I recently had lunch with a friend who told me this story involving her dog, Simba.
“March 2019 while spring skiing I fell, not a spectacular fall, more the snow became a slushy sand near the bottom of the hill and one ski came to a sudden stop and I fell. At the time I thought maybe a slight twist, I skied down the rest of the hill with the help of my husband and was able to limp to the car. When we got home Simba immediately went straight to my injured knee and was smelling it and trying to lick it. I walked around the house not thinking much of it but Simba would not leave my side and at every opportunity sniffed at my leg. Next morning it was more swollen and I could no longer weight bear on that leg. To the surprise of me and the doctor an X ray showed a tibial fracture, Simba had known that my injury was worse than any person thought.”
You may have heard stories like this, and they are not uncommon.
Another friend told us that her own dog continually sniffed at her chest. An initial health check didn’t detect anything but when her dog persisted in sniffing the area she was convinced her dog knew something the medical world had not found. Our friend went back to her doctor who arranged for more tests to be carried out. Sure enough, the new tests showed the first signs of cancer growing in her breast.
In his article November 2018, Steve King wrote: “Of all the senses, smell is primary for a dog. In fact, scientists believe that a dog has up to 300 million olfactory receptors compared to a human’s 6 million and the part of the brain that is dedicated to interpreting smells is 40 times larger in a dog compared to that of the human brain. As such, dogs understand the world largely through what they smell.”
It’s often said that dogs have a sixth sense. Being sensitive to changes in the atmosphere and emotions of their owner, a loyal pet may become more protective. My husband died recently and Finn’s behavior has changed very noticeably. He was Steve’s dog, they were rarely apart and both had high energy levels. Finn, now my buddy follows me around whenever he can. He has calmed down to my pace. He will wander around the house looking for me and right now as I write, he is resting on my foot. He knows.
According to Marti Miller, a pet psychologist at https://inspiredogs.com , both dogs and humans have a sixth sense, but human beings deny or judge what they are feeling. While a human mind starts analyzing what is going on, a dog does not do that.
Some people refer to the sixth sense as a “gut” feeling and experience the gut feeling like just an overall knowledge. However, the only difference between a human’s and a dog’s sixth sense is in trusting the feeling that is received. Dogs do not judge what is happening in the environment. They are more open to how it feels, never doubting where it comes from or what it is. Therefore, dogs will act upon all those feelings.
What also seems an amazing sense is how a dog can anticipate when an owner is going to be home. Research and surveys in England and California have recorded that dogs were capable of detecting their owner’s arrival less than 5 minutes prior to when the person arrived home. Arguably, this could be connected to their super hearing picking up the sound of your car’s engine. Whatever sense has come into play, no dog owner can deny the feeling they get after a long and possibly hard day at work when you walk through the door and your loyal companion is there to greet you. It will put a smile on your face for sure.
They just know.
This week’s Trivia Question: The owner of a Chihuahua named Molly noticed her pet becoming very upset and agitated on the morning of September 11, 2001, possibly sensing that something dreadful was about to happen. Do you know what it was?
The answer to last week’s question: 1. In 2013, the therapy dog program was launched in Chestermere Public Library & 2.The initials CTDS stand for Community Therapy Dogs Society
