Two recent studies are moving us closer than ever to a definitive answer.

In a UK study, two researchers at Goldsmiths College in London, Deborah Custance and Jennifer Mayer, set out to determine if dogs are capable of empathy — an ability to truly understand emotion.

“I had talked to so many people who have dogs who say, ‘it’s like my dog is trying to comfort me,’” says Custance. Though she admits her own dog never offered comfort — “my dog was very hard-hearted,” she laughs — she set out to study whether dogs were even capable of caring in the way so many of us assume that they are.

They gathered a group of largely untrained pets, mostly mixed breeds and equally divided between males and females. Then they set up a situation with the dog’s owner and a stranger to the dog. The owner and the stranger would alternately talk, hum in an odd way, or cry. The researchers wanted to see how the dogs reacted.

Dog’s Responses

The dogs responded — 15 of the 18 in the study — by seeking out the person in distress, even if that person was the stranger. “On the surface, it certainly seemed as if the dogs were demonstrating empathy,” says Custance, who thought that if the dogs were seeking comfort for themselves they would go to their caretaker. She admits that the study raises other questions: What about other emotions, such as pleasure or anger? Would dogs respond differently to children?

However, the findings are being interpreted by many as proof that we’re more than just a meal ticket for our dogs. This doesn’t surprise Custance, who acknowledges that dog lovers want to believe it. “We were so careful to say there’s more work to be done.” Nonetheless, she says, “We have benefitted greatly from dogs. It’s definitely a symbiotic relationship.”

Gregory S. Berns, director of the Emory Center for Neuropolicy in Atlanta, Georgia, and a dog lover himself, might soon be able to provide definitive evidence of a dog’s feelings. He was inspired to take a peek into the canine cranium after learning about the heroic Navy dog that helped take down Osama bin Laden. He noted that the dog had not only learned to endure hostile conditions but apparently to enjoy it. What, he wondered, was the dog thinking?

“Why do an fMRI on a dog?” wrote Berns in an article on Psychology Today’s website. “The answer is obvious: To see what they think.”

He spent a year, together with an assistant and a dog trainer, to prepare dogs for the fMRI. Since the Navy dog had learned to handle the noise of a helicopter, Burns prepared dogs for the noise of the procedure by having them trained to wear ear plugs. He also, under strict ethical guidelines to ensure no dogs were harmed and were free to “quit” the experiment at any time, had the dogs trained to stay perfectly still in the scanner. Even a slight movement would ruin the image.

It took a year, but Berns reports that they were successful on the anniversary of the bin Laden mission. The unsurprising discovery was that the reward center of dogs’ brains lit up when there was a hand signal indicating they would receive a hot dog treat. Far more interesting, Berns and his team discovered that dogs’ brains are much more responsive when information comes from humans, as opposed to inanimate signals, like Pavlov’s famous bells. “They like looking at us, just as we like looking at them,” writes Berns. He goes on to say that this ability to map their brains provides the tool to answer questions relating to dogs’ ability to feel empathy.

“I wonder what he’s thinking…” might not need pondering much longer.

The post Inside Your Dog’s Mind: What They Feel For You appeared first on Cesar's Way.

And, really, nothing actually changed except what your clock said. Every day still has 24 hours in it, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and everything goes on. Your dog may be a little confused by the change of schedule for a day or two, but to them all that’s happened is that you’ve suddenly started doing everything an hour later.

Humans are the only creatures on earth that run on clocks and calendars, which is why the time change is always a great opportunity to remember something very important.

Nature’s clocks are made by Nature. All of the plants and animals on the planet take their time cues from the intricate dance of three things: the earth, the sun, and the moon. Those three things are what give us our days, our months, our seasons, and our years.

If you were in a room with no windows and I told you, “It’s six p.m. Is it light or dark out?” would you be able to answer instantly? The answer depends on the time of year and your latitude. If it’s June and you’re not too far south, then it’s light out. If it’s December and you’re not too far north, then it’s dark.

