# Acting weird, looking up as if expecting to see something or seeing a ghost



## Kutyabarat (Mar 26, 2014)

We have a male vizsla (turned a year old last October). We noticed about a week ago that occasionally he would look up towards the ceiling as if he saw something (a ghost?) there and then he'd shy away and even scurry away and go to another room. This strange behavior however picked up in frequency to the point that yesterday he didn't want to come near his food (he loves food!) only upon much encouragement but even as he was eating he would stop to look up and around. We first thought he senses when the AC comes on, although it never bothered him before. Then we thought it may be the lights turned on but he'd do it even with the lights off during the day, mostly in the kitchen. (BTW, the kitchen has always been his favorite place since that’s the source of food). 
Then we thought it may be something inside that's bothering him but he'd continue looking up every so often in the car as well (like he's expecting something to come down on him). When he is looking up, he has his tail between his legs and sometimes shivers as well. He used to love sprawling out on our couch but now he doesn't want to get up there and even if he does, we can tell he's not in a relaxed position but in a stiff, more alert position as if he can't relax or doesn't dare to. Today when we took him outside he seemingly 'hid' in the shade when he normally head straight for the sunny spots - always. I am a stay at home mom, so I spend most of my day at home with him. We never beat him, no traumatic event happened to him. He loves other dogs and other dogs love him. We had him from a reputable breeder and brought him home when he was 8 weeks old. We put everything away from his reach that he could possibly eat and we don't keep any toys in his crate when we're away (because he'd destroy them anyway and we don't want him to swallow any parts). As far as we know he's been away from anything harmful. He's a sweet, kind, loving dog that is seemingly shy and scared now. He spent most of yesterday in our bedroom (in his bed) away from us when normally he wants to be in the same room with us. We take him on daily walks and no traumatic event happened on any of our walks. We give him Acana Ranchland and Pacifica - is that too high-protein diet for him (we do give him more than what's on the label as our Vili is kind of on the small side, he is barely hitting high 40s in lbs). His coat is beautiful and his recent lab showed normal results. Someone thought it may be a start of an epileptic seizure but we see no other signs yet than Vili often looking upward and then scurries away. Any suggestions as to what may be causing this? Thank you so much!


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## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

Our 2 yr old V does this. Outside we attribute it to power lines, inside he seems to react to a strange shadow or if he hears something upstairs turn on when he's downstairs. He also doesn't like high winds. 

When we had recessed lighting in the ceilings installed earlier this year, he was a basket case for a few days. I put a new vase on the sofa table yesterday and he barked at that too. We are getting new flooring in a few months and I am expecting an anxiety ridden pup.


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## SteelCityDozer (Aug 25, 2011)

Our female started doing this same thing about six months ago...she'll be two next month. I have no idea what started it with her either but she always seemed to looking at ceiling lights whether they were on or off. It has since faded and I felt terrible when she was so scared all the time. I have no idea what worked to fix her but I would do things like hold her and let her be close to the light so she could see there was nothing scary or wrong about it. I would give her treats and praise her if she looked at curiously instead of fearfully. I think over time she just realized that nothing bad would come of them.

Just a thought. I know you say nothing happened traumatic to make him afraid but it is possible that something you are unaware of did in fact happen. It could be as simple as the dog was frightened by a bang caused by ANYTHING, a noise outside, pots in the kitchen, a screaming baby, beep on the coffee pot, and when he became alerted the first thing he saw was a light or the ceiling or whatever and made the incorrect connection that this thing must have caused that scary sound. Hopefully with time he'll come to realize there is no scary thing to come of the ceiling or whatever. I'd try to still engage him in normal activities likes walks and play so he can forget about the fear and relax as much as possible.


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## timowalk (Jun 20, 2014)

I'm a new member, wasn't around when this was first posted. My Vip went through periods I called "discovering the direction UP." He was also smallish (~40 lbs, up to 44 when he built up muscle during hunting season) so I could lift him toward the things that were interesting/weird/causing apprehension. That seemed to ease him, maybe because he could smell that there was nothing there. Late in his life, because of retinal degeneration, he was blind in daylight (but could see OK at dusk, even well enough to catch a frisbee) and would startle at deep shadows as if they were looming shapes. Treelimb shadows on a sidewalk, passing shadows from cars, that sort of thing. He didn't really know what direction they were coming from. Hope this helps rather than rambles...


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## harrigab (Aug 21, 2011)

just a thought, but has a laser pen/pointer been used as a "toy" in any of these instances?


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## Natalie37 (May 4, 2014)

My dog (not a V) sometimes does this. We think it might be the flies, especially those Mosquitos that make the really high pitch buzzing noise right by your ear. Whenever he hears the buzzing of a fly or mosquito he looks around and then goes off and hides with his tail between his legs. He has been stung by wasps a couple of times which must be where this fear has come from.
I don't know if this is similar to what you're experiencing?


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

I agree with Natalie37. I think it might have something to do with insects. The dog I had right before Willie was stung by a bee on two different occasions, and she never got over her fear of flying insects. Poor girl.


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## Rebelbnkr (Oct 30, 2013)

Could those be focal seizures?

We had a dog with grand mal seizures who started out with focal seizures. A neurologist can test for that...


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