Sadness
When you feel sad, your four-legged friend can immediately sense it. A new 2016 study published in the Royal Society’s journal Biology Letters reports that dogs can recognize emotions in humans by combining information from different visual and auditory cues.
Your dog can feel that you’re sad even if you try to behave normally around your pet or other family members.
dogs can sense sadness
Sensing your sadness, your pet may become more subdued than usual. He may even lose interest in his toys and refuse to eat.
It has also been found that when the master is sad, a dog has the tendency to watch him quietly from a corner of the room. The dog may also come over and lie down at the feet or gently rest his head in his master’s lap. In the case of crying, the dog may also lick away the tears.
A 2012 study published in Animal Cognition found that a dog was more likely to approach someone who was crying than someone who was humming or talking. Also, dogs respond to weeping with submissive behavior.
Cancer and Other Diseases
Dogs have the ability to sense diseases, too. With about 220 million scent receptors, dogs can smell things that seem unfathomable to us.
Dogs are famous for detecting cancer. They can sniff out a variety of cancer types, including skin, breast and bladder cancer.
dogs can sense cancer and other diseases
A 2006 study published in Integrative Cancer Therapies found that trained dogs were able to detect breast cancer with 88 percent accuracy, and lung cancer with 99 percent accuracy with the help of breath samples.
A 2010 study published in Cancer Biomarkers found that the sensitivity and specificity of trained sniffer dogs allow them to detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as biomarkers of bladder cancer.
In a 2014 report from the American Urological Association, researchers at several leading Italian institutions investigated the level of accuracy at which a highly trained dog can recognize prostate-cancer-specific VOCs in urine samples. It was found that dogs were able to detect VOCs in the urine of study subjects with 98 percent accuracy.
Apart from cancer, dogs can also sense narcolepsy, a kind of brain disorder that affects the ability to control sleep-wake cycles. A 2013 study published in Semergen found that two trained dogs were able to detect 11 of 12 narcolepsy patients using sweat samples. This study demonstrates that dogs can detect a distinct scent for the disorder.
Pregnancy
Your furry friend can even sense pregnancy. Women owners surely notice changes in their pet’s behavior during their pregnancy.
Some women report that their pet became more protective, attentive and loving all of a sudden. Some dogs even start escorting their pregnant owners everywhere they go.
From time to time, they may also nuzzle and sniff the expectant mother’s round belly and rest their heads on it.
dogs can sense pregnancy
These sudden changes in a dog’s behavior are mainly due to physical changes that the dog can sense within their owner. Dogs also react to environmental changes that occur at home as a result of pregnancy.
Reaction to pregnancy in some dogs may make them more fearful.
During pregnancy, do not ignore your pet and spend some time each day taking them to the nursey. Establishing a gentle, loving routine with them will help your pet adapt positively to the upcoming changes in the home.
In addition, having a dog during pregnancy is beneficial for the woman. A 2012 study published in PLOS ONE found that pregnant women who had dogs were more active through walking than those who did not own dogs.
Earthquakes
It is believed that dogs can even sense upcoming earthquakes before they actually happen.
This has nothing to do with anything supernatural. It is their strong hearing power that helps them sense the upcoming natural disaster. Dogs can hear the movement of rocks underground in the earth that happens just before earthquakes.
dogs can sense earthquakes
Dogs can start howling a lot before an earthquake. Some dogs even start pacing or prefer staying close to their people.
If you live in an earthquake-prone area and your dog begins to act odd, do not ignore this sudden change in behavior. Be alert for the upcoming natural disaster.