We already know that there is no friend as good as a dog; they are loyal, wise, love unconditionally, and are always happy to be with us. In addition to all these virtues, it turns out that your best friend also knows much more about you than you thought! They can tune into your feelings, understand your plans for the future and can even diagnose your health. Here are 12 things you may not have believed your dog knows better than anyone else, and maybe even better than you…
Have you ever noticed that your dog sometimes curls up in your bed or sleeps at your feet when you feel a bit depressed, or that it clings to you when walking in dark and scary places? The reason for this is not necessarily that they are afraid, but dogs can smell the remnants of adrenalin that is secreted from our bodies when faced with danger or crisis, and, therefore, feel the need to protect and encourage us. Their senses become even more acute when one of our family members is gone, and they know that this weakens and hurts us.
The famous puppy eyes have been proven to be a very effective way to melt our hearts - it causes the secretion of oxytocin, the "love hormone" that is secreted even when you hold your children. Your dog knows more than anyone else how to move you to tears, and it knows the perfect way to get the treat, the trip or the pat it’s waiting for.
The dogs' developed sense of smell allows them to identify a variety of medical problems, from a drop in blood sugar to migraines and other various pains. Trained dogs can alert epilepsy patients to a coming attack, and even detect infections in the bodies of paralyzed patients who can’t feel their own pain.
A dog is an animal whose whole essence is life in a pack, and your family is the most important thing to it. Dogs will protect babies, which they perceives as the newest and most fragile member of the pack, with their lives. They will growl at any stranger who tries to approach the baby and be alert to any unusual activity that occurs when a person outside the family plays with the child. If they think the baby has been hurt they may attack the offender out of love and concern for your children. It is indeed cute and exciting, but it also means that you should be wary and think carefully about who is allowed to approach the baby when your dog is around.
An amazing discovery from recent years has revealed that dogs know how to detect the development of cancer cells in the body using their sense of smell. Because of their developed nose, dogs can sense certain chemicals emitted from the body as a result of malignant tumors, and after appropriate training, they can even warn about it in an amazingly precise way. The study found that they know how to identify the presence of breast cancer in the body at an accuracy of 88 percent and lung cancer with an astonishing 99 percent accuracy.
Dogs hate when you leave the house, and that's precisely why they’ve learned to recognize the actions and behavior patterns that occur before you leave them for a long time. They know that packing a suitcase symbolizes a vacation and some of them even begin to shake and cry when they notice that you are getting ready to leave. To help your dog cope with the trauma of you leaving the house, you can let him or her play with a new toy or play classical music, which has been proven to help calm them.
Dogs are driven by warmth and love, and that is precisely why they watch us sharing food with people who need it and ignoring others who need our help. Dogs form an opinion about the level of generosity of different people and even prefer the company of generous people (not necessarily only to them) while choosing to ignore people who are indifferent to those around them.
When you aren’t home, your dogs probably don’t do much besides for sit around and wait for you to come back. They get to know and remember your schedule, listen carefully to the sounds of the cars passing by the house and get excited by any sign of your arrival home. If possible, your dog will wait for you by the window and look out in endless anticipation, with an excited look and a wagging tail.
For dogs, humans are like a sponge - they absorb the smells of wherever they were. Because of the many smell receptors in their nose - 60 times more than in the human nose - dogs can know exactly where you've been, what you've done and what you've touched. Jealous dogs can also sense when you’ve played with other dogs, and unlike humans - you can never lie to them.
Even if you don’t yell or express frustration, your dog will always recognize that you’ve had a difficult fight according to the slight change in your tone of voice, the specific rigidity of your body muscles, and even the way you walk and the way you open doors. Family arguments also affect the mental state of the dog, to whom your happiness is of the utmost importance.
When you have negative feelings towards a particular person, your dog knows how to recognize your distaste for them through your breathing patterns. Dogs also notice when your muscles become stiff and can even smell hatred radiating from your body. Faithful dogs will also adopt your sense of hatred and show hostility toward the person.
We already know that dogs know how to analyze body language and facial expressions in an amazing way, and now researchers have discovered that they can recognize sadness even from a brief look at a picture showing a split face. Dogs will prefer to go first to a person who is crying and expressing frustration and will do everything in their power to cheer you up when you are depressed - even if it means just sitting next to you, laying their head on you and wagging their tail.
