Signs That Your Dog Is Intuitive

Dogs, particularly those with a close relationship to their humans, sometimes seems to know something is going to happen before it does, whether it's a thunderstorm, an owner's epileptic seizure or the arrival of a visitor or family member. Whether this is attributable to a dog's sixth sense or its highly developed senses of smell and hearing has been debated for years. Dogs read and deliver body language and interpret human voice tones. When you consider Merriam-Webster's definition of intuition as a "quick and ready insight ... immediate apprehension or cognition" and "knowledge or conviction gained by intuition," it would seem dogs are, by nature, intuitive creatures.

  1. Alert Stance - Someone's Coming

    • If your dog lifts its head slightly, parks in a position by the window or door and looks outside, it may have sensed someone is coming. Is this canine intuition or the dog's natural sensory system in action? Dogs can hear four times as far as humans can---it's possible your pet has heard the engine of an approaching vehicle or based its expectant pose on an interpretation of your behavior. Consider whether you were consciously or unconsciously anticipating someone's arrival when your dog began its vigil. According to a 2005 "Trends in Cognitive Sciences" article written by Brian Hare and Michael Tomasello, "Domestic dogs are unusually skilled at reading human social and communicative behavior---even more so than our nearest primate relatives."

    Medical Alerts

    • Dogs have been known to warn their owners of an impending medical problem.

      Dogs have the capacity not only to detect human's illnesses, but to alert them to oncoming adverse medical events and even help them. Dogs have demonstrated the ability to notify their owners of the development of lung, bladder, breast and other cancers and to warn epileptic and diabetic owners of oncoming seizures and hypoglycemia, according to Dr. Nicholas Dodman, director of the Animal Behavior Clinic at Tufts University's Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. Dogs have an incredible sense of smell, and are able to detect small amounts of chemicals released by cancerous tissues as well as chemical fluctuations that occur during a seizure or insulin reaction. The intuitive dog trying to let his owner know an unwelcome medical event is imminent might bark, run in circles or nudge its owner with its nose.

    Storm Warnings

    • People have believed for centuries that dogs---and other animals---can predict everything from summer rain storms to tsunamis. While many of those beliefs are unproven, there are several indications dogs could be able to tell a storm is approaching. According to Pet Place, dogs are able to sense drops in barometric pressure and may connect it to the onset of a storm. It's possible they are able to pick up changes in the static electric field that occur before a storm or hear a rumble of thunder a human does not. It may also be that they can smell changes in the air produced when lightning strikes, or that they, too, see dark clouds and trees blowing in the wind and understand a storm is coming. Behaviors a dog might exhibit to signify a storm is on the way include agitation and a need to be nearer to its owner than usual.