In between, it could be either. Now, if you remember how seasons work, you could probably guess the answer depending on what time of the year it is, or how late or early it got dark yesterday. But those human answers are still based on artificial measures.

In the same situation, although without words, a dog would just know whether it was still day or night outside. They have a very strong internal clock that keeps the time.

People have asked me whether dogs can experience jet lag, and yes, they can. I’ve seen my dogs do it many times when they’ve traveled the world with me, although it seems to be worse going east than it is west — probably because going toward the sun makes the day seem shorter, while going away makes it seem longer.

At the same time, though, dogs get over it and make the adjustment a lot more quickly than humans do. I’ve had quick trips overseas where it seems like I never do adapt, while Junior seems to be ready and over it within a day or two at most.

But dogs also have a great psychological advantage: They don’t know they’re not supposed to be awake at three in the morning, so they don’t worry about it. Humans, though, know they’re “supposed” to be asleep in the middle of the night and get worried about it when they aren’t. If there’s one thing that’s great for inspiring insomnia, it’s worrying. Our own intellects and clocks and calendars help make the problem even worse.

This is where we can take a big lesson from dogs and learn to prioritize. In a dog’s world, all of the important things revolve around survival: protecting the pack, eating, sleeping, and relieving themselves. If there’s a stranger at the door, their favorite toy is suddenly not important.

For humans, we have pretty much the same needs with only a few exceptions. We definitely need to pay our taxes and rent or mortgages on time — but those, for us, are also survival things. But when it comes to other things, like seeing the latest movie, or knowing the score of that big game right this second, or dropping everything to answer an email immediately, well — nobody is going to die if those don’t happen right on time. You can put the toy down!

So when the stress of thinking you have too many things to do and no time to do them starts to get to you, remember how dogs tell time — not by minutes and seconds, but by hours and days. Remembering this can be especially important at this time of year as the holidays — and the stress that comes with them — approach.

Just keep in mind that you have time. You’re going to get everything done. Relax, and look at Nature, not the calendar.

Stay calm, and tell time like your dog!

The post Counting The Hours appeared first on Cesar's Way.

However, being human and emotional, we take our empathy a step further and do something that animals do not: we feel pity for other living things, and we can feel pity for ourselves.

Dogs don’t do this, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, particularly in the case of lacking self-pity, it can be a powerful lesson to all of us.
 
If you’ve ever met a dog that’s missing a limb, or that is blind or deaf, probably the most noticeable thing is that, to them, it isn’t noticeable. They don’t let their limitations get in the way of them being a dog. Instead, they use what abilities they have left and make the adjustment seamlessly.

A blind dog will use its nose and ears to navigate the world, and a deaf dog will use its nose and eyes. A three-legged dog will trot along almost as quickly as a four-legged dog, and even dogs with two legs will adapt to bipedal locomotion — front, back, or one side.

Dogs do this by instinct, and it should be pretty clear why. In the wild, a Pack will abandon or kill dogs that are crippled and that cannot continue on with the rest of the group. It’s a life-or-death choice that’s hardwired into the animal. You could almost call it a case of “persist or perish.”

People can have this resilience as well, but we often need to be reminded of that fact — and our emotions can lead us to too easily give up when the odds seem insurmountable. I saw one such case a few years ago when a young man named Erick Cruz came to my Fundamentals of Dog Behavior and Training Course at the Dog Psychology Center. Other than a slight stiffness on one side of his body, he seemed perfectly healthy — but then I found out the real story.

Erick, who is from Guatemala, was living an entirely ordinary life until the day he had a stroke. Even though he was only in his early 20s, it completely changed everything for the worse. He went from being very physically active and vibrant to being a shut-in who could barely crawl across his room. While the stroke was physically debilitating, it was his self-pity and defeatism that could have kept him trapped in a ruined body and a tiny room for the rest of his life.

Fortunately, Erick had a dog, Fibi, a Chihuahua that his (by then) ex-girlfriend had given him and, while the dog could feel empathy, it didn’t feel any pity. Instead, the dog basically started badgering Erick and wouldn’t give up on him… until he learned to not give up on himself.

