Oneday, I truly believe that we will all come to recognise that both animals and humans are capable of using far more than the five senses (sight, smell, touch, sound and taste) that we know so well.
Above is a photo of Tamar on our front lawn. One day (when, as far as we were aware, she was fit and healthy), she stood looking up at the heavens for such a long time that I got my camera out and took a whole sequence of photos, including this one.
So, today I want to share with you one story that is easy to dismiss as a strange coincidence, but that I believe is actually just the tip of the iceberg of what dogs are capable of and the other senses that they can use.
Some of those things are now clearly down to the incredibly fine senses that a dog has, such as the dog who kept trying to tell his owner that the tiny mole on his forearm was cancerous two years before the machine at the hospital was able to come up with a positive reading.
hi Dan I have a story. Our dog Amelia can sense and see the spirits of our 3 dogs which passed a way. m y husband and I have also saw there spirits at our home. Amelia gets bothered by them sniffing her or getting to close to her. What can you do to help Amelia be more relaxed and not bothered .
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We had a sweet Golden Retriever who was born with terrible hips but after surgery was able to live 7 years before dying with cancer. What I want to share is that when I would be standing at the kitchen counter with my back to Rowdy he started to nudge the back of my left thigh. At the time I assumed that he wanted my attention. On a routine visit with my doctor she saw a suspicious spot on the back of my left thigh. It was melanoma and after a couple times of cutting out tissue all cancer was successfully removed. Was Rowdy trying to tell me I had cancer? I believe the answer is yes.
Maureen, dogs really are amazing animals and we are lucky to have them in our lives. I just want to pass on my condolences at the passing of your husband and thank-you so much for sharing your story. Best, Doggy Dan
Hi Dan,
Love your website, videos and have recommended you to my friends. I have your book on audio.
I am sure dogs have a highly developed sixth sense. One of my Border Collie dogs Jimmy has an uncanny ability to sense if someone poses a threat to my safety and will growl to alert me of possible danger. We could be walking among many people and he will be like a lamb with 99% of men, women and children, but if someone appears hostile or aggressive and its always a bloke, he becomes protective of me.
Many years ago I had a wonderful female Border Collie named Emma who was very protective of me and my young children, she would have given her life for my kids. At the time my children wanted to know which of my dogs was the fastest, so I climbed to a top of a hill about 200 m high with the dogs and the children were left at the bottom. The dogs were released and the children called the dogs down the hill to them. Just within 50 m of my children was a strange man heading towards them, Emma veered off from the children and went towards the man circling him and warning him to stay away from them. She made no attempt to bite him at all, just warned him by barking to stay away from her children. I raced down the hill and called Emma to me, but she never took her eyes off that man. She loved children and was a wonderful family dog, that everyone loved dearly.
Dan do I have a story for you. 1999 my 17 year old daughter had a Jack Russell named Eddie. She and Eddie had the best relationship I had ever seen, the dog just did whatever she wanted him to do. To make a very long story short, May 5 1999 my daughter was killed in a car accident and I was devastated and Eddie was also. He would stay in bed with me and would try to comfort me. As time went by Eddie would want in her room but I had it closed off so he would drag his bed right outside her door and cry to get in. After about a week of this I got tired of hearing the dog cry and cracked the door to let him in her room. As I was turning to leave I caught a glimpse of that dog sitting in the middle of her room tail wagging staring up into the air. So I stopped and peeked into the room to watch. Eddie would look up and slowly turn his head to the right then left as if he was watching some one or thing. It totally lifted my heart. Some people think I am crazy and that is ok with me I saw what I saw and I believe Eddie saw his best friend. Eddie stayed in that room until the day I lost him. It makes me happy to know they are together again and I know I will see them again
Only last week end I attended this introductory workshop on animal assisted therapy conducted by the Animal Angels Foundation. There we were told about one of their inhouse therapy dogs who now lives with this special person who experiences severe back pain at random for hours to days and has to take immediate bed rest. This therapy dog taken to comfort this person during the pain is now able to like predict that this attack is going to happen, there by giving this special person a 2 min window to lie down and make some calls before going into excruciating pain.
