You are here: Real Ghost Stories :: Pets / Animals :: Haunted By A Demonic Doberman

Real Ghost Stories

Haunted By A Demonic Doberman

 

This story takes place in a town just outside of Cincinnati OH. So when I was a child my mother was a single mom. My sister and I and my mother lived at my grandparents house. It was a smaller house so we had to share a room and king sized bed. This house was a older so we always heard strange noises. I even remember my grandmother would joke about the strange noises and claim they were her ghost friend "George". And it made us laugh, but just about every night I went to bed scared.

We would hear scratching on our floors (like a dog scratching hardwood floors) except we didn't have a dog. We heard these scratching and walking sounds almost every night. We could even hear it breathing and panting. So this went on for a while. Then one night after we had just gotten settled in bed with the lights out, I was looking at the window when all of a sudden a swirl of black smoke formed from the window and floated down toward the floor where it formed into a Doberman pincher dog. I stared at this dog as my heart dropped and every hair on my body stood up, I was paralyzed in fear. So then the Doberman starts to walk towards the end of our bed and I can hear those familiar nail taps on the floor. It walks to the dresser that's in front of our bed, it puts its two front paws on the dresser and looks into the mirror and I can see its eyes staring back at me. Its eyes were red and glowing. Then it gets down and starts walking around toward my side of the bed. I then buried my head under my mother's arm and I did not move until the very next morning.

At the time that this happened I was six years old. I never told anyone what I had seen that night and I never seen the dog ghost again. Some years passed and I think I was about 13 years old. One day I decided to tell my sister about what I saw that night. She looked at me white as a ghost and told me that she had seen the exact same thing that night. So then we went to my mom and told her our story. I thought she would think we were crazy but she just looked at us speechless. Then she confessed that she had also seen this demonic looking black Doberman dog in our room that night. So then curious I asked her "So where did the dog go after I hid my face?" She told me that once it came around to my side that it just jumped through the window and out. I felt a big relief knowing that I wasn't crazy and they had seen it also.

My mother later told me about people who lived in the house across the street from us. She told me that sometime in the 1960s that the family that lived there (mother,father and son) the mother took her son treak or treating. It was Halloween night and when the mother and son came home, They found the father hanged along with his 3 Doberman pinchers! So that is my story. I also have another story on this house across the street from us that I will post later, but for my readers I'm just wondering by the information I have given does the dog I saw sound like a ghost? Or something demonic? Has anyone ever experienced something like this? Please tell me what you think.

Thanks, Kelly

Other hauntings by kellyann87

Hauntings with similar titles

Find ghost hunters and paranormal investigators from Ohio

Comments about this paranormal experience

The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, kellyann87, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will participate in the discussion and I need help with what I have experienced.

fromfactorytofactory (guest)
+3
3 years ago (2021-09-02)
This is true and I am amazed I found a story here I have a weak link to! My grandfather worked in Cincinnati when that suicide happened, he even talked about the dobermans and how it was impossible for somebody to hang three dogs that weighed almost 100/lbs each and still have the strength to kill themselves as well. The dogs must have been drugged or dead already, making them seem even heavier. So many questions about this, and yes it was covered up quickly, cops dropped it because of whispers of satanism or occultism but locals did gossip about it. That poor lady, to be murdered sadistically by her own son after experiencing such loss earlier. Makes me tearful.
I am sad the original poster has left, I would love to have made contact. That is an amazing ghost dog encounter.
ladydarke (113 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2017-01-10)
kellyann87,

Been thinking about your experience for several days now. What sticks with me is your recent statement that, " I was terrified of Rottweilers because that's the closest big dog I'd ever seen and thought that was what I had seen."

The fact that you, as a child, were already afraid of dogs I think tainted this experience for you. Imagine you had a fear of clowns, and a ghost clown showed up in your room. You'd be terrified regardless of whether the entity were actually negative, positive, or neutral. Likewise imagine that you were afraid of rottweilers, and a real live rottweiler somehow got in your bedroom and woke you up. Regardless if the rottweiler were bouncing around saying, "Friend! Let's play!" you probably would have reacted in screaming terror thinking you were about to be attacked, simply because you were already afraid and on top of that being surprised while in bed is an extremely vulnerable position. Now add in the extra spookiness of an apparition. What I'm saying is, I'm thinking this is a recipe for a traumatic experience which would completely color your perception of the dog, and leave you unable to ascertain past your own phobia whether the dog actually had a negative energy.

