As a dog person, and having lived with a few in the same home, these animals never cease to amaze me.

As a boy, there was a lady we called Mama Jimoh who lost a son in the hospital. Before the news got home, the dogs in the compound raised a piercing shriek and howled for a few minutes before keeping silent and didn't bark at all that night. The news of the woman's son's death was no longer news per se as at the time it broke.

But that episode was a one off. I've never experienced it again.

What I can boldly say is dogs are usually good judges of character as they can read intent, body language as well smell hormones given off by other living individuals. If an individual is stressed and gives off the hormone cortisol, be rest assured that a dog will detect it with ease. In fact, a dog doesn't need to see you inorder to paint mental picture of you, even in the dark. It knows you're there, it knows who you are and what your intentions are.

As a youth corper in Sokoto, I lived close to a NSCDC outpost and Helen was my friend. Usually, she would stand up for no reason and bark fiercely into the night. I used to ignore her barking till after she died and a hyena had the temerity to come sniffing around. Ugly creatures those are. Dogs usually bark into the night to mark it's territory and scare off passersby and other animals that it deems dangerous or unfit to enter it's territory.

I doubt it has anything to do with spirits.