Six Things That Dogs Can Easily Sense in a Human
Cognition in dogs is a vast subject when it comes to understanding a human. They were born with an ancestral trait of hunting and with that a mindset that is sharp enough to understand the change. It gave rise to an expanded and more popular term, sixth Sense. There’s a lot more than they can do, if you are looking for a solution to the questions like can a dog sense depression, anxiety etc., then this is your queue. Let’s study them a little deeper to enhance your fascination with a dog’s brain.
Dogs have been the human’s best companion for generations. They add a relieving factor when we are hustling with an imbalance be it emotionally, physically or both. But have you ever considered why or even how do dogs do that? The straightforward answer for this can be the dog’s intelligent head.
It’s been proven that dogs can understand what humans say, not in terms of how a human understands, but in their way. This can be easily seen or identified when a pet parent expresses their emotion, and they transition their behaviour pattern and make a response desired as per the situation.
Cognition in dogs helps them to perceive their daily experiences in different situations. There’s another most fascinating discovery that takes cognition to another level, the sixth sense. Like humans, dogs also have five basic senses, smell, hear, eyesight, taste and touch.
Sense of Smell
Some of us still remember the treasure hunting game which we use to play in our childhood. Well, we have failed on so many levels, but what if we had a company of a dog back then? Wouldn’t it be a game-changer?
Dogs perceive the world through their nose. Their sensors are extraordinarily strong than that of a human’s sense of smell. Studies claim that dogs have 100 million receptors in their nose, whereas humans have just 6 million. And this is why they have always considered sniffing as their first approach whenever they are curious about anything, be it a human or another animal.
They have a unique organ inside their nose called Jacobson that helps identify the second person more accurately. It often comes into use when a dog is searching for a partner to mate, and this organ gives a clear indication of whether the female is ready to mate or not. And apart from that, this sensory organ helps puppies to identify their mother.
Sense of Taste
A dog’s sense of taste is one of the week points in them. They have about the one-sixth percentage of the taste buds as compared to the humans which come out to be 1700 taste buds. And for the reference of comparison, humans have around 9000.
Dogs feel the same taste as humans do, such as sweetness, bitterness, saltiness, and sourness. But they do have a separate taste bud when it comes to water which lacks in humans.
Sense of Vision
A dog’s sense of vision is again not as strong as humans, and because of this fact, they focus on sniffing before even visualising even when they are curious. However, their vision helps them to see better at night that is not as strong in humans. In simple words, they are opposed to human’s response in light.
They have a wider vision which allows them to take in lighter which helps in making their way at night. The next fascinating part of their sense of vision is about their third eyelid. Yes, that's right, they have a third eyelid which helps to keep the irritants at bay and it is even visible during the bright sunlight. They can see wider but are unable to focus on the objects lying close by.
Sense of Hearing
A dog has a sense of hearing, and honestly, this is a game-changer. Dogs can hear from 20-80 miles and not just hear but understand their pet parent more accurately. A human can hear up to 20,000Hz, and dogs can listen to up to 45000 Hz.
Be it a low frequency or not, a long stroll in a park or not, they will come running to you once they hear your call. It’s just that they can hear in a lower volume than humans can.
Sense of Touch
It is one of the most important parts of the sensory family. A sense of touch helps perceive action and gives them a clear head in categorising whether the certain type of feeling is negative or positive. Belly rub is one of the most striking examples, you may notice that some animals like being petted and some do not.
These are the five senses identified in dogs that help them perceive the environment better. Their cognition helps them use some of these senses in a much wider aspect as compared to humans. They can be trained well to hero their senses in various interventions, some of which are mentioned below:
Can dogs sense whether a human is good or bad?
Let’s cut to the chase and understand how that happens. How do you assess whether a person is good or bad? We identify their behaviour and then judge their morals.
When it comes to dogs, they judge a human’s behaviour in terms of their response, activities, emotions, reactions, signs of anger and nervousness. This way dogs can identify the body language of a human and then base their segregation of good and bid accordingly.
Dogs follow a certain screening process and conclude based on facts. Most of the times even humans fail to understand another human as compared to dogs.
Can dogs sense anxiety in a human?
Whenever a human’s sad or anxiety stricken, there’s a stress hormone that is released called cortisol. According to a study, researchers have found the same hormone released in dogs whenever they are around a stressed human.
It is said that whenever a human is under a bad vibe or isn’t feeling happy, he/she feels negativity around the physical space. Whenever such experiences happen around the dog, it increases their cortisol level too, making them a fair share of such a pool of emotions.
Dogs often found comforting a human who is going through emotional or even physical pain. When any human is going through some emotional pain, the rush of adrenaline, sweat and other factors secrete different chemicals from the body and as a dog’s sense of smell is a striking one, they can identify the changing behaviour in their human.
Can dogs share your daily routine?
Dogs become fond of their humans with time. They often settle their routine parallel to their human parents. They become used to their human’s wake-up time, and it seems that they have an inbuilt alarm clock inside them. They know about your work schedule, and that is why they are seen waiting for you at the door.
Can dogs sniff your pregnancy?
There’s a solid straight answer to this question, YES, they can sniff whether a human is pregnant or not even before the human realises this by herself. As we have already discussed their hi spirited sense of smell, they can smell a human’s scent concerning what they have been feeling. Whether they are excited about anything or sad about a situation.
Jacobean’s Organ in their nose is at the play here. It helps in judging a female’s change in the reproductive cycle with just a sense of smell. If we take other considerations, a dog is a lap dog when their parent allows. Suddenly there’s a change in their human’s behaviour which verifies this idea.
Dogs are sensitive to their human’s routine as we already know, they notice even the slightest of change. This helps them make a fair judgement, and then they realise, ‘Something’s up!’
Can dogs understand when you are happy?
Whenever a human’s happy their body releases a hormone named Oxytocin. This hormone stands alone to guarantee that there’s something positive in the air. And as a dog walks in, they feel overwhelmed by their human’s emotional wellbeing and turns out happy too.
They are an easy judge of a person’s behaviour and expression that is why they can tell whether you are happy or angry. They can do this by just looking at their face.
Check the expressions of the dog, whenever you are happy, they will come running, wagging their tail like a tick-tock pendulum. Their tongue out and mouth wide open, it will appear as if they are celebrating our happiness.
Can dogs sense Medical Emergencies in humans?
Dogs have already been all-rounder when it comes to taking care of a human. Their sense of smell gives them a lot of room to understand human property. Their gift of smell can help in detecting a disease in a human even when no one’s aware of the prevailing condition.
A recent study published in July 2020 reveals that a dog was 82.63% sure whether a human is COVID positive or negative. Another study published in 2006 reveals that dogs were able to identify cancer patients because of their change in scent. They can easily detect warning signs when it comes to panic attacks, seizures, or even when a person is going through low blood sugar levels. They can identify the scent of serotonin, a chemical that increases in the body when the migraine is about to hit someone. They have been working their ways as an alarm and have saved many lives.
Dogs have always been a hero when it comes to saving a life of humans. They have been making life a little easier and better. Because of their unique receptors, they have been saving many lives; there are a million stories to tell. They have been a righthand to the doctors and therapists all the time, supporting them in ways only they could do.
They have been doing everything in their power to help humans all over the world, it’s important to be there for their every need as well. Find the delicious, healthy and best dog food online; it will keep them happy and strong, motivated and hungry for more. They have been playing their part, it’s time to do ours.
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