I've thought about this for several days, and have at best a problematical partial solution to offer. I think that if you volunteered at an animal shelter to help with the big dogs - say walking dogs, which is a huge help to the shelter, great for the dogs, and good exercise for you - that you would gain knowledge and familiarity with big dogs. This might enable you to retroactively look back on this experience with a more informed perspective.

The intrinsic problem with this suggestion is the nature of memory. A common misconception is that memories are "stored," much as if you drew a digital picture and then saved it to a file. Then every time that memory is accessed, the file is opened and the same picture is looked at. That's not how memory actually works. Memories are reconstructions, so it's more like every time that memory comes up, it is redrawn from scratch. Obviously, that allows for a lot of distortion and recoloration over time. That's why memory is so unreliable, as recognized in courts of law where eye witness testimony can differ completely between two people who saw the same thing, or the same person recounting the same event a year later.

In your case, what that could mean is that changing your perspective on dogs - say diminishing your fear of them - may well cause a distortion in memory reconstruction to reflect your new perspective. However, on the other hand, being able to work through a phobia is highly freeing.

So I'm afraid that even after days of contemplation, that's the best I've got for you. Sorry not to be of more help. Best of luck in all your endeavors and hope you keep floating around YGS. Maybe we'll even see more comments from you! Not wishing more stories on you since you don't seem happy about being haunted, lol.

Cheers
Tweed (33 stories) (2475 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2017-01-08)
Kellyann, surprised to read a reply from you. I remember (almost) everything. So it wasn't hard to recall your experience and connect it with some friendly advice I was giving Roylynx.

On the topic of the doberman I didn't get the impression the dog was evil. I thought it merely one of that weirdy neighbour's dogs. That one of his (from memory) mistreated dogs still visited the area. I think you were all lucky to experience this.

Thanks for sharing (got to be the most belated 'thanks for sharing' of all time!) 😆
kellyann87 (3 stories) (44 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2017-01-07)
[at] Ladydarke As a child at that time, there were no dogs in our house. I was 5 or 6. Never had even seen a Doberman in my life. I was terrified of Rottweilers because that's the closest big dog I'd ever seen and thought that was what I had seen. Til I seen a Doberman in real life. Everyone mentions the "red eyes" well that was the most distinct feature on it. Bright red! It looked through the mirror back at us so intensely. I got the feeling to stop looking! Then I hid, heard it's claws tapping the floor. That's all I remember. My mom and sister all spoke of it years later. All the same. I never seen it again. My sister said she seen it one other time, only the head, through the basement window. Never again. After that me and my sister both have felt a presence follow us. I pray. She says she still feels the darkness. I tell her to pray (don't know if she does.) I only feel evil presence now and then, Never see it.
ladydarke (113 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2017-01-07)
kellyann87,

I actually have a question about your story. In your life up to the time of this experience, had you been a dog person? If you did have a dog, was it little or big?

I'll tell you why I ask. You know what the greatest fear is that all humankind holds in common? If you said you don't know, then you actually got it right, lol! It is fear of the unknown. So if you were someone who grew up with big dogs like Doberman pinchers, the sudden appearance of a spectral one wouldn't be quite so frightening: it would have a lot of familiar elements. But if you're kind of leery of big dogs anyway (or were at this age), then seeing a ghostly one would be waaaaay more terrifying just because it was something you weren't familiar with, couldn't predict, didn't know how to handle, just like if you ran into one off-leash and unattended on the street. In other words, it would be the face of the unknown.

It seems that just your experience and comfort level with dogs in general would really determine why you were scared; whether it was because you were reacting to a palpable negative energy emitted by the dog, or just freaking out because wtf there is a giant ghost dog in your room omg, which is entirely understandable.

