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Dogs have an amazing awareness of their environment and the people in it. They have an uncanny understanding of their surroundings and intuitive relationships with us because of their extra-sensitive abilities to smell, see, hear, and feel.
Extra-sensitivity perception
Perhaps most impressive is their sense of smell. With over 300 million scent receptors, compared to our 6 million, they can literally smell anything before we see it coming. They can even detect the smell of hormones and pheromones—chemical scents—giving them the power to sense human illness and even pregnancy.
Because of their color-blindness, a dog’s world is black and white and high in contrast for excellent night vision. Their ears are also designed for higher frequency. People, in general, can hear sounds up to 20,000 Hertz, whereas dogs can hear sounds as high as 64,000 Hertz.
Our canine companions can also hear softer sounds between -5 and -15 decibels. While we have ears that are fine-tuned to the human voice, dogs have ears that are fine-tuned to prey for survival. Dogs can predict a visitor before we hear them, and even more impressive, natural events like oncoming earthquakes.
Dogs sense fear and illness
We show fear by projecting tension or anxiousness in our body position, movements, and the way we speak. Humans even emit an odor that dogs can sense as fear. If a dog picks up anxiousness or fear, they may reflect that behavior by fighting (biting or barking) or fleeing (running away).
Surprisingly, we emit different odors if we’re happy versus fearful. Dogs can pick up these chemical signals, sensing not only our emotional state, but also illnesses. When our metabolic chemistry changes, dogs can smell this through our breath and our skin.
A recent study proved that dogs can detect COVID-19 with as high as 94% accuracy! Dogs can also sense oncoming seizures, and conditions like diabetes and cancers like Melanoma.
Dogs detect stress
Most of us know the compassion that comes from our furry friends. Whether we’ve had a bad day, heard some upsetting news, or experienced an accident, dogs can sense our stress. Since their senses are so keen, they can detect even the slightest changes in our body posture and speech patterns or pitch.
Our canine companions can surprise us with extra attention if they sense a bad or sad mood because they can easily pick up on our vibes. If we are upset, depressed, or anxious for long periods of time, our pup can mirror the same emotion, and sadly, suffer along with us.
Dogs are weather people, too!
As far as a change in weather, dogs can sense a variation in barometric pressure—air pressure in the atmosphere—because the scents in the air move downward. They are also keen to static electricity or charged particles sensed through their fur.
Sensitive souls
Studies have shown that humans and dogs process information in similar highly sensitive ways that impact psychological well-being. This personality trait known as “sensory processing sensitivity or SPS” is linked to overarousal in humans and in animals like dogs. It’s all about how we perceive our environment.
The way we respond to our surroundings is commonly known as our personality, temperament, or behavior. Dogs, and companion animals in general, even share some of these personality traits with humans—mainly extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, and openness.
Dogs and intensity
There is growing research about how the sensitivity of dogs, brought on by their genetics and their environment, can affect their emotional intensity. This is helpful to understand when selecting the right dog for the job, such as blind companions, search dogs and police dogs.
Our canine companions have shown behaviors like attention to detail, attentiveness, and “stopping and watching” when presented with a new situation—much like the ways people react to their surroundings. This explains why some dogs have a heightened sensitivity to their environment, much like people do.
Highly sensitive breeds
Rescue dogs generally have more sensitive souls because of past maltreatment, abandonment, or neglect. But dogs are sensitive for different reasons, and it doesn’t necessarily come from past trauma. Extra sensitive dogs are more in-tune to their owner’s emotions, for sure.
The most highly sensitive breeds include the American Pit Bull Terrier, Border Collies, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Australian Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Rottweiler, Labrador Retriever, Doberman Pinscher, Dogue de Bordeaux or French Mastiff, and Staffordshire Bull Terrier (another one under the Pit Bull category).
Whether you have a canine companion or are looking for one to welcome into your home, keep in mind that all have extra-perceptive senses, and their keen sensitivities can make them challenging at times, but most all, a soul mate on life’s journey.
https://www.petmd.com/dog/behavior/surprising-things-your-dog-can-sense
Sounds Only Dogs Can Hear: Higher Pitches Is Where They Shine (akc.org)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6912305
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7728218/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5433715/
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