His recovery didn’t happen overnight, but it did happen, and the dog was there through all of it, cheering Erick on. A couple of years ago, he told me, “Fibi was always there to encourage me. She was so patient. It didn’t matter that it took me fifteen minutes to walk five yards. She wasn’t in a hurry. Time didn’t matter to her.”

That last part is probably the biggest key to how dogs do it. As I say often, dogs live in the moment. They don’t worry about the future or regret the past. Contrast that to people, especially modern ones, where everything seems to be ruled by the clock — and our obsession with deadlines and schedules can make us forget how to be human or even make us sick.

Fortunately, we have our dogs to remind us how to stay healthy and to encourage us to overcome our setbacks. Sometimes, it makes me wonder who the smarter ones are in that relationship!

Stay calm, and don’t quit!

The post Bounce Back Like A Dog appeared first on Cesar's Way.

In my home country of Mexico, the date is fixed on May 10. In my adopted country of the U.S., it’s always the second Sunday in May — which means that sometimes it’s the same day in both places, like it was in 2015 and will be in 2020.

But there’s a more important lesson in the day than the when and why and, again, we can turn to dogs to learn it.

When a mother dog is with her litter, all of the other dogs leave her alone or soon learn to, because trying to violate that space would lead to at least a strong warning to stay away and everything else including up to death in case the warning was not heeded. A mother dog will fight and kill for her puppies because she instinctively understands their importance.

But something interesting happens. Once the mother has done her job by making sure her puppies are fed and cared for long enough to become independent, are taught the rules of the pack along the way, and can make it on their own, she sends them off into the world and stops protecting them from the rest of the dogs.

She doesn’t do this out of some cold-heartedness, though. She does it because she trusts the pack to take care of itself once her job is finished. There are two skills necessary to create this trust. Dogs have them, but we need to relearn if we’ve forgotten them. One is respect. The other is letting things go.

For the most part, dogs will respect another pack’s territory, so they don’t get into things like wars between different “tribes.” The only exceptions happen when there is a sudden and severe shortage of something vital to life, either prey or water, that drives more than one group into the same space. Even then, it’s not impossible for one big pack to form and work together.

Ultimately, dogs don’t see things like breed. They see dog. And they’re much more inclined to cooperate with each other than to fight. But even if they do fight, their second skill helps them tremendously. Dogs let go. They don’t hold grudges. Two dogs that have a violent fight today can still be friends tomorrow.

Both of these skills together create that necessary trust within the pack — and they are vital for humans to learn as well, if we’re going to regain the trust in our entire pack and in our common humanity while we still can.

On Mother’s Day, we honor our moms with things like cards or flowers, breakfast in bed, fancy dinners, or other rewards. But what we should remember to honor is what motherhood represents. Our mothers, all of them, created us. We were formed inside of another human being who then bore us and, quite often, fed us from her own body and helped us learn how the world works. Yes, our fathers had something to do with that but, like dogs, our fathers weren’t necessary for our births once conception had happened.

Without our mothers, there would be no us. Every mother is a symbol of life and of hope — the hope that someday we will learn to follow the clues that Nature has given us and which dogs live out so effortlessly.

It doesn’t matter what you or your mother look like, or where you live because we all live in the same place and we all got here the same way. And, ultimately, we all have the same mother — we’re standing on her.

If your mother is still alive, give her your love. If she’s not, remember her with your thanks. Either way, honor her by learning what the dogs know: respect and letting go leads to trust.

Stay calm, and happy Mother’s Day!

The post Letting Go appeared first on Cesar's Way.

La primera Ley Natural de los Perros nos enseña que los caninos no funcionan de esa manera. Sí, ellos sienten emociones y piensan, pero diferentemente de nosotros. Las emociones de los perros tienen su origen en el momento y son una reacción inmediata a lo que está sucediendo ahora mismo. Los perros no lamentan el pasado ni se preocupan con el futuro. Sólo piensan en el presente: ¿Es esto en algo amistoso o una amenaza? ¿Debo luchar, huir o evitar?

