Can spirits work through dogs? QUESTION from Wondering July 15, 2001 Bro. Ignatius,
Since I was a child, I've had nightmares and dreams involving attacks from crazed dogs, walking through hills filled with dogs with a [heavy weight to their presence] closing in on me and others, and oddly one dream where I was walking through a long mountain path where dogs were sitting alive and rotting, diseased people were sad as they traveled this road. One very troubling dream was where a small dog like creature which was all shadow black, with white eyes was being chased around my room by my family's dog. The creature's feet never touched the ground, it seemed to hover as it travelled just above the floor. The dream ended when it bit my hand. I awoke to find some small wounds in the hand where the creature had bit it in the dream. They were not like insect or animal bites, it was almost like someone had stuck a pin in my hand. I had one other dream of these 'shadow creatures' with white eyes attacking my family, but they were not dogs. Their eyes were not like human eyes, but like two holes where white light seemed to come out.
If these images of dogs were confined to dreams alone it would be one thing, but they bother me in real life. It should be mentioned that I have no phobia of dogs or any other animal. I love animals actually but have always had this problem with many dogs acting strange around me, and in dreams. I've owned several dogs who've loved me and had friends/family with dogs who equally enjoy my company.
Since I was a child, I've had dogs run towards me (especially when i'm alone) when i'm walking somewhere and go nuts barking, snarling, etc. Sometimes they will jet out from bushes or yards quite a ways away from me just to come near me and go crazy. I can also walk through a neighborhood that's quiet and have dogs go crazy in backyards, whereas other people will walk by and the dogs are quiet.
On the other side of the coin, i've had a dog jump over a 5-6 foot concrete wall from its owners backyard just to escape and walk with me, and other dogs that love to pal around and follow me.
The dog dreams have stopped since i've been exploring Catholicism, but they were happening pretty heavily even when I was younger, and a practicing Protestant. I'm still having the dog encounters in real life. It's very strange, and it doesn't happen with any other type of animal. I'm wondering if you can shed some light on this, as i'm not the only one who's noticed how strange this is, others comment but are rather amused.
The horrific dreams and bad encounters are not amusing to me in the slightest. Please advise.
ANSWER by John-Paul Ignatius, OLSM on July 15, 2001 Dear Mr. Wondering:
The first rule in spiritual warfare is to NEVER jump to conclusions. Before we may conclude that a problem is spiritual or demonological we must first determine if there is another explanation.
First dreams are most often the working out of unconscious anxieties, fears, and worries. It is possible that the dreams were merely that. It is also possible to have dreams with a demonolgical cause, but most often the dreams are just dreams.
But, with the experience of the dreams we now have a clue as to why some dogs would bother you in real life. On explanation is the the dogs who were bothering you were responding to your fear that was engendered in you because of the dreams. The human body emits ordors when our emotions are up. The dogs can smell that and respond. Even though all this may have been a while ago, unconsciously you might be emitted an odor when you see a dog that causes them to react to you in the way that they do.
The dog that came to protect you may have been responding too to the odor emitted from your body, but reactive with a protective mode rather than an attacking mode.
With all this said, the direct answer to your question it is possible for demons to infest animals. We see that in the Bible with Jesus casting the demons into swine.
The wounds you received when you woke up could have been caused by yourself, or they could have been bits from unseen forces. Such things has happened.
The bottom line is that I cannot know for sure what was going on without a LOT more information and even if that we may never know for sure.
Was it possible that demons were bothering you in your dreams, even biting you while you slept, and cause real dogs to bother you? Yes, it is possible. Why? who knows. Evil is often arbitrary with no reason.
But it appears that the grace you receive from the Catholic Church and her Sacraments have indeed gone a long way to resolve the issue. Maybe your subconscious is at peace now; or maybe the evil one knows he lost this battle and that you are safely in the arms of Jesus.
God Bless.
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