There's tons of stories of ghost cats. People usually don't find those very frightening and you have to wonder if that's because they're not afraid or wary of cats to begin with.

I just wanted to add, kind of tangentially to the feline topic, that we recently purchased a 130 year old house with a connection to a serial killer. Beautiful house, newly restored. Guess what we got for ghosts? Yep, cats.

Cheers
kellyann87 (3 stories) (44 posts)
 
7 years ago (2017-01-07)
[at] Ladydarke thanks haha. It was strange. I all of a sudden had a urge to check my story and the comments took me totally by surprise lol. Only 3 days ago. I will always defend my story I guess. Whether anyone believes it or not. I'll just say this. I did NOT make it up! I will not allow anyone to say the "proved" me wrong because they did not! I really wish there we're more people who could help me explain this phenomenon. Until then I believe this entity was demonic in nature and has followed me throughout my year's until I learned the power of prayers. When I sense this type of evil I cast it out. Just like I sensed this negativity on my name.
ladydarke (113 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2017-01-07)
kellyann87,

How cool that you just knew when to check back! It's sort of like knowing when someone is going to call you even before the phone rings - guess you "heard" Tweed thinking about you.

It's a very good, creepy experience, and delightfully well-written. Thank you for sharing it.
kellyann87 (3 stories) (44 posts)
 
7 years ago (2017-01-07)
Just take to make it clear my story was posted so that I could get off my chest something that haunted me for years! Til this day I'll never forget! And the stories I published are 100% the truth to the best of my memory.
kellyann87 (3 stories) (44 posts)
 
7 years ago (2017-01-07)
[at] Tweed you literally made me feel so appreciated that my story stuck with you this long. I honestly thought no one believed me here which is Why I never chose to come back here. I got so much hate over this story. It's crazy. Thank you. I will start reading again! Even though I have no more stories to share. I love reading everyones stories.
kellyann87 (3 stories) (44 posts)
 
7 years ago (2017-01-07)
Sorry I misquoted that " I thought at first " you guys wanted to only debunk my story" I went through a really rough time trying to prove my self! Thank you guys very much for referencing my story. It's been great looking back on this! Thanks.
kellyann87 (3 stories) (44 posts)
 
7 years ago (2017-01-07)
As I'm sitting here literally shaking to the point I can barely type. I just think to myself... What in the world made me check this post after I have barely checked this post in 2 years? I don't know... No comments on here in so long? Why? My story is NOT a story I just made up to post on some scary ghost story platform so I could get some type of weird satisfaction? I posted my story for one reason and only one reason and that reason is because I wanted to share my story with others who would understand and relate. But I guess you guys just only care about "debunking" people. I even provided evidence of my case. Guess I'll always be a " loony bin" even on paranormal platforms. Again I will always thank you all for sharing my story. Just want you all to know I'm not here for anything else. (I rarely ever been here since I OP.) I came her for understanding. Thank you.
roylynx (guest)
+2
7 years ago (2017-01-04)
Tweed; True, and I will be reading and doing more researches. And yes I notice some stories are completely... You know lol

I know I am still kind of new here and just bobbing around like a tiny gold fish in a big tank (you know how gold fishes only swim in small circles even in a big tank? That's my situation here I guess)

I am trying to be open minded and read every single comments around just to get better information, but you know as you read on you get the knowledge, and as you and other members can tell, some people just want to mislead us, not saying that poking on the wounds of the stories that the o/p has written and things like that, being too religious pushing ones believes to others like saying "this must be an evil ghost! Say this prayer, do this, do that" kind of things.

Some of them like me will try to answer the questions asked by other members and people whom are interested. That's not a bad idea, right? That wouldn't be a problem at all unless the o/p will start lying about the situation thinking that they have to make the story more interesting! That is what I was frustrated at, but yes, I shouldn't judge people's stories that way, I know. Just really trying to help out but still have no knowledge to do so lol

Anyhow, thanks for trying to cool me off before I heat up lol
Thank you Mirales51031 too for always keeping the site running!