Esa es la mayor diferencia entre los seres humanos y perros. Estamos constantemente en cambio entre nuestras dimensiones intelectual, emocional y espiritual. Pero los perros viven por lo general en un mundo instintivo. Corresponde a nosotros como Líderes de la Manada a relacionarnos con ellos en ese nivel.

Como los perros reaccionan instintivamente a las cosas que les rodean, son también conscientes de nuestras emociones, mediante la lectura de nuestra energía. Cuando estamos calmados, ellos están calmados. Cuando no estamos calmados, notan nuestra energía desequilibrada y, naturalmente, nos evitan o empiezan a reflejar nuestro desequilibrio.

En la manada, perros desequilibrados son corregidos rápidamente o, si no se equilibran, son rechazados. Nuestros perros no pueden en igual rechazarnos a nosotros, pero pueden hacer todo lo posible para evitarnos cuando no estemos tranquilos y a veces son compelidos a actuar afuera de su zona de confort, en ese entonces surgen los problemas de comportamiento.

Los perros son instintivos y viven en el momento, así que no podemos corregir su comportamiento como hacemos con niños o incluso adultos. Ellos son instintivamente atraídos a la calma y a líderes asertivos, sea humano o canino, por eso debemos ponernos en contacto con nuestro propio instinto para mantenernos a nosotros mismos calmados y asertivos. Eso es mucho más efectivo que tratar de razonar con tu mascota o hacerle apelaciones emocionales.

Sigue la Primera Ley Natural de los Perros. Permite que tu perro sea un perro y aprende a seguir sus instintos en lugar de su intelecto.

Aprende más sobre los instintos caninos con el DVD de César Millán “El lenguaje de los perros.”

The post Ley Natural De Los Perros 1: Los Perros Son Instintivos appeared first on Cesar's Way.

Certain breeds have incredibly visible canine instincts, such as guarding or herding behavior, or strong natural hunting abilities. These are instincts that have been intentionally bred into these dogs over generations.

But while dogs can be bred to encourage particular skills and behaviors, there are also a number of natural instincts that every canine shares. Many of them are so innocuous or understandable that most Pack Leaders don’t even think about them.

Some examples include dogs’ inborn ability to learn through nose, eyes, and ears — in that order — or their natural inclination to guard their food, space, and pack. And did you know that dogs come into the world programmed to work not only for rewards, but also for their food?

When you understand your dog’s instinctual behaviors, you are better able to meet his needs, improve your relationship with him, and be accepted as the leader of your pack. With that in mind, below we’re going to explore several natural dog behaviors and why your furry companion engages in them.

Strange Facts About Six Canine Instincts

You can intuitively understand why your dog may want to guard his food or space. And you’ve likely heard that a dog’s nose is her most important sensory organ — which explains her obsession with sniffing things out.

But what about other behaviors? The odd things that don’t seem to make sense? Here are just a few canine instincts that you may find baffling.

Licking

Does he just like you that much? Do you taste good? What is it? First, let’s get it out of the way: Yes, licking can be a way your dog says he likes you. But dogs also lick to clean, to communicate, and to calm themselves down. Mother dogs even lick newborn pups as a way to get them to breathe.

Tail Wagging

Yet another way dogs “talk” to each other — and to you. And it’s actually pretty simple once you understand the “language.” Wagging to the right means she’s happy, while wagging to the left means she’s scared.

Butt Sniffing

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: “Dogs sniff each other’s butts as a greeting.” Technically this is true, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg. Your dog’s sense of smell is so good that when he sniffs another dog’s rear, he can learn about their diet, gender, emotional state, and more.

Burying

Is your dog just bored when she buries her toys? Is it a game? Not exactly. Wild dogs had to bury their food so no one else would come along and steal it before they were ready to eat it. When your dog buries a toy, it’s her way of saying, “This is mine, and I have to protect it.”

