Toscana's Ghost Dog

by Chris Reeder

Halloween is here, the one time of the year when everyone loves a good ghost story. But not all ghost stories are about human ghosts. For thousands of years a night-time howl of a wolf or a dog has set our human spirits on edge. Stories of frightening, spectral dogs run throughout world history. But not all ghost dogs are “spooky scary.” Like all good ghosts, each of their stories is memorable and unique. Read on for some interesting canine capers of famous ghost dogs.

Nashville, Tennessee –Preston The Friendly Boxer Ghost

In Nashville’s Belmont Hillsboro neighborhood, a goodhearted Boxer keeps vigil over young trick-or-treaters. According to Ghost Dogs of the South, Preston the dog accompanied young trick-or-treaters when he saw a boy trying to pick up candy he’d dropped in the road. Preston saved the boy by knocking him out of the path of a speeding car, but Preston was fatally hit. Now every Halloween for the last 50 years, children have invariably reported being bumped onto the sidewalk when they step into the road while trick-or-treating or go too slowly for his liking from house to house.

Los Angeles, California –Pet Cemetery To The Stars

There is a 10-acre memorial park in Calabasas, California, named the Los Angeles Pet Cemetery. It’s the final resting place to the famous and not-so-famous deceased pets of California. Among the animals interred here: Tawny, the MGM lion, (only) one of the Peteys from the Little Rascals movies, Hopalong Cassidy’s horse Topper, and Kabar, Rudolph Valentino’s dog. Kabar was Valentino’s Great Dane. Sources say when the matinee idol died in 1926 in New York, Kabar suddenly let out a horrible howl. He was 3,000 miles away at the time. Kabar died in 1929 and was laid to rest in the cemetery. Since then, visitors to the pet cemetery report hearing barking and panting near Kabar’s grave. Some say they’ve even been licked on the hand.

Chicago, Illinois –The Ghost Dog Of Graceland Cemetery

Graceland Cemetery is one of the older cemeteries in Chicago. Inside the cemetery is a vault belonging to German immigrant and coppersmith, Ludwig Wolff. One of the ghosts in Ludwig’s unique vault is a green-eyed dog that howls near the vault. No one is certain whether this was Wolff’s dog or the spirit of some other wayfaring, and perhaps unleashed, canine.

Phoenix, Arizona –The Ghost Dog of Toscana

Most ghost dogs do not leave behind physical traces, other than a brush against the leg or perhaps the lick on the hand. The reported ghost dog of Toscana however, leaves behind his droppings throughout the property! Not only is this mysterious dog spotted walking the grounds without a leash, sometimes he mysteriously gets into common areas such as resident hallways or elevators and leaves his mark. He surely knows this is not allowed within Toscana, with his evasive and secretive nature. At times he is reported to be a large black dog and other reports have him pegged as a small white dog.

Although the first three stories are told with fanfare within their city, unfortunately our own "ghost story" is not truly of supernatural nature. Please, if you have a canine family member, ensure your fur-friend is leashed when walking throughout the property, and does not leave behind any non-ghostly droppings.