For centuries dogs have been portrayed as having a sixth sense, especially when it comes to their companions or owners. Dogs seem to be able to discern a change of mood or intent in anyone who approaches them. It is said that a dog can sense fear, and certainly it seems that if you turn and run from a growling dog it will chase you if it can. On the other hand if you show strength and confidence and approach without fear the dog will respect this. I cannot claim to be an expert in any sense of the word but I have some anecdotal evidence of the afore-mentioned canine abilities in the psychic realm, and noted in a Chihuahua no less.
My wife has a 4 year old Chihuahua which she has raised from birth and as any Chihuahua owner can tell you they are very close. Maya, the Chihuahua gets doted on for all her needs and desires almost as much as a favorite child would get. From the outset, I was told that the dog is our daughter and would be treated as such. Well I have looked after and baby-sat with daughters before, but none of them were as aware as the dog.
I maintain an office at home from which I do my work, and my wife spends the day out at her job and she arrives home at roughly four o’clock in the afternoon. Sometimes she is earlier, sometimes later, it varies from day to day. Chihuahuas like to burrow underneath the cushions and blankets we leave on the sofa and Maya was of course under the blankets sleeping away. Meanwhile I am happily tapping away on the computer doing my data-entry job when I hear a faint growling from the sofa direction. This grows until the dog is barking loudly and wagging her tail, and running around in circles in the living room. Next thing I know is that the dog jumps up on the recliner back and barks louder and starts to howl and then it runs to the door and yelps starting to scratch the door. I meantime in my ignorance am telling the dog to shut up and stop disturbing me, all to no avail.
After about 5 minutes of the dog going ballistic crazy and wearing a track into the living room rug, my wife drove into the driveway, and I knew the source of the dog’s agitation. At this point I opened the door and let her out so that she could run to my other half and be safe again! This set me thinking like this. The dog started barking a full 5 minutes ago and knowing my wife drives at 60 mph, would make her 5 miles away when the dog started acting crazy. Now, could it be that the dog’s acute sense of hearing picked out my wife’s car 5 miles away and she knew that she was coming home, or can it rather be than she has developed an empathy for her mistress and can sense her from that far away.
I have observed this behavior every time our dog’s owner, my wife, has gone out and then returned. The 5 minutes of agitation is roughly the same each time. Perhaps this is why dogs are called man’s best friend? Because they can develop a strong mental bond with their masters, and whenever this bond is severed the dog may be at a loss as to what to do. Conversely perhaps this is how a guard dog can sense mal-intent in people who are breaking into a property, or smuggling drugs through an airport. Drug sniffing dogs in airports, while they are trained to sniff out drugs, can also, I am sure, sense fear in smugglers as they wait in line, trying to look innocent.
Stories abound of faithful dogs who helped their masters, or even put themselves in peril to save a person. It seems that there is a psychic bond between a dog and master that perhaps grows stronger with the passing of time. Perhaps this bond is why a person with a dog can never be said to be alone. Interestingly, there is the story of the swagman in Australia who was accompanied by his faithful dog. When he met with hard times and died, the dog refused to leave his side or to take food, and subsequently he also died. The city of Gundagai in Western NSW, Australia, now has a statue of that dog sitting on a tucker box erected at the spot where the swagman and the dog died. This type of devotion clearly shows that between dogs and mankind there is a bond that once nurtured, can prove as undying as love itself.