Trailing — or Leading

Which one of these sounds like your typical dog walk? 1) You get dragged around the neighborhood the second the leash goes on. 2) You feel like you’re constantly tugging your dog to catch up and walk next to you. 3) You walk serenely side-by-side or in front of your dog. This is an instinctual behavior that you’ll have to work on with your dog.

In the wild, dogs naturally gravitate to one of three spots: the front, where they guide the way and handle danger; the back, where they follow and warn of dangers from the rear; or the middle, where they relay messages from the front to the back.

Humans should always be the Pack Leaders, which means you lead and your dog follows. If this isn’t your dog’s natural place, the best way to teach this behavior is to exhibit calm, assertive leadership and correct your dog when she isn’t walking properly. If you have more than one dog, it’s important to let them define their place in the pack without your input.

Rolling in Grossness

Picture this. It’s a typical walk with your dog. Suddenly you spot a dead and decaying bird. It makes you a little bit sad, but other than that, you have no reaction. Your dog, however, sprints to the bird. You think he’s going to eat it, but what he has in mind is far more disgusting: he rolls in it, smearing the carcass all over his body. Why?

Wild instincts strike again. Out in nature, dogs have to hunt for their food. But if your prey can smell you a mile away, you’re not going to eat much. So they camouflage their odor. By rolling around in gross, disgusting things that have strong smells. Blech!

Obviously, these are not the only strange behaviors that dogs naturally engage in due to their natural canine instincts. What are some things that your dog does?

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Natural Dog Law 

This Natural Dog Law teaches us that canines do not work that way. Yes, they do have emotions, but they differ from ours. Dogs’ emotions are rooted in the moment and are an immediate reaction to what’s happening right now. Dogs don’t regret the past or worry about the future. They’re only thinking about the present: Is this thing in my environment friendly or a threat? Should I fight, flee, or avoid?

That’s the biggest difference between humans and dogs. We’re constantly shifting between our intellectual, emotional, and spiritual dimensions. But dogs live solely in an instinctual world, and it is up to us as Pack Leaders to meet them there.

Instinct Reaction 

As dogs react instinctually to the things around them, they’re also aware of our emotions, by reading our energy. When we’re calm, they’re calm. When we aren’t calm, they sense our unbalanced energy and will naturally avoid us or become unsettled themselves.

In a dog pack, unbalanced dogs are quickly corrected or, if they don’t become balanced, rejected. Our dogs can’t exactly reject us, but they can do everything possible to avoid us when we aren’t calm ‘ or to act out their discomfort. Behavior problems arise.

Because dogs are instinctual and live in the moment, we can’t correct their behavior like we can with children or even adults. Because dogs are instinctually attracted to calm and assertive leaders, whether human or canine, we must get in touch with our own instinctual side and become calm and assertive. That’s much more effective than trying to ‘reason’ with your dog or making emotional appeals.

Follow the First Law by honoring your dog’s instincts. Let your dog be a dog, and learn to follow your instincts instead of your intellect.

The post Natural Dog Law 1: Dogs Are Instinctual appeared first on Cesar's Way.

It’s also why dogs have bonded so well with humans. We too are social creatures and dogs instinctually sense that and seek to join our pack. We humans have become ‘ or should be ‘ their Pack Leaders now.

In a dog pack, there are three positions: front, middle, and rear.

Front 

The dogs in front lead the pack in search of what they need to survive: food, water, and shelter. They both direct and protect.

Back 

The dogs in the back are the most sensitive, and their job is to alert the pack to danger.

Middle 

The dogs in the middle are happy-go-luck mediators. It’s their job to maintain stable energy between the front and the back of the pack ‘ and to settle down packmates that start to show unstable energy, You can easily spot middle of the pack dogs in a dog park ‘ they’re the ones that rush over and break it up when two or more dogs start to play a little too rough or get into a fight.

Every dog can’t be a leader of the pack. Most dog packs have very few leaders, meaning the rest of the dogs are followers. That’s the model for us we bring a dog into our human packs. It’s essential that the humans be Pack Leaders, with the dog following.

