Some of you know I have had 2 back surgeries in my life. I have a bum leg, it functions ok, but it gets numb from time-to-time when I over do it both from gaining weight ;o) and from extended exercise.

My phenomenon and question to you. I have observed over the past 2 years that all of our dogs from 8 weeks to 12 years sniff my right leg when it gets numb. Do dogs have a keen sense that tells them something is wrong? Have any of you ever experienced this? I find it bizarre that they only gravitate to my bad leg. I would expect it with another animal, but with a human?

Are there any thoughts from those who have animal behavior knowledge?

Michael

It makes sense that they might be able to sense something different about your leg. There are some dogs who able to detect cancer cells, and other who can read the signs for impending seizures.

Cheers, K

Also possible that they perceive a difference in
how you walk when the leg is numb

or that you notice their leg sniffing more when it is numb

I don't walk differently (well I don't think so) and their sniffing is very apparent. Focused. And it is always the same leg. Never my other leg. How about medical doctors… Is there an energy field around my leg that they pick up on?

Can you tell I am not a scientist!

I'm not a scientist either but have heard/seen enough "weird/unexplainable" things with dogs to know better than to doubt them! JMO

I am not doubting the dogs at all. I am curious and want to gain knowledge as to why it is occurring. I find it fascinating.

I wonder just how much info/research has/is being done on this??? It is very intriguing!

About 4 years ago my husband had by-pass surgery.
Before he had the surgery he wasn't feeling very good and he was laying on the couch. One of my boys put his feet on the couch (they're not allowed on the furniture) and layed his head on his chest for the longest time. So, he knew there was something wrong.
He hasn't done it since. I figure it's probably because he has felt better since.

I'm not a scientist either, but our dogs, they know.

Have a great day.
Donna

Interesting you should mention an energy field disruption. I teach several energy therapy techniques to health care professionals and there IS a big difference in the energy field when some part of the body is not functioning normally. Most humans have to "learn" to be sensitive and perceive it. Most animals just take in the information routinely and act on it.

I also wonder if they notice a change in smell???

Here's some links to check out on this:

http://www.swedish.org/16430.cfm

http://www.trinitynorfolkterriers.com/dogs___health.html

Very interesting.

I will say that when I had my total knee replacement, that my dogs were absolute angels, when I got home and during my recuperation. This is NOT their normal behavior, after being gone for a while, trust me. They were good enough that I was able to carry on my duties without help, after the first day.

I sometimes think dogs are smarter than we give them credit for.

A couple of years ago, all my dogs will be very interested in sniffing my crotch, it was crazy, all of them had to smell me, after a month I realized why, I was pregnant!

That's what I think might be going on too.

The same thing happens to my mother when she comes to my house. She has one bad knee and the dogs are constantly smelling it.

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Replying to:

I also wonder if they notice a change in smell???

So instead of the "rabbit" dying, the dogs were sniffing! I bet your Dr. got a good chuckle about that if you shared the story!

I would think something in your body chemestry changes, or there's reduced or increased smell in that leg when it goes numb. It simply smells different then usual.

Hi Michael,

I am convinced that animals can sense illnesses in their people just like trained bomb sniffing dogs or arson etc.

A few years ago my mother had lung cancer and surgery. Before she knew she had cancer, my mom's 5 yr old poodle Topper started this odd behavior insisting on curling up in a ball over my mom's chest area while she was watching tv or laying down. He never did this prior. This behavior continued on after Mom had surgery to remove part of her lung. So she comes home from the hospital to recuperate and Topper continues laying over mom's chest area. Mom's dr wanted her to do chemo and radiation but mom refused. About one month after Mom comes home from the hospital, Topper comes down with stomach cancer and they had to put him to sleep very quickly.

Fast forward 3 years out and now my step dad finds out he has Lymphatic cancer this fall. They had since adopted a new poodle puppy who turned 1 yrs old when Paul found out he has cancer this fall. They also adopted a mini Dachshund puppy last summer. These 2 young dogs started to insist on sleeping right next to Paul and everywhere he sat down, they wanted to be as close as possible. Keep in mind, this wasn't the habit of their 2 dogs all along so for this need for this much closeness seemed odd at the time, before they found out about the cancer. Paul passed on a couple weeks ago from cancer but what is interesting about this is that both Bear and Jamima started retreating from their "Daddy" after he started his chemo treatments. My mom woud bring the 2 dogs to the hospital where Paul was staying in comfort care. Those dogs knew that Paul was dying so they started breaking the bond with him from that point on. In other words, their dogs knew that it was too late for the Chemo to do any good before the humans and drs knew.
Animals are truely amazing with their senses.

