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If you think dogs can’t do much more than fetch and rollover, you’re sorely mistaken.  Dogs are amazing and capable of being a lot more than just man’s best friend.  Beyond normal “tricks”, dogs are most commonly known for assisting humans with sight, hearing, mobility and emotional support.  But did you know dogs have superior senses gifting them many skills and abilities that are more akin to magical powers than anything else. Here are 6 incredible things dogs can do:

Dogs Can Smell Cancer

That’s right: Dogs can be trained to detect certain cancer cells like lung, breast and colon cancers just by using their nose!  The most common methods of diagnosing cancer currently involve costly procedures like CT and PET scans, both of which can be unreliable.   But what if you only needed to spend a few minutes with a dog?!

Recent studies show that dogs can make a clear distinction between cancer and non-cancer blood samples with 96.7% accuracy.  And some dogs can even detect the biochemical differences in cancer and no-cancer patients just by smelling their breath.   

Dogs Can Sense Biochemical Changes

Not only can they detect certain cancers, but dogs can also be trained to keep tabs on the insulin levels of people with Type I Diabetes just by sniffing the person’s breath.  Dogs possess a practically supernatural ability to detect certain biochemical changes that occur related to the rapidly dropping or low levels of blood sugar. These dogs will alert the diabetic person suffering from low blood sugar by licking their face, pawing at them or nudging a hand in a particular way.   

Dogs Can Sense When A Woman Is Pregnant

When a woman becomes pregnant, all types of hormonal and physiological changes follow. In fact, hormones in the body can actually change the scent of the pregnant woman. 

According to scientists, it’s believed that dogs are aware of this change of scent by using their incredible sense of smell. And oftentimes, dogs can detect this even before the woman realizes she’s pregnant. 

We don’t know for sure the exact moment a dog senses a pregnancy though. And it’s likely that your dog doesn’t understand what is actually the cause for this change of scent in their pregnant human. But we do know that they understand something is changing – both on a behavioral and physical level. It’s why you’ll hear so many stories of a dog becoming more loving, more protective, or behaving differently, during a human’s pregnancy. 

Dogs Can Predict Earthquakes & Other Hazardous Weather

Dogs and other wild animals have been seeking shelter days before an earthquake hits the region since ancient times.  In fact, some first-world countries like China and Japan use dogs as an integral part of their earthquake detection systems.  It is not clear yet exactly how they know, but it may have something to do with their ultra-sensitive ears picking up the sound of the large rocks below moving or their ability to pick up on P-waves that form before a quake gets moving. 

As for predicting storms, your dog relies on both its sense of smell and hearing. Their sense of smell is capable of picking up the scent of rain several miles before they arrive. Plus, their hearing is likely to pick up the sound of thunder before we hear them ourselves.

Another amazing feat is their ability to sense a drop in atmospheric pressure, which is usually a tell-tale sign of a storm. If that wasn’t enough, dogs are sensitive to the static electricity that may be caused by a lightning storm. 

So be weary if your dog exhibits unnecessary hiding, barking, howling, neediness or anxiety – they could be warning you of an impending earthquake, tornado, lightning storm or other hazardous weather are about to come through the area.

Dogs Have Superior Vision

Although dogs can’t see the full spectrum of color that humans can, their vision is superior in a few ways. Dogs have the ability to see Ultraviolet light allowing them to see shades beyond what the naked human eye can see.  

They are also able to sense radiation coming from warm bodies or weak thermal radiation. In fact, brain scans showed a substantial increase in brain activity when dogs were shown physical objects that were warmer than their surroundings. It’s why dogs are excellent for search and rescue teams.

And if you weren’t already impressed, dogs can see in the dark too. Their retina contains light-sensitive cells, called rods, that help them see much better in low light or the dark. Plus, their tapetum lucidum acts as a mirror reflecting back the light that enters it, giving the retina another opportunity to register the light. That’s why dogs tend to have bright yellow eyes in pictures using flash.

Dogs Can Smell Feelings

Have you ever started crying and you look down to see your dog snuggled up to you in act of comfort?  That’s because your scent changes as you go from a feeling of happiness to a feeling of sadness and dogs are capable of picking up on these subtle changes which can help them figure out how you’re feeling. 

Not only can your dog sense human emotion, but they tend to also adopt the emotional state as their own. It’s why if you’re feeling sad, your dog may seem down too.

Dogs are truly the superheroes of our lives.  They are amazing, intelligent creatures that we simply don’t deserve! Tell us below what incredible things your dog can do. 

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