If a dog does not have strong pack leadership from its humans, it may become unbalanced, which can lead to confusion, anxiety, or aggression and behavior problems in the dog. A dog can only be balanced and secure when it knows what its humans want and receives very clear and consistent direction.

By bringing dogs into our lives, we make the promise to fulfill their needs, and having a strong Pack Leader meets a dog’s most important psychological and instinctual need.

The post Natural Dog Law 5: Dogs Are Social Pack Animals. appeared first on Cesar's Way.

Perhaps you’re considering something more exotic than a dog as a family pet, but there are some animals that just shouldn’t be part of your household. Here are six of them.

1. The hedgehog

Hedgehogs are adorable little balls of fur. Resembling tiny porcupines but not as sharp, they are friendly and docile and will sleep in your hand. Nocturnal creatures, they will snooze all day and you will stare at their undeniable awesomeness — their smiling little faces, and their cute little feet. Did I mention that they are nocturnal? This means that they get up at night, when you’ve gone to sleep, and run on their precious little hedgehog wheels. All. Night. Long. You get to listen to the endless squeak-squeak-squeak. They don’t even stop when they have to poop. They just keep running. If you have an open-rimmed hedgehog wheel, you can only imagine the consequences when the source of the projectile is inside of — and powering — the proverbial fan. All. Night. Long.

2. The tiger

If you think that a tiger cub is just a slightly larger but still cute and adorable kitty, you’d be right — for about a year. Although they don’t reach maturity until anywhere from three to six years, twelve months out of the box, you’ll find yourself with a fur ball weighing over half of its typical adult weight of seven hundred pounds, and well on the way to a length of thirteen feet. Suffice it to say that you won’t be going for any more trips in the family car together. Adult tigers are also not very social. Just imagine a typical house cat’s aloofness, except on steroids, with much bigger, sharper claws and teeth. You don’t have to take our word for it, though. In Dubai, thanks to tiger cubs becoming a high-status pet among the super-rich, the streets are now crowded with abandoned, de-clawed, toothless former pet tigers. We already have enough stray dogs and feral cats around. No need to add SUV-sized predators to the mix when that tiny little cub is no longer so cute and cuddly.

3. The sloth

It’s hard not to smile when you look at a sloth’s face, because many of them appear to have a permanent grin that would put The Joker to shame. With that and their expressive eyes, they’re alluring and friendly. And they’re sloths — they’ve given their name to the laziest of deadly sins, so if one ever did try to chase you, you wouldn’t have to run very fast. Like the hedgehog, the sloth is also nocturnal, but they don’t run on wheels. That would take too much energy. There is one thing they do like to do, though. Stare at you while you sleep. During the day, that smiling face might be pleasant, but to wake up to it glaring at you turns it all kinds of clown creepy. And that isn’t a smile. It’s an evil grin, as the sloth slowly begins to realize that at the ends of its hands are some pretty fine claws that would be the envy of Wolverine. So, while you sleep, they watch. And they wait.

4. The platypus

Along with the kangaroo and koala, the platypus is an iconic symbol of Australia, appearing on the 20 cent coin and serving as the official animal of Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales. Unlike the kangaroo and koala, the ungainly platypus looks like it was assembled from leftover parts after a bargain basement sale. Up front, there’s a duckbill; at the back, a beaver tail. In between, it resembles an otter but, although it’s a mammal, it lays eggs instead of giving birth, and its eyes resemble those of certain fish or lampreys. The males are also venomous, particularly during the mating season from June to October. Since platypuses have the unfortunate appearance of something that was sewn together in P.T. Barnum’s back office in order to dupe sideshow visitors out of their money, they would probably prove a disappointing gift for children. If you want to give them something cuddly in the middle but dangerous at either end, consider a cat instead.

