Understanding a Dog’s Sixth Sense

Halloween is a time to explore the strange, the spooky, and the supernatural. We wear creepy costumes and tell scary stories about ghosts, ghouls, and monsters. Goldendoodles are about as far removed from spooky or scary as you can get. They are cuddly, fluffy, and adorable. Some people do believe, however, that dogs have a somewhat mystical sixth sense.

What is a dog’s sixth sense?

You know the five senses: sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing. Do dogs have a an additional sense, though? What do people mean when they say that a dog has as a sixth sense?

Maybe you’ve heard people say that dogs can smell fear, detect sadness, or perceive things that may otherwise be imperceptible by our five senses. Another way of saying this is that dogs have an extra sense; they can pick up on subtleties or detect things that people can’t.

Do dogs have a sixth sense?

Some believe that dogs can sense births, illnesses, earthquakes, and storms. Some people take it to the extreme and say that dogs can read our minds.

A more rational explanation is that some dogs are incredibly smart and perceptive. They can learn to anticipate things before they happen. They can read our facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice. When we’re sad, they can tell. They know when we’re happy, too.

Dogs have a better sense of hearing and smell than people do. Dogs are more sensitive to changes in barometric pressure than people are, and these changes often herald stormy weather.  It’s not a psychic premonition that allows dogs to predict an earthquake, but instead they can detect ground tremors better than we can.

Your dog may run to the window before the mailman ever turns onto your street, but that doesn’t necessarily indicate a mystical sixth sense or psychic ability. He’s just learned that the mail is delivered around the same time each day, and maybe he can hear the mail truck before you can see it.

You can rationalize a dog’s sixth sense, but you don’t have to on Halloween! Happy Halloween from Platinum Goldies! Take a look at our current litter of Goldendoodle puppies, raring to go for Halloween!