5 Impressive Things Dogs Can Sense Before They Happen

Just how intuitive is your dog? Many dog owners will swear up and down that their four-legged friends can understand them – sometimes better than their human friends or partner. Whether or not your dog is a master of vocabulary and reading your body language, it is true that dogs can sense things humans cannot.

Here are the top five most impressive things dogs can sense before they happen:

1. Illness

Has your pet been sniffing or nudging at a particular place on your body for no apparent reason? Believe it or not, humans actually produce faint odors of illness and dogs can pick up on them. These smells could be indicators of anything from diabetes to certain types of cancers. In fact, dogs have been trained to detect skin, prostate, lung, breast and colorectal cancers at success rates higher than those which can be deemed only coincidental. So if you’ve had concerns of your own, maybe it’s time to check with a (human) doctor.

2. Seizures

For people who suffer from seizures, trained seizure alert dogs can be life savers. Although no one knows how they do it, all dogs can sense an impending seizure. They instinctively know it’s going to happen, but only trained dogs can recognize the signs for what they are and alert their owners, lie on top of them during the episode to prevent injuries and even signal for help from passers by.

3. Labor

In addition to detecting illness, some dogs have reportedly been able to sense when a female owner is about to go into labor. Little is known about this phenomenon, but the prevailing belief is women may emit a special “labor scent” or give off other early physical cues. If your dog is attached to your heels late in your pregnancy, your little one’s birthday may be fast-approaching.

4. Storms

With olfactory senses 100 times more sensitive than humans, dogs can sometimes hear approaching storms when they are far off in the distance. Just as we can hear the roll of thunder headed our way, dogs too can pick up on these sounds of nature. Storms can also create an electromagnetic force that dogs can sense or even smell. So if your pooch has already taken to hiding under the bed long before you hear any thunder, he may be more accurate than your local weather man.

5. Earthquakes

Scientists remain divided on just how some dogs have been able to sense seismic activity before it occurs, but cases have definitely been recorded throughout history. Whether they can feel the ground moving through their paws or hear it, if a dog begins to show signs of distress in an earthquake-prone area, it may be a good time to take shelter somewhere safe. Better safe than sorry, right?