Do Dogs have a premonition for an impending death?

Question

My elders used to tell me that the howling of a Dog signals an impending death in the surroundings.. How do they know?

Answer 1

I grew up hearing that from my elders too!

I'm not sure if it's accurate or not that they howl, but I think that dogs can sense impending death with their incredibly acute sense of smell. Their sense of smell is many, many times more acute than the sense of smell that humans have, so that they can detect the changes in body metabolism that occur with death.

Answer 2

A dog howling usually just means a dog is in heat some where. (ha ha)

Seriously, there are different scents humans give off that dogs can detect. They know the scent is not normal so they let you know about it. They can smell fire long before we would or the smoke detector would. We let off odors that go along with certain illnesses.

Someone mentioned seizures. There is a hormone that goes off before the seizure hits and the dog will warn the person they are going to experience the seizure.

That is why they are used for cadaver dogs. They can smell death before it is strong enough for a human to smell. They are so wonderful at their job of being a care giver. They can make life good for a blind or deaf person. They can give disabled people a new lease on life. That is one of many reasons I get so UPSET when people say dogs are dumb. Keep them in a cage or tie them up outside. There are many people that should be tied up outside. The dogs have more important jobs and careers than most people.

So, it is not a premonition with a dog, they know before we do. That is why they should be treated with a lot more respect than most humans give them...............

Answer 3

Yes, I think they do. My neighbours dog howled like a wolf the day my father died. The same thing happened 4 months later when my mother died. My parents lived nearly 40 miles from my house. It was very strange.
I have a little Cairn Terrier who also howled like a wolf when I had my gall bladder removed. My son could`nt believe it, he sat in the garden howling !!. I felt so ill after the sugery, the nurses were checking on me constantly. Obviously they did`nt tell me anything was wrong but I suspect something had happened to me.

Answer 4

Well if you cross his palms (paws) with gold he may tell you.
No joking now, they say that a dog in close proximity to his master or member in the household, he begins to act nervously if you are about to have a heart attack, or a stroke, or migraine...it is something to do with the dogs ability to see or sense an aura......but death, I've not heard of.

Answer 5

I believe they do, including their own. We had our Bible study at some friends
house and their dog and I had this special relationship. If I wasn't there, he would pace and cry. One day I went over and he flew at me and I sat on the floor
with him. He couldn't get close enough to me. He looked up at me and cried.
The next day my friend's husband had my little friend put down. I think he must
have known he would never see me again. I still have the picture that someone
took of the 2 of us. I was holding him in my arms and he was looking up at me
with the most incredible doggy love eyes. I still miss him. He was my buddy.

Answer 6

ive wondered the same when I hear them howling, but your elders and mine as well know that a dog has a sixth sense so it very well could be true..........bettyk

Answer 7

I think if people are acting sad around them, they can tell something is wrong. As for howling, they could just hear another dog or be lonely or hungry.

Answer 8

Your body gives off different scents when you are ill (liver, heart, kidneys, etc.) and you project different levels of hormones through your pores. Animals can smell the changes and therefor detect when something is going to happen. They may act nervous or overly nurturing.

Answer 9

i dont know how they know, maybe it is a 6th sense or something. its like them dogs that can detect some one is about to have a seizure and lets the person know berfore the seizure, and sorta like how they can detect earthquakes and tornados before they happen. It show that animals really are complex in nature like us. but in such a diffrent level its facinating really. I think it is like their 6th sense,

Answer 10

I never heard that about dogs, but it's true about dolphins.