Phantom Felines And Other Ghostly Animals - Gerina Dunwich 2006

Suzy and the Phantom Puppy
Hounds and Hauntings

by Crimson Willow

When I was twelve years old, we got a little mutt named Suzy. We found her on my grandma’s farm, and she was the runt of the litter. She was a small dog—part beagle and part German shepherd.

Three years later, Suzy got pregnant. But alas, she had a miscarriage. She was very distraught and depressed after losing the puppy.

Two weeks after we buried the puppy in the backyard, Suzy kept clamoring to go outside and play (she was mostly a house dog). She stayed outside for hours on end, and my siblings and I swore she was playing with her puppy that had passed on.

One night I sneaked outside to have a cigarette. I was sitting on the back porch steps when I heard a puppy whining. It sounded like it was coming from the far end of the backyard. I got up and walked over to see what the sound was. I could distinctly hear a puppy crying, and it sounded like it was cold and shivering. For the life of me, I could not find the source of the noise. I started to walk back to the porch, when I felt a tugging on my leg. I thought it was Suzy, since she was outside so much lately, but when I turned around and looked down, there was nothing there. Then I heard Suzy from inside the house, crying and scratching on the door to be let out. I let her out, and she proceeded to “play” in the corner where the sound of the puppy was coming from. This occurred for a few years before she finally went back to being her old self.

Suzy passed away when I was twenty-eight years old. When it occurred, she was still living with my parents in my childhood home. A year after it happened, I came for a visit and could have sworn I heard her toenails clicking in the kitchen. Not thinking, I said, “Come here, Suzy,” and put my hand beside the couch for her to lick it, which had been our little ritual when I came home and sat in that particular couch. I had forgotten she had passed away, and I felt a lick on my hand. My mother was shocked and said, “Did you see that? Suzy is here.” And I said, “I know, she’s licking my hand.” And that was when I realized that she was no longer of this realm.

This incident led us to talk about Suzy and all the good memories we had of her. Suzy had a habit of coming into the living room when everyone was watching television, farting, and then leaving the room with her tail between her legs. It made the whole family laugh; we covered our noses and yelled at her mockingly. As we laughed and talked about this memory, a stench came from under the table, and once again, we could hear her little nails clicking on the kitchen floor as she walked back to her box.

During this same visit home, I found my daughter playing in the backyard where we had buried the puppy. I noticed that it looked like she was running around in circles as if being chased by a dog. When she was done and came back inside, I asked her what she had been doing. She said, “Mommy! I was playing with Suzy and her puppy. You never told me that Suzy had a puppy.”

Those were the last encounters I had with Suzy. I believe that she was saying good-bye to my daughter and me, and my parents never saw her ghost again after that visit.