My one Lab was constatnly sniffing the body of her mother to the point I would say to her-what smells so good to you-little did I know a month later the mom was diagnosed with liver disease.
Worse than that my new pup would do the same to my sister, one area of her body-my sister develpoed cancer in that area that month and died within 6 mos.
Makes me sick to my stomach...Michael, they absolutely "know" something is wrong.
Beware if your dog finds one area of your body of special interest......

I meant to mention that when my mom's poodle Topper came down with stomach cancer shortly after she came home from the hospital, my parents were convinced that Topper took in mom's cancer all the time he layed over my mom's chest those months. At first I thought they were a bit silly for thinking such a thing but now I have to admit that there might be something to their theory as to why Topper suddenly got his stomach cancer out of the blue.

Joy ~ First, I am sorry for your loss. You have to be pretty strong to go through what you have been through recently. I understand the stress having cared for both of my parents before their deaths.

Thank you for your response and thank you to all of you who have responded thus far. I really would like to find research on this and if there isn't any I would love for some brilliant individual to take this on!

It's similar to the fact that the dam licks and licks the puppy who for some reason, likely doesn't have the same circulation and the puppy who is always wet often has some kind of problem. The mother senses it. I think they sense it with you too, Michael.

I retired a bitch who went on to become a self made "low blood sugar detector dog" for her diabetic owner, and would wake her from a deep sleep before the woman went into a coma.

I just got an email from a recent puppy buyer. They had to go south because the mother in law had cancer and was not doing well, She was in hospice already.

They allowed them to bring the now 12 week old puppy in so she could pet her. This bundle of non stop energy.. became placid, when they put her on the bed the pup bellied over to the mother in law and put her head on her chest. Buyer said she stayed like that for over an hour while the mom petted her and fell asleep. She said the entire staff was in tears and awe.
Puts me in awe that such intelligence and understanding is capable by a 12 week old puppy.

....I underwent extensive infertility treatment to have my first child. After several unsuccessful cycles the dog kept snffing constantly at my belly; sure enough, the blood test the next day confirmed it! The dog knew I was pregnant before I did.

They are planning their next course of action regarding overwhelming you and taking all the food!

I had a bad accident a few years ago and have plates and pins in my leg.
Dogs always pick up on it and smell exactly that spot on my leg.
They know.

I had a heart attack in '98, from which I recovered - fully, I thought. In 2006, I started having problems again and was in/out of the ER and the hospital 4-5 times. I was experiencing frequent bouts of chest pain (angina) and some other symptoms.
A subsequent angiogram showed that the small blood vessels around my heart are partially blocked and there's nothing that can be done. So, I carry nitro-stat with me wherever I go - even just out to the barn to feed the horses.
Anyway, the point of all this is - my now 6 y/o Lab, Eli, has always been able to detect the onset of angina, even before I feel the first pang. He will get as close to me as he can...lay his head on my lap if I'm sitting, if I'm standing - he will lean into me and gently push me to a chair, and won't let me up til it's over. He gets this "worried" look on his face and when it's over, he'll go back and lay down like nothing has happened.

I've had many, many dogs, horses, and cats over the years, but I've never had one that could sense something like this - of course, I've never had this serious of a problem before, either.

I firmly believe that Eli knows something is wrong and that he needs to "babysit" me until it's over.

Michael - when your leg goes numb (and I bet even before you realize your leg is numb) the electrical field around your leg will change - the nerves fire differently (actually they fire less) Dogs can sense changes in electrical fields (as well as changes in smell) and your dog has learned to associate that change with something that changes with you and he shows you his response by sniffing your leg. Actually he isn't smelling as much as investigating the change in your "atmosphere" and showing you that it is altered.

