Can dogs tell when human beings are sick? | Research finds the answer

Dogs are animals with great sensing ability and depth. They have been by our side for years, and have been a loyal companion since pretty much the start, hence, it’s safe to say that in this long history that they share with humans, they may have learned a thing or two about them.

Countless research has been done into whether or not dogs can tell how we feel, and it turns out that over the years, pets have developed a kind of intuition. It appears that dogs can sense everything, from potential danger that may be around to the way that their owner’s mood changes.

Research

However, can they tell if a human is sick or injured? That’s the question whose answer is yet to be found.

Researchers have learned that dogs can tell if you are sick, in some cases. The way they do this is because of their sense of smell. Based on their physical well-being, human beings give off a different scent. This means that the way we smell to dogs is different when we are sick, and different when we are healthy.

Dogs have an advantage because of their sense of smell, which is extremely efficient and is 10,000 times more acute than humans. They also have developed the ability to be able to read the facial expressions of humans and tell how we feel. In 2016, a study showed that dogs can recognize the emotions of humans.

In 2014, research showed that dogs can even tell the difference in the way that their owners sound when they are sick. Through vocal stimuli and scanning the brain function of canines, scientists came to know that dogs can hear the difference in voice between a sad and happy owner.

However, it is still not clear whether dogs actually know you’re hurt or not. But, they will notice a change in behavior and react. They can also observe changes in our physiology, and this is exactly how dogs are trained to detect and respond to changes in glucose levels in the blood. Then, dogs alert owners that are diabetic, and those who have seizures, so they do not injure themselves.

It is still not fully clear the way dogs respond when a person is injured or sick. It could be that they pick up distress, anxiety, or worry in the atmosphere, but do not fully know what is going on with their human buddies. Hence, while dogs can sense that something is ‘off’, they can’t really tell if it’s sickness.

As opposed to popular belief, dogs can’t sense danger. They have senses that pick up changes that humans aren’t able to do, and dogs are literally professionals at reading behavior, body language, and facial expressions.

Hence, your dog may be able to sense a dangerous situation before you can. They can even detect changes in gases and atmospheric pressure, so, dogs can tell when a natural disaster is bound to happen, like an earthquake.

The key to if dogs can tell you are sick or not is in their sense of smell obviously. They are extremely observant creatures, and their heightened senses allow them to pick on everything that is happening around them. It is estimated that a dog’s smell is around 100,000 times stronger than that of humans.

Dogs have around 2 billion olfactory receptors, which allow them to pretty much pick up even the faintest of smells. Aside from that, they also have a good sense of hearing. They have 15 muscles that allow them to move their ears in all directions.

They also have a wider angle than us, when we do. They can see further around them but can’t tell what it is that they’re seeing.

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