In my experience,dogs try to communicate about their death as well return.I had a German Shepherd,which died 2005,dec 5 th.She made me realize about her death exactly one year in advance.I have written about it in my personal blog.Now I have another dog whom I saw in my dream one year in advance .I do not know if it is reincarnation. This dog knows all the things those that we taught the first dog. If I try to teach her she first tries to impress me then brushes me aside saying I know these things,like colours,numbers etc.Read my blog ,please do not forget to leave a comment .As it is not for public,it is a personal blog meant for record
Agh, yes some dogs (and people) are able to do the work of supporting without being drained themselves. If your dog is being drained then you want to really watch out that she is not being overworked as it is clearly exhausting for her. Some dogs are like a big sponge, able to soak up a lot of negative energy, others are more like a small sponge and fill up very quickly, we need to protect them, thanks for sharing Caroline, all the best Dan
Just wanted to share a story with my dog Mandy, a 2 yr old Siberian. One day I was feeling very sad and depressed for multiple reasons. I was outside with our 3 dogs and felt an overwhelming sense of grief, despair, and sadness. I sat down on the ground in my back yard, just feeling terrible. Along came Mandy and sat down beside me. She did not try to play with me or do anything else but sit totally upright at attention next to me. She did not give me eye contact or any emotion, just looked off to the side, not facing me. It was as if she was applying the golden rule #3 to me. Now, she did this for 15 minutes! If you know Siberians, they cannot sit still for very long before they need to go run, play, get into mischief somehow. For her to stay at my side for 15 minutes is a miracle. I did start to talk to her and touch her after 10 minutes. I was telling her what a great dog she was. I truly believe that she knew I was severely troubled and came over to console me by being there. She is a very sensitive dog, the most of our 3 Siberians. She told me that everything was going to be alright by being calm. I will never forget this moment. The day my dog became my pack leader temporarily while I was not able to.
Several years ago I was diagnosed with MCTD an autoimmune disease.
My Shih Tzu Lily knew something was seriously wrong before I did. She stuck to my side like glue. Some mornings when I woke up she would be sitting up looking at me with her paws across my abdomen. I realized later that this was her way of telling me that I was going to have a bad day. Lily did this for 6 years until she passed at 14.
love these stories. i have had several experiences where i feel dogs have mental telepathy. i put flea meds on my 4 dogs once month which they dislike. one day 2 of them were lying on the couch, with my back to them i opened a kitchen drawer and pulled out the sealed packets, turned around and they were running out of the room. they knew:)
Unbeknownst to my daughter, Jenni was pregnant and that night, she miscarried. She went to the hospital and when she got home, she sat in a chair in the living room. Jenni was not crying but was clearly very sad.
I also believe in that example of you, Dan, when the dog felt he himself was going to die and wanted to say Good Bye. I once read of a Dachshund, who in the middle of the night ran to every member of the family to wake them up and wanted to be cuddled, thing which during years he never had done. Then he went back to his own bed and in the morning he was dead.
Since I turn away from dogs and people without a positive aura my dogs are totally relaxed when we walk around in public (although we sometimes take longer to get where we wanted to go as we keep turning around and going a different way).
Brilliant Marieke, I understand totally what you are saying, I believe that dogs can heel us and visa versa, and I know exactly what you mean when you say that you only need to think about going for a walk! Thanks for sharing ? P.S You actually reminded me of a very special incident which I had nearly forgotten which will (thanks to you sharing) now be retold sometime! Best wishes, Dan
While I was working with many assistance dogs I had experienced a number a wonderful stories of with our Assistance Dogs. The assistance dogs worked for people with physical disabilities. One story that sticks with me re a dog with the sixth sense relates to a beautiful dog that I gave to a young man who was totally dependent on his parents and his dog to make life work for him. One night the dog who never went into this young mans parents bedroom entered and went to the side of the father and put her head gently on his chest. The father awoke and the dog indicated that she wanted him to follow her by giving a gentle bark and moving to the door and back to the bed and then back to the door. The father realised what was needed and immediately followed the dog back to the sons room where upon he discovered that his son had stopped breathing The father was able to move quickly and resuscitate the young man who was given life again all thanks to this magnificent dog who had such a wonderful bond with the young man with the disability. The dog had realised that help was needed then acted calmly and quietly to get help for his new master.This is one wonderful Assistance Dog.
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