A commentator on NPR’s Aug. 29 “All Things Considered” mentioned a study done by an English researcher that “proved” that dogs and their owners developed a psychic bond. I just googled looking for more information and found this page, which seems to be talking about the same study, as presented in Rupert Sheldrake’s book Dogs That Know When Their Owners are Coming Home.
A short excerpt from the page:
This is exactly the experiment that the NPR commentator discussed. I don’t buy the psychic explanation, but I’d love to get Dopers’ opinions on the validity of the study, or more info on Sheldrake’s studies and hypotheses.
Must be the smell, dude! I have read (somewhere) that dogs have a sense of smell that is a million time more powerful than humans.
A test that could be done would be to train the dog to answer the phone everytime it rang. And then one could check if it went and stood by the phone when the dogs’ owner (I hate the ‘owner’ term) was dialing the number!!
Smart huh?!
I believe that dogs have incredibly good hearing… how does the researcher know that the dog couldn’t hear the car even if it was a mile or two away?
A better experiment would be to have the owner come home in a different car and see if they dog knows about it in advance of him pulling into the driveway.
I remember hearing something like that on TV (Animal Planet, possibly?). A dog’s hearing is so strong that he can tell the difference between his owner’s car and a stranger’s car. Would the owner in the experiment leave/come back in a car, on foot, or with some other type of transportation? It seems to me that Dr. (Mr.?) Sheldrake didn’t research dogs too well if he had the owner use his (the owner’s) car.
Of course, I get stuck with the dud dog; I can make it halfway through the back gate before he either a) wakes up and looks blankly at me for about 10 seconds then realises it’s me, or b) realises I’m there while scampering about the backyard.
His kennel is right in front of the back door, and the backyard isn’t terribly big… plus he could hear me crunching down the gravel on the driveway; but he doesn’t.
No, they can be pretty psychic. I believe in it, I’ve seen it. We livbed in one of the huge tower apartment buildings in NYC once, high floor. There was no way in h*** up there to smell or hear someone coming into the lobby. Lobby-2-apartment was a 8 minute trip, involving long walks, elevator rides. Whenever my wife or I entered the lobby downstairs, our dog sat in front of the apartment door and wagged in expectatio. I believe they sense your vibes. Our dog, a Chow, usually was a sweet teddy. He didn’t attack anything or anybody, and my wife could stop on the street and talk to people, and he would just sit. Once a guy walked up to her, tried to sell some dope. It scared her. She didn’t say a word, just tensed. He picked up the scare and nearly killed the guy.
Ghandi: My dog is long dead (may he rest in peace), I don’t have the video to prove it, and I honestly don’t care whether you or for that matter anybody else believes it. When people love their animals (dogs, cats, lizards, goldfish), it can result in an extraordinary bond with amazing effects, some imagined, some real. It doesn’t matter. It’s you and your pet and it’s your perception that counts. (Unless you are bent on convincing other people to believe what they don’t. I rather work in a quarry.)
Also, you are dating yourself if you ask for a definition of the word “vibe.” Get some Beach Boys records. Or take “Late 60’s Jive for Beginners” at Berlitz.
I came home last week in my work car and my dog had no idea it was me until I walked into the house. She usually barks as soon as I park. So I’d say she knows who’s coming by the sound they make.
I’ve always heard that dogs are very good in picking up body language. That’s probably what happened here. I can’t say whether your dog was psychic or not but in this instance at least psychic ability was not necessarily a factor.
Dogs are very perceptive when it comes to picking up body language. When an owner has a certain prejuidice, the dog can pick up that fact and bark at whoever the owner doesn’t like/is scared of. For instance, if the owner disliked all Asian people, the dog would sense that the first time he sees an Asian persion, and subsequently bark at every Asian person he sees.
They are excellent at it. The trick of being able to get along with just about any dog ist to show confidence. They can read that. If you show fear, they read (and smell) that also and bite you for good measure. I get along with most dogs easily. I can also turn dobermans into whimpering cowards by slipping into my dog role, and by growling at them and by generally intimidating them. You need to leave them space to run away to though, because if they are cornered, they need to take a stand. And when they dom they find out that you are a fake dog.
Careful with dogs who have mental disorders. There are at least as many as there are among humans. Just like a paranoid person, they react totally different. Just like a person, a dfog that is abused, left alone most of the time or has genetical problems easily develops mental disorders.
Combine a big brained pattern making human and an animal with hyper acute sensitivity to cues and environnmental stimuli not perceived by humans and you have the “Clever Hans” effect/phenomenon.
"As for Clever Hans, his fame as an intelligent horse was short lived. A very astute young researcher simply made sure that the person asking Hans questions did not know the answers. Hans became an instant failure. You see, he really wasn’t clever at all. He simply had great senses. He watched closely and would stop pawing when he sensed any change in the audience. A lifted eyebrow, a sigh, a nodding head or the tensing of muscles would stop him from pawing the ground. Anyone who knew the answer was likely to give almost imperceptible clues to the horse. A person who did not know the answer could not inadvertently cue Hans to stop pawing.
The phenomenon of Clever Hans didn’t last very long but his legacy lives on. It is easy to assume that animals think as we do. The next time you are tempted to believe that Fido chewed your shoe out of spite, ask him if he thinks the Cardinals will make it to the playoffs next year - and put a bet on it."
