SyFy Ghost Hunters Introduce Ghost Hunting Dog

Ghost Hunters fans are in for a bit of treat on Wednesday, March 23, as the TAPS Team welcomes the latest member of their Team to Ghost Hunters. Unlike previous members, this one won't be carrying EMF detectors or manning a camera. Maddie, the Ghost Hunting Dog, will rely on her sensitivity to otherworldly presence to tip off Jason and Grant when paranormal activity may be present.

If you've ever watched your cat or dog as they watch someone or something that you can't see, you already know how eerie it can be. What you might not know is that many in the paranormal field believe that animals possess the ability to see ghosts. It is precisely that ability that has lead Ghost Hunter's to bring in the dogs.

Exactly how this will play out on the screen is yet to be seen, but TAPS isn't the first Ghost Hunting Team to include animals in their search for the paranormal. It appears that many ghost hunters already use animals to assist them in the hunt for invisible ghosts. One such Ghost Hunter even takes her pet rat, fish, parrot and snake along for the ride. According to Cheryl Edmond, author of My Dog the Professional Ghost Hunter, these animals respond to the presence of a ghost in varying ways. "Snakes and fish are sensitive to light movement and temperature change, and as we know snakes taste the air, and parrots I believe are natural born instinctive ghost hunters all from my personal observations." she says.

Pixie the Ghost Hunting Dog is featured in an Animal Planet video of Little Dogs, Big Jobs. Pixie is a 10 year old Jack Russel Terrier who reportedly has the ability to detect paranormal activity. Her owner, Peggy Schmidt from Hatfield, Pa., co-owner of Ghost Tours of America, accompanies Pixie to haunted locations where Pixie sniffs out ghosts. Peggy explains that Pixie is part of the Ghost Tours of America Research Team and alerts her to a ghosts by suddenly halting, sniffing the air, barking, raising the hair on the back of her neck or showing signs of agitation.

Al Tyas explains some of the reasons dog make good paranormal investigators in his article Animal Investigators (found on the TAPS site). Aside from the fact that dogs appear to sense paranormal activity, they also have a very highly developed sense of both hearing and smell-both of which can be beneficial in an investigation. They may be alerted to sounds humans do not hear and can track down phantom smells that appear to come out of nowhere. Their ability to zoom in on slight movements makes them valuable for detecting those shadowy images that investigators catch out of the corner of the eye. Not only may dogs detect paranormal activity that would go unnoticed by human eyes and ears, they can also be instrumental in debunking stray sounds or tracking down movement that may occur normally in the environment.

Until Wednesday, we'll simply need to wait and see what Maddie the Ghost Hunting Dog brings to the Ghost Hunters Team. Tune in to SyFy at 9 pm EST on Wednesday, March 23 to welcome her to the team.