If there is something you can do to help with the numbness (probably not much) you can use your dog's early response (sniffing your leg) as an indicator to go do it, if you train yourself to notice that response of his!

Bonnie

Dogs are also able to find termites in walls and around houses and other pests too! You don't have termites burrowing in your leg, do you? My hubby has recently had a back surgery and has numbness in his lower leg and foot interspersed with nerve pain. I will have to ask him if he has noticed the dogs sniffing it. Another question...does it get better? He's pretty bummed because he likes to run and do an ocassional marathon and LOVES his golfing.

Hi Bonnie ...

Thank you for the insight as well. Just for clarification purposes it is most of the kennel that notices the change from 8-week old puppies to my geriatrics. I find it very fascinating indeed!

Best,
Michael

If you read up on the acupuncture and the beliefs of the Chinese, you will learn the different chemical and electrical fields in the body and how they change. I'm sure that this has something to do with this. Amazing the Chinese could know this so many hundreds of years ago. Some medical Dr.'s do work with the acupuncture and maybe this could be something you could look into. I have had dogs that were lame for from disc's in the spine, did acupuncture and they were fine after that.
Yes, I do believe that dogs do know the difference when your leg is numb, we can learn so much from our guys

They know when a storm is coming too!

My elderly Dad had a mole on his leg (amongst dozens of other moles he has due to sun exposure and damage in his youth). One of my Lab girls just would not leave this one particualr mole alone. She licked it constantly if she could get to it and at one stage she even tried to nibble it off his leg! In the end my Dad got sick of this harassment and went to the doctor. The doc looked at it and removed it the very next day and sent it off to the pathology lab for tests. It was a pre-cancerous mole. The other moles he has on his legs were harmless. How did this Lab girl know which mole was the dangerous one? They do say that dogs can sniff out skin, bladder and lung cancers. Amazing animals.

Dogs sense weakness. Like in a pack if one of the dogs has a weakness all of the others will sense it. The same with salt water fish in captivity, when one of the fish is weak all of the other fish are aware.

Mike,

Do you have any metal in your spine from the 2 back surgeries? Did you ever break that same leg as a kid?

If not, all I can say is dogs can smell things way beyond what we can, maybe the pain or numbness you have in that leg.

This is great, Michael, you may be on to something here. We can replace the CAT scan with the new, improved DOG scan!!

No pins or metal... Thank goodness! Just numbness.

I am amazed at the stories written thus far. I have a niece who is in college that plans to become a vet. This may be a great research project!

Thank you for all of your responses!

I had a fungal toenail for years. My labs would always focus on that one toe. A year and a half ago I finally took the pills to clear it up. Since the fungus is gone the dogs no longer go any where near my toes. I believe they have that keen a sense of smell they can pick up a change in body chemistry.

I just can't help myself here....Mikey, have any of them lifted their leg after the **sniff test** ???
That's good luck you know..esp if it's done at ringside!!

Ok, I'm off...60 and sunny here today and I'm goin' for a ride on the scoot!!

-Jill

Just arriving in Manitoba,Canada,from a 3 year stay in France (Military)my brother was being picked at at school because of our ''french accent''so my Dad decided to get a dog ,so we chose a short haired Colley with a mild HP but that was cool with us, she was to be our ''best friend''well needless to say she saved my brother by being his confident ,she knew or sensed his troubles because she would not leave his side at night and for a whole year stuck to him as glue until she sensed he was ''o.k''only then ,started to sleep in other rooms!!It's thanks to her that since then 28 years later I'm still dog crazy...for Labs now!!!

Years ago I had a Russian Wolfhound puppy while I was bedridden while trying to prevent a miscarriage. This puppy lay in his bed almost the entire time I was bedridden. He was the best puppy. As soon as I was unable to carry my baby and came home from the hospital, he was a changed dog - a puppy. Somehow he knew I was unable to deal with normal puppy behavior and had to have complete bedrest and so that is what he did for me outside of asking to be let out and coming over to the bed to check on me.

My labs know when I have a migraine and put their heads on the couch or bed by my head - every time. They are extra quiet without my having to ask or give orders for them to cooperate. They also get quiet ahead of time so I know that one is coming on. They know - absolutely.

Dogs know so much more than we give them credit for.

Alexandra