E.Lynx
Tweed (33 stories) (2475 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2017-01-04)
Roylynx, instead of linking you to an experience I thought I'd comment on it instead!
If you were to tell me a few years ago that I'd be a member of a paranormal website I would've laughed and said 'AS IF!' Because so many paranormal websites are crap!😆

This post here about a doberman is the experience that convinced me to sign up to YGS. Some of the members didn't believe this, thought it was bs etc. What inspired me to sign up about this post was some of the comments, in particular one about the way dogs eyes reflect in the dark. I remember thinking 'WHAT?! Someone on a paranormal forum has common sense?! Really?!' as I read on, and as the discussion progressed, it got more and more interesting.

So sometimes you gotta take the good with the bad. I was exactly like Miracles and Lady Glow when I first joined, likely to believe everything. When something gets proven to be fake, don't let it discourage you. So many paranormal websites wouldn't do research or ask questions, I'd prefer to be disappointed occasionally by a faker, than be naive to bs.😊
kellyann87 (3 stories) (44 posts)
+1
9 years ago (2015-02-04)
Thank you Trishaideka I really appreciate all the help with the background of this story (you've done a better job than I have) So the father died later than I originally thought. Fred Englehardt turned up to be a dead end. It's frustrating it's so hard to find the name of the father thar lived there. Very strange. Again thank you for your help.
Triskaideka (2 stories) (388 posts)
+2
9 years ago (2015-02-04)
Oh dear, why did I write "Debra"? I must have been tired. Anyway, I did find out that they moved in about 1983, then moved out and rented out the house after the father died, then they moved back in around 1995. So This tells us that the father had to have died sometime in the '80s or '90s. I looked into Mr. Fred J Engelhardt and he had married someone of an entirely different name, so he's off the list of potentials. Still digging...
kellyann87 (3 stories) (44 posts)
+1
9 years ago (2015-01-26)
Yes it has been very tricky trying to find anything on her husband since I don't know what his name was. My mother and grandma know he did live in that house on Pippin rd. Because they would see him (checking the mail or doing work around the yard) and they seen the dogs outside too. I also think he might have died in the 1970s instead of the 60s like I thought at first. My mom did tell me that they moved out of thr house for a while and came back years later? Strange. I also find it strange that I cannot find anything on englehardt father at the Pippin residents. I wish I knew what his name was. Possibly it he could be the J Englehardt you found died in 1978? Did it list an address?
Triskaideka (2 stories) (388 posts)
+2
9 years ago (2015-01-26)
Hmmmmm the most recent records I was able to find were that Fred E Engelhardt and Debra L Rogers resided at that house. I found out the current residents' names. I tried doing a search through Ohio records (which is tricky for so very many reasons) to find Debra's deceased husband's name. All for naught. Her maiden name was Daniels. Her mother's maiden name was Walls (and that reveals somewhat how exactly Jo Ann Walls was her niece). Perhaps someone else can find more than I have, so far.

I ran a search on Engelhardts who deceased in Hamilton County, Ohio. The closest potential match I could find is a Fred J Engelhardt b 1929, d 1978. There was an autopsy performed (one of two cases I've so far found) but he died in a hospital as far as I can tell.

They apparently also resided in Batavia County, Ohio, for a time. Two males, Dan and David, born in the '70s, resided there as well as a Wanda G Engelhardt born 1947. Could be cousins and an aunt / nephews- and sister-in-law.

Mr. Engelhardt had to have deceased before the early '90s, because he's not listed with the rest of his family in Batavia. Unless, of course, he and his wife were separated or divorced.

Then I tried running all Engelhardts residing on Pippin Rd. Only Diana and her son, Fred, are to be found. (Birth dates are included with the residential records, so I know it's not a Fred Sr. I'm seeing.) But I'll keep searching, if I remember. Heh.