5. The monkey

If you’re thinking about adopting any kind of monkey as a pet, there are three words to keep in mind. “Don’t do it.” Smaller kinds, like squirrel monkeys and capuchins, absolutely cannot be housebroken, so you get stuck with a lifetime of simian diapers, or worse. Others, like orangutans or macaques, have some rather unsettling personal habits. But all of these problems pale in comparison to the chimpanzee. Our closest genetic relative, they are more like us than not, but truly resent not having shared in the same evolutionary lottery. Among animal professionals, there is one thing that is agreed to be inevitable: If you have a pet chimpanzee, there will come a day when it will try to fight you. And it’s not a matter of if that day comes, but when. You see, when your chimp is an adolescent, there is a ritual that you absolutely must go through, or else you will never truly be the pack leader. You must engage your chimp in hand to hand combat, and you must win. It’s much easier when they’re younger, and it will establish you as the alpha for the rest of your relationship. You don’t even have to fight fair — chimps sure don’t. Wait until he’s off guard, then bang, right in the face. It may sound cruel, but it is nature’s way, and you will have prevailed in the necessary human ritual called Socking the Chimp. Or you could just not adopt any kind of monkey at all, and rescue a dog instead.

6. The elephant

Now even talking about this one is just silly. No one wants an elephant in their living room.

The post Why Dogs Make The Best Companions appeared first on Cesar's Way.

It sounds like a headline from a supermarket tabloid but scientific facts support this seemingly amazing claim — which is not so amazing to those of us who own dogs. So many of us have experienced our furry companions barking well before we hear thunder, or have come to enjoy the old head-in-our-lap cuddle just before rain pelts our house.

How often do we find our dogs jumping for joy just about the time we hear our weatherman warning of an imminent snowstorm? We’ve all heard those not-so-tall tales of a family’s dog barking so loudly that they alert everyone to danger well before a tornado is even detected. The connection between imminent weather changes and our dogs knowing about them before we do, and often times their trying to tell us about them, is something so many of us have experienced or heard about that we seldom actually question this simple fact of doggy derring-do.

It’s less a canine “sixth sense” though, than it is a case of simple science.

Ways Your Dog Senses Bad Weather

Seeking shelter

A dog is more sensitive to the drop in barometric pressure and the shift in the static electric field that comes prior to climate changes. With severe weather imminent, like the often quick turn-about a tornado brings, or the severe conditions in the wake of an approaching hurricane, a dog will not only feel those acute changes in electricity and air pressure — all that much more acute in severe weather — but beyond warning their households, they have been known to seek shelter themselves.

Picking up a scent

Have you ever stepped out of your house, taken a hearty inhale and said, “Mmm, it certainly smells like rain?” Well, if you can sniff out that scent, your dog can too — their noses can detect concentrations of chemicals we couldn’t even imagine. When it comes to the smell of ozone in the air attributed to lightning, rest assured your pooch will smell it before you do!

Hearing

And what about far-off thunder? Canine hearing is close to twenty times more sensitive than ours. Those rumbles we might not even hear until they are upon us as full-blown thunder are sounds and vibrations your dog will certainly hear or feel well before you This is why all that rattling really disturbs some dogs when it finally arrives in full fury.

Instincts

Our dog’s senses are that much more sensitive than ours, so is it any wonder that they can detect the nuances of weather changes better than we ever could? If we can learn to recognize and interpret specific behaviors our dogs are instinctively revealing before those weather changes are upon us, we might learn to figure out what is literally “on the horizon.”

Although other animals, from cats to birds to turtles, are known to exhibit behavior related to anticipating storms or changes in the weather, researchers theorize that, because of the way dogs learn, the more often they are exposed to weather changes, the more they will learn to anticipate those changes — and then the changes that come before those, and so on, until they have learned to associate the tiniest of changes with what they have experienced before… and then will surely want to “tell” us about them.

Ultimately, we might be better off enjoying a good warm furry cuddle or heeding that loud consistent barking over watching the Weather Channel.

Does your dog warn you of impending changes in the weather, incoming tornadoes, or earthquakes? Tell us about your experiences in the comments!

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