Earthquakes
Records as far back as ancient Greece tells of dogs fleeing the city of Helice before a tragic earthquake. China also has stories of dogs showing signs of distress before seismic activity. Although dogs are very much aware of their surroundings, some scientists argue that a dog’s hearing is so perceptive, they can hear rocks crumbling under the grounds surface. Some seismologists think that the dogs feel seismic activity through their paws. Either way, if a dog in an earthquake-prone area begins to act odd, the change in behavior shouldn’t be ignored.
Dogs Can Sense What Is Going To Happen To Their Owners
Dogs have a heightened sense of smell and energy, which enables them to get an entire story with just a scent and interpret human emotions before humans do. Aside from these, they can detect human illness and death as well.
Humans have been taking advantage of dogs’ sense of smell to detect drugs and explosives but did you know that due to their heightened sense of smell, they can detect human illness as well? They can sense the slight change in the chemicals in the sick person’s body. This means that dogs can sense when their owner is having a migraine, heart attack, cancer, seizure, narcolepsy, or low blood sugar. Here are some true stories to read if you’re still skeptical.
So why then do some dogs tuck their tales, look or even run away before the owner has even noticed the dirty deed? Since dogs are very smart animals learn to associate a particular event with a particular human response. So although your dog may hide before you noticed the urine on the floor, it is only because he remembers urine on the floor makes you angry. Animal behaviorist say dogs brains are not able to connect the two events to realize they should not urinate in the house because it is wrong.
So whats the solution? Practice positive reinforcement techniques with your dog. That guilty look is submission and fear, which isnt a good thing with dog training. It would be much healthier for you and your pup if you were to practice rewarding desirable behaviors, instead of punishing the bad behaviors.
Many people will swear their dogs know when they have done something wrong like chewing a shoe, using the bathroom in the house or stealing food from the counter top. So why do so many scientist and animal behaviorist say a dogs guilty looking behavior is no admission of guilt?
A 2009 study by Alexandra Horowitz, a canine expert and psychologist at Columbia Universities Dog Cognition Lab, concluded that a dogs behavior, in the presence of owners, following an undesirable act, is actually a learned behavior of submission in response to the owners angry emotions or expression. We humans have mistaken this behavior for guilt when according to this study, several dogs behaved this way when an owner expressed displeasure whether or not the dog had actually done anything wrong.