Sorry for being tangential, but I'd like to know what really happened to Diana's husband. She is listed as a widow on her death certificate, so he was indeed deceased by then. The reasons are unknown.
kellyann87 (3 stories) (44 posts)
+1
9 years ago (2015-01-23)
[at] newhunter30 -Its ok no hard feelings here. [at] valkricry - That's a good idea about keeping a journal about paranormal events and stuff, I wish I would have thought of that before, but as I got older I don't really experience anything paranormal too much anymore.
newhunter30 (2 stories) (137 posts)
+2
9 years ago (2015-01-22)
Kelly may I say that I apologize if I gave off the impression I did not believe your story, that is not what I meant. I only meant the item I pointed out made me question the story not that I didn't believe you. I know mistakes can be made and as others have said a lot of false stories have come through and that has made me a little quicker than I should be about questioning things. That is not your fault and again I'm sorry if I gave the impression I did not believe you.
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
 
9 years ago (2015-01-22)
Kelly, don't sweat it 😊. You're not the first, nor will you be the last to get a date wrong, especially when going by memory. Add to that it's really easy to hit a wrong key and not even notice it. Dollars to donuts - I'll bet it's why many of us keep journals about these events - so we can jog the old memory.
kellyann87 (3 stories) (44 posts)
+1
9 years ago (2015-01-22)
Ok I'm not getting bent out of shape over typo of a date. I can understand why some of you question some of the stories because I read a lot of the stories on here I question some of them too. I know the whole part at the end sounds urban legend but that is what I had been told by my mother that she heard from the neighborhood. I really want to find out more on that and if I can I will post it. Thank you all for input, this was actually hard for me to post since I've told this story to many friends and some believe me some don't. I told my story honestly and from the best of my memories. Thank you all for reading!
newhunter30 (2 stories) (137 posts)
 
9 years ago (2015-01-22)
Seriously BJJ the only reason I made another comment about it was the o/p asked "[at] newhunter30 what is it that you are questioning about my story?" I have no issue with you or you asking me to drop it but I was simply responding her question directed at me.
elnoraemily (guest)
+2
9 years ago (2015-01-22)
I am horrible with dates and usually just guess them:/

While I don't think this is demonic on the dog's part, I don't think messing up a date from childhood is a big issue:)

Like BJJ said, some of us can get a bit jaded and start to nitpick (I've done it).
Katiekhaos (2 stories) (15 posts)
 
9 years ago (2015-01-22)
I'm going to agree with everyone else here and say that it couldn't have been demonic. It not only didn't try to harm you, it also didn't seem to intentionally provoke fear. Thanks for the story!
BadJuuJuu (guest)
+2
9 years ago (2015-01-22)
Kelly, please try not to take it to heart. We do get quite a lot of, shall we say, questionable stories. Some us get a bit jaded after awhile. For my part, I can't remember dates. I can barely remember my birthday. I'm not going to call bs because you mixed up dates, it happens.
Newhunter, you've gotten your point across. Let it go.
kellyann87 (3 stories) (44 posts)
 
9 years ago (2015-01-22)
[at] lady-glow that was the one and only time I had ever seen the dog and I still wonder why it chose to come into our bedroom and snoop around, and it was at my grandmothers house we seen the dog its where I was living at the time. Also my grandmother mentioned goerge I think to lighten the situation when we were scared and she always joked. I'm not sure if this was really a ghost she seen or not.
kellyann87 (3 stories) (44 posts)
 
9 years ago (2015-01-22)
Yes I said I got the years mixed up. I still don't understand how that could question the validity of my entire story?
newhunter30 (2 stories) (137 posts)
-4
9 years ago (2015-01-21)
I was question the fact that the year you stated it happened was the year the news articles I could find were written. You sounded rather for sure that these were the facts, I do remember this case and yes it was a rather disturbing incident.
kellyann87 (3 stories) (44 posts)
 
9 years ago (2015-01-21)
[at] newhunter30 what is it that you are questioning about my story?
kellyann87 (3 stories) (44 posts)
 
9 years ago (2015-01-21)
ok I did get the year wrong. Sorry. I remember though exactly when this happened its been years so sorry for typo its hard for me to remember exactly the year. But I remember watching them pushing her body on the stretcher and the news crews there and everything. It was very disturbing.

Read previous comments

To publish a comment or vote, you need to be logged in (use the login form at the top of the page). If you don't have an account, sign up, it's free!

Search this site: