Do dogs predict death? This question has been asked by many people who are experts in dog behavior. It is scientifically recognized that dogs are capable of discovering the existence of various types of cancer that people suffer from.
It is also known that dogs can detect the presence of positive and negative forces or energies in the environment, which humans do not perceive. They are even said to be able to see spirits. Therefore, if we go a little further, we could speculate that thanks to their sensitive senses, dogs could sometimes predict the deaths of human beings.
In this article on our site we will try to find out if dogs predict death.
The sense of smell
Dogs' sense of smell is superlative. Thanks to him, dogs are capable of achieving great feats that human technology has not yet been able to emulate.
They are capable of detecting, thanks to their prodigious sense of smell, changes in the composition of the atmospheric air in the areas that will be affected, and that happen beforehand, as in earthquakes.
Canine smell and life
It is recognised, through countless cases, that the dogs that accompany the rescue forces when they come to help the victims of major catastrophes, react differently upon detection of surviving victims or dead bodies.
When they detect a living person buried in the rubble, the dogs insistently and happily point out the "hot" spots, after which firefighters and rescue teams can begin the rescue immediately.
Canine smell and death
Dogs trained to detect survivors among the ruins produced by avalanches, earthquakes, floods and other catastrophes, point out the points where there are still people buried by the ruins, as explained above.
However, when they find corpses their behavior offers a radical change The joy they show when finding a survivor disappears and they show symptoms of discomfort and even fear. The hair on their backs stands on end, they moan, they turn around, and sometimes they even howl or defecate in fear.
Why do these different canine behaviors happen?
Imagine a disaster scenario: the ruins of an earthquake, with living and dead victims buried under huge amounts of rubble, dust, wood, rebar, belongings and furniture from the collapsed buildings.
Buried persons, whether alive or dead, are not in sight. Therefore, it is most plausible that the dog detects victims by their scent, and even by hearing if the buried person screams.
Following the above reasoning…, how is it possible for the dog to distinguish whether the person is alive or already dead? The most plausible conclusion is that there is a distinctly different smell between life and death in a human body, even if the death is very recent. Smells that the trained dog is able to differentiate.
The intermediate state
An intermediate stage between life and death has a specific name: agony.
There are many kinds of agonies; the atrocious ones in which the suffering of the sick or wounded is so evident that any person intuits a certain death in more or less time because the signs are evident. But there are also sweet, serene agonies, in which imminent signs of death are not appreciated, and in which technology has not yet reached the precision of canine smell.
If the living body has one smell, and when it dies it has a different one…, it is not unreasonable to think that there is a third intermediate smell for the dying state of the human being. I believe that this assumption correctly and affirmatively answers the question that gives title to this article: Do dogs predict death?
However, to be more precise I would say that sometimes some dogs can predict death I don't think all dogs can predict all the deaths. If so, this canine faculty would already be recognized since man and dog have lived together.
Related Events
It is conclusively known that some animals (wolves, for example) somehow announce their impending doom to members of his pack. Ethologists (specialists in animal behavior) maintain that it is a way to prevent other individuals in the herd from becoming infected and that it is better for them to stay away from it. This behavior has also been observed among cockroaches.
This similarity in behavior between species as disparate as a wolf and a cockroach… why does it happen? Science gives the motif a name: Necromonas.
In the same way that we know the meaning of pheromones (imperceptible organic compounds secreted by animals in heat, or people in sexual urgency), necromones are another type of organic compound than dying bodies they exude, and that very likely is what dogs sometimes pick up on sick people, whose end is near.
Necromonas and feelings
Necromonas have been studied scientifically, basically among insects. Cockroaches, ants, mealybugs, etc. In these insects it has been observed that the chemical composition of their necromonas comes from their fatty acids Especially the oleic acidand the linoleic acid , which are the first to degrade in the dying state.
During the experiment areas were sprayed with these substances, observing that the cockroaches avoided passing over it, as if it were a contaminated area.
Dogs and other animals have feelings. Different from humans, true, but equivalent. For this reason, it should not surprise us that dogs or cats "watch over" the last hours of some people. And there is no doubt that no one has told them about the fatal outcome that will happen shortly, but it is clear that in one way or another they sense it
It would be very interesting to know experiences on this subject that our readers have experienced.
