Learn All about a Dog's Sixth Sense
What man hasn’t yet been able to fully explain tends to get mystified in some way. This usually happens with what many call a dog’s sixth sense. However, in most cases, it’s related to various biological mechanisms. The thing is, these animals have highly developed senses, such as their senses of smell and hearing.
Examples of a dog’s sixth sense
Many of our four-legged friends have the ability to detect, for example:
- Tumors
- Pregnancies
- Time of birth
- Hypoglycemia
- Seizures
It’s not that they use a crystal ball to predict these things before anyone else.
Certain chemical changes occur in our bodies during the situations we described above that result in odors that our furry friends can perceive through their powerful sense of smell.
Thus, dogs don’t have foretelling abilities nor supernatural powers. What many define as a dog’s sixth sense are merely issues that can be explained with some biological mechanisms.
Dogs’ responses to natural phenomena
Another canine skill is the ability to anticipate storms, other weather phenomena, and even earthquakes.
This can be explained by their keen sense of hearing. Dogs capture frequencies and hear sounds that we’d never be able to hear. If dogs can hear dog whistles that humans can’t, why couldn’t they detect vibrations that anticipate these events?
Also, they perceive changes in atmospheric pressure and static electricity levels.
Your four-legged friend knows you better than anyone
But, just as they smell and hear things humans are unable to perceive, dogs also quickly perceive how a person feels.
In this case, their raw intelligence, sensitivity, and great power of observation reign supreme.
Dogs know how a person is according to their behavior. But they also know how to read emotions and expressions and interpret tones of voice and body language.
In some cases, they also use their sense of smell. Thus, the fact that your furry friend perceives right away when you don’t feel good and tries to comfort you with affection shouldn’t surprise you. It also shouldn’t come as a surprise if they try to defend you if they perceive any animosity in the environment.
Is a dog’s orienteering skill their sixth sense?
Many attribute a dog’s skill to find their way back home no matter how far away they are to their sixth sense. Although this isn’t always possible, the cases of dogs that have traveled thousands of miles to return to their homes stand out.
Dogs share this skill with cats and other animals. The explanation to this lies in their ability to detect subtle differences and changes in the Earth’s magnetic field. However, the presence of, for example, powerful magnets can affect this ability.
Heat sensors
Many people believe that, just like the boy in the movie The Sixth Sense, dogs can see dead people. This belief is based on the fact that dogs sometimes stare off into space and even get goosebumps.
However, this also has a non-supernatural explanation that’s related to an alleged dog’s sixth sense: their sense of smell.
If this happens to your dog, they probably detected a significant odor that humans can’t perceive.
However, experts are considering the theory that dogs have heat sensors in their noses. This would explain more precisely the ability of some dogs to find buried bodies after different types of disasters.