by G.D. Russell

Created on: September 11, 2008

With the variety of opinions and examples expressed on this topic, it seems we might benefit if we could agree upon the definition of the word "telepathic". But for the serious doubters among you, I would like to describe one study that was done. Then I would like to know what it is, if not telepathic.

We all know that a dog's normal senses are far more sensitive than ours, so it's easy to understand when things happen such as recognizing the sound of a car they know, and getting excited about the arrival before we even know anything is going on. This is the same for many things, such as footsteps, voices, scents, etc. But a study was done that eliminated these obvious physical hints that clue a dog in to what is going on. Here's how it was set up.

Cameras were set to record the dogs when their masters left, and continue recording while they were gone. And of course cameras or communication by cell phone was set up for the people who were out and about. Many different scenarios were tried, such as different lengths of absences, different numbers of stops or errands, different distances from home, etc. Most dogs have something they do when their master is away, they have a favorite chair or place to go lie and wait for master's return, and this is what the dogs did once their person left. As I mentioned, the trips made by the people involved were varied. Sometimes the people did not even know ahead of time exactly what they would be doing, how many stops they would make, and so on. And here's what was discovered. The dogs would lie in their waiting place, doing what they always do while master's away. But they would stir and begin to become expectant of their master's arrival LONG before it actually happened, often when they were nowhere near home. It turned out that in almost every case, the dogs began stirring and becoming expectant of arrival at the exact moment that their masters had finished their final stop or errand, and began to head for home. This occurred no matter how far away they were at the time, no matter how long they'd been gone, no matter how many stops they'd made. The dogs knew when master's mind turned toward home.

After I saw this study, I confirmed it many times on my own, with housemates as collaborators. It happens.

I have never doubted these abilities in my dogs, call it psychic, telepathic, intuitive, whatever. I don't see how any experienced dog person can doubt it. We all have our things we notice that seem unexplainable, there are many examples that happen all the time. But my favorite has always been this one: I'll be planning a trip, it could be two or three weeks away, I've just begun thinking about it. Haven't touched a suitcase or any other obvious giveaway like that, haven't bought anything or done ANYTHING that could clue my dogs in to the fact that a trip or some change is coming. But they always know. Always.

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