernatural than the rest of us are. Interesting post, Frank! I can see why you and your father were a bit spooked. Who knows what Boomer saw that day?
Might not hurt to test it, though. Maybe try hanging a copy of the “dogs playing poker” picture and see what Boomer does?
It wasn’t so much “spooked,” as (and I really do mean this) *amused!* We were both chuckling and questioning…there was nothing scary about it…no weird “bad” or “creepy” feelings. For me, as it was happening, I already pretty figured out what must have been happening. There was just nothing else that could explain such absolutely bizarre behavior! It was the coolest thing! Afterwards, Dad and I continued chuckling and laughing about it! It was neat to see my Dad’s reaction. :-]
It’s not to much that I’d already made up my mind without reconsidering the evidence, observing the evidence…it’s just where the evidence led me! Sometimes the most obvious, the “easiest” explanation IS the explanation. After all, if you or anyone else has any ideas, feel free to present them! I’m all ears! :-]