Do they know?

[babydex]

Sense of smell...

A dogs sense of smell is something else I tell ya. The Cadaver dogs, Cancer Sniffing Dogs, Dogs that can tell when you're about to have a seizure, Search and Rescue Dogs, Dogs that are trained to make sure you're still breathing when you're asleep. I watch A LOT of Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel. There is a Boxer that works for the Coast Gaurd somewhere in the U.S. and is a Cadaver Dog for the WATER! appicon Any dog that can smell through the water...now that's something else!

I have a chronic illness and I swear Dexter knows when I am about to get sick or have an episode. He will sniff at my knees and my stomach. He's actually gotten woke up from my stomach and sat and watched it as though waiting for something to happen while doing the head turns they do when trying to figure something out!

 

[tugger]

Last year when my father in law was dying. He was 92. Brit was also in a bad way. We think she alzheimers. But was on meds which seemed to be working. On Christmas day I asked Brit to hang on til Dad passed. She had her head on my lap and looked at me as if to say I will do the best I can.
Well, Dad passed Jan 5 and Brit hung on til the 16th. She made sure her people were doing OK and then let go and passed herself.
These dogs know all.

 

[8025312luv]

They totally know!

I get really bad menstral cramps. Most of the time I end up curled up on the couch. Ever since we've had Weizen I haven't had to fill up a hot compress. He will lay on my lower stomach under the blankets and be my hot compress/heater to help relieve the cramps. He does this intuitively. I never have to ask him to sit there with me but he will also only sit in that spot when I am having the cramps. What would I do without my personal heater!

 

[Lisa_p]

They do know

I read this post on Friday while I was at work, on my way home, listening to the radio, they happened to have a radio interview with someone doing cancer reseach. They were talking about starting a program for dogs that can detect cancer in humans better and more accurately than the machinery we have available. I will try keep it short, but they were pretty much saying that the dog is a pack animal and we are now its pack since they have become domesticated. We, being dominant and supplying the food, are the Alpha of the pack. We all know the dog as a very keen sense of smell, they said that they use it to detect illness in the pack for 2 things. The first was to detect the weak or sick animal in the pack, so that should the pack be attacked, that animal would be marked to be the fatality so that the rest of the pack can get away safely. The second is to keep tabs on the Alpha. The Alpha is the "bread winner", and so is relied on heavily to supply the pack with food and protection etc. They need to know if there is a problem with the Alpha because it may jeapordise their pack. Thus the attention to all of us should we fall ill. As I said I heard this on the radio, but I can't vouch for the accuracy, it just seemed to make sense to me and I thought some of you may be interested after I read this thread.

Lisa
Sugar & Ray