The Ghost Eye Dog

Said by some sources to be the only livestock working breed developed in America, the Australian Shepherd is also a breed that mesmerizes those who gaze upon it with its incredible eyes. Not all Australian Shepherds have blue eyes, they can also be hazel, brown, green, amber, golden, lemon yellow, or even two different colors. Sometimes, the dogs will have marbled eyes, meaning each of their eyes will be a mix of two or more colors. Some Native American tribes called the breed the “ghost eye dog” because of those eyes, and considered the dogs sacred, and to be avoided. If your Aussie has a “ghost eye,” share their photo below?

Photo shared with permission from the AKC website on the breed

67 thoughts on “The Ghost Eye Dog”

  1. My sweet 3 year old Aussie mix, Lexi. We were looking for purebred; unfortunately the shelter we went to had none. However, I love her like my family. Lexi’s Australian Shepherd side kind of shows here.

    • Lexi is lovely, and you’re right, her Aussie side shine through in this photo. It’s good news for the breed that the shelter didn’t have an Aussie, and we wonder if you weren’t meant to have Lexi all along?

  2. Hi i have several Australian Border Collies that are ghost eyed and some have one eye blue and some are marbled . Three are beautiful tri colour ticked dogs as well with the prominent colour being grey and 1 of these is an older pup whose tri markings make him look abit like a wolf so i named him Amarok after the mystical wolf . I would love to share photos but not sure how to. From Viv

    • Viv, we’d love to see your pictures! Simply attach them to the email you used to write to us the first time. Depending upon your computer, you might also be able to “drag” the photo into the body of your email. Does this help?

  3. Do you think my lab mix is part Aussie shepherd then, she has the “ghost eyes” ?

    • We have no idea, Emily. It’s possible there is Aussie in her background, but if she only has the “ghost eyes” on photographs, it’s more likely that the reflective layer behind her retina (the tapetum lucidum) is reflecting light at the back of the eyes.

  4. This is Dom! He’s actually a pit mix but has the ghost eyes when content. I’ve been told the legend about if they have ghost eyes they can see into heaven and earth at the same time. His eyes are usually this color.

  5. This is our Mystical Hunter…..He is an amazing two year old AKC Australian Shepherd!

  6. This is Zeppelin. 2.5 years old. He’s amazing and so smart. Of course his looks always attractive everyone to give him attention haha.

    • Joshua, he’s lovely (and we love the casual paw placement!).Thank you for sharing his picture, he’s a looker, all right!

  7. Our girl, Tanner (has one marbled eye), and our pup Colby (ghost eyes)

  8. Pink is my purebred ghost-eye Aussie. She is very in tune with me, quite intelligent, and a natural herder. She is a year old.

  9. “Leo”. We’re not exactly sure what he is (terrier and husky or shepherd mix maybe) but he does have one “ghost eye”. It’s what really attracted me to him at the shelter. We adopted him after one of our dogs sadly had crossed the rainbow bridge. I didn’t see him at first, but on the second glance around the kennels, there he was…telling me with those eyes I was going to take him home.

  10. This is Blue, we are not sure his mix but he’s a very emotional dog. I love my rescue He’s recently been able to let my husband know he is going to have a seizure without any training. I do believe he sees things I don’t

    • Hi Dana, “Blue” is wonderful! We’ve long believed that dogs sense things we don’t, and when it comes to seizure alerts, scientists think such dogs smell a change in the body chemistry – amazing stuff.

    • What a great name for a Ghost Eyed dog!!

  11. My pup Aspyn is 1/4 Border Collie and 3/4 Mini Australian Shepard.

    • What an adorable face, Brenda! Kiss that nose for us?

  12. My Aussie bear has incredible eyes that change from a silver to a light blue. Definitely an old soul, in my opinion.

    • Isn’t it funny how some dog DO seem to have old souls?

  13. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds….The girl with Kaleidoscope Eyes❤️

  14. We adopted 2 mange stray puppies we found on our road.
    They were 12 lbs. Now both thriving at 24 and 27 lbs.
    Thelma looks to be part Aussie with one ghost eye while Louise looks Rhodesian Ridgeback with her raised back and maybe Pit Bull?
    Both are very smart and full of energy!

  15. Mona Ramsey is Boxer/Australian Shepherd. I had 2 DNA tests done with different companies and both came back to same. Some of the purebred Boxers in her lineage have blue eyes. Honestly, her eyes gave me shivets when she was a pup. 11 months old now.

    • She’s adorable, Andrea. Think of her as having a special view of the heavens!

  16. This is my boy Bennie(and the jets) he was born December 12, 2019. He is also my first Australian Shepherd, so far I am in love with the breed because he has so much love for learning new tricks!

    • He’s lovely, Cheyenne! Not surprising that he loves new tricks, his is a wicked smart breed!

  17. This is finneas, one pale blue eye and the other an amber color.

  18. This beautiful young gal showed up at our home in the middle of the night. We have taken her around the neighborhood to see if she belonged to anyone, and have put pictures up of her at the local stores, and online on trading post hoping to return her to her owner, but yet no calls. Was not sure exactly what kind of dog she is, while doing some further research I ran across this site and figured I would share her photo. She is absolutely a fantastic dog, great with children, and other pets we have. If one can give me any further info on her breed, that would be great. I’m getting Australian Shepherd from my research but there are so many different kinds from what I’m seeing.

    • Sorry to have taken so long to respond, Champ, but we wanted to get the additional opinion of fellow dog people including breeders and fanciers. The general consensus is that this little lady is indeed a red tri-color Australian Shepherd, though a couple of folks felt she is a bit of a mis-mark. Someone is either missing her a great deal, or if they’re not, they don’t deserve her. Thank you for looking after her, and do let us know what happens?

    • He’s a looked, Ryan, and those eyes are magnificent!

  19. Angus is 11 1/2 and still has lots of life in him. People always comment on his blue eyes.

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