Anybody who has ever owned a dog recognizes that they are quite intelligent and beautiful, both on the inside and the outside. Even though we may recognize their intelligence, we may overlook some of the abilities that they have and their keen sense of perception.
Stories have often circulated about the almost magical powers that dogs have in the form of a sixth sense. By and large, most people tend to brushoff such stories and just consider it to be a mystery.
When you begin to look into the studies that have been done, it shows that dogs may actually have intuitive strengths that often go under the radar. Humans may have some of these as well, but dogs tend to have their own, unique strengths.
For example, Animal Planet and Psychology Today, along with a number of universities have done extensive research on dogs to determine if this phenomenon is real. What they found is that dogs don’t have some type of magic, but they do have a number of built-in factors that could lead to their special powers.
In this article, we will look through some of the canine behaviors that could lead to these special abilities. Although you may be aware of some of these physical powers, some may come as quite a surprise to you!
1: Cancer and Other Diseases
There may be times when it seems as if your dog is paying a particular amount of attention to certain parts of the body. Believe it or not, this may be a sign that you should go for a checkup. It has to do with the dog sense of smell, allowing them to “predict” a number of reactions in the body that could spell problems.
A study by the American Urological Association showed that dogs were able to detect prostate cancer by using their sense of smell. What is amazing is the fact that dogs were able to do it with 98% accuracy! They may also be able to detect unusual variations in your blood sugar levels through either your sweat or your breath.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are naturally (or artificially) occurring chemicals that can leave a discernible scent or odor. As a human, you have the ability to detect certain VOCs but dogs have a greater ability to detect VOCs that are dangerous.
How much greater is the dogs ability to smell VOCs and other scents? Depending upon the breed and the specific animal, a dog’s sense of smell may be anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 times stronger than yours. What that means is that dogs may be able to detect scents that are as much as 100,000 times weaker than what you can detect. To put it into perspective, if you put a teaspoon of sugar in 1 million gallons of water, a dog could smell it.
2: Pregnancy
Another unusual phenomenon is that some dogs may pay more attention or be more protective of a woman when she is pregnant. The dog may stick closely by your side to “escort” you as you move from one place to another. Many women also notice that dogs nuzzle or sniff their pregnant bellies.
This may also be due to changes in the human body that can be detected by the dog’s sense of smell. It is a well-known fact that a woman’s body chemistry changes drastically during the time that she is pregnant and there may be shifts in her odor as well. This can result in the dog being more attentive but they may also feel threatened by the new edition as well.
It is recommended that a special place is put aside for the dog during the time that you are pregnant. You could spend some time with them there on a daily basis to establish a routine. Continuing this routine, even after the baby is born is important for bringing a new baby into the house.
3: Natural Disasters
It is an established fact that dogs, along with other animals, have been able to predict earthquakes in the past. Prior to the time that the earthquake strikes, the dog may become agitated and this agitation could last for days before the earthquake. During that time, they may be restless or tremble and shake. Cats also display similar tendencies but they tend to run away before the earthquake. Dogs, on the other hand, tend to become more protective at that time.
In the 1975 earthquake that occurred in Haichengin, China, a mass evacuation was ordered a few days before the earthquake struck. It was due to the fact that animals were exhibiting strange behavior and it was taken as a warning to the residents of the city.
This type of predicted behavior may be due to the dog’s ability to detect frequencies that humans are unable to detect. In addition, dogs may be able to pick up sounds that are four times as weak as what humans can hear.
Because of those heightened senses, dogs may be able to warn us of a number of oncoming natural disasters. Not only can they detect vibrations in the ground or shifts in the gravity, they may also be able to detect changes in the atmospheric pressure as well.
4: Generosity
There is no doubt that dogs tend to be more observant than humans so it is not unusual to think that they may be aware of how their owners act toward other humans as well.
An experiment conducted by the University of Milan split people into 2 groups, one kind and the other, aggressive. They used actors to either share food with a homeless person or to tell the homeless person to leave in an aggressive manner. After doing so, each of the groups tried calling the same dogs at the same times. By and large, the majority of the dogs responded to the actors who were generous.
The reason why dogs may be able to detect this type of human emotion is because of the tone of the person’s voice or because of the way they are standing. What is interesting is that this experiment not only shows that dogs can detect the emotion of humans, it may also show that they have the ability to distinguish between right and wrong.
Since dogs may have a built-in moral compass, they expect fairness from their humans and will let you know when you are displaying it.
5: Problems between Humans
Dogs also seem to have an ability to detect if we do not like other people that are nearby. This may also be due to our body language associated with our feelings for others. When they detect that we have an issue with someone, they may be protective of us or perceive the other individual as a threat.
It may also have something to do with the dog’s keen sense of smell. When we display emotions, good or bad, chemicals are released into our system that produces certain feelings within us. For example, serotonin and dopamine may be released if we are near someone we love but if we feel threatened, different chemicals may be released.
Since dogs are able to discern our emotions because of their sense of smell and their ability to detect changes in our behavior, it is not out of the question for them to react when we have strong emotions.
6: Diabetics
Dogs are often trained to determine when certain medical problems arise in their owners. This can be done for a wide variety of issues, including alerting diabetics when their blood sugar is dropping too low. This type of issue may not be detected by the human because they don’t constantly monitor their blood sugar levels. If they happen to take too much insulin or if they are not eating often enough, a service dog can alert them to the problem.
It is thought that a “diabetes alert dog” is able to detect any changes that occur in your natural body odor. Low blood sugar levels would certainly cause your body chemicals to change and the dog picks up on those changes, alerting you to the danger before it gets too far out of hand. If you’re experiencing hypoglycemia, a service dog may nudge, lick or simply stare at you to alert you to the danger.
7: Depression
Any dog owner recognizes that a dog can be a great comfort during times when you’re going through a hardship or are experiencing profound sadness. The dog will often detect this type of issue and come lay near you or even lick you to try to break the mood.
At the University of London, researchers found that dogs were more inclined to approach a person that was crying when compared to somebody that was humming or talking. When a dog detected sadness in the human, they tended to be submissive.
Not only may this be due to chemical changes in the body, it may also be associated with the sounds associated with sadness. There isn’t any clear proof that empathy is an emotion experienced by dogs, but they certainly do have built-in behavior patterns that display similar traits.
8: Labor
We already discussed how dogs can sense when a woman is pregnant but they may also begin to exhibit different behavior when their owner goes into labor as well. This may be associated with the scent of chemical changes in the woman or physical attributes associated with labor.
When a dog first meets a human, they often try to either sniff their armpits or their private parts, depending on which is more readily available. This is due to the fact that those areas contain a lot of sweat glands, which are responsible for secreting pheromones. Pheromones are used as a guide for the dog to let them know about the human’s feelings or disposition.
Dogs may also sniff a woman more frequently during the time that they are ovulating. This may also be due to the release of pheromones, as they may be stronger during that time.
There is no doubt that dogs have these unique abilities and regardless of why they have them, it just makes us love them more.
Images via LittleThings