They can see and sense things about us that we may not even know ourselves.
Both my dogs can tell when I am angry, fake angry, serious, generous, happy, busy, frustrated, and the list goes on. When I am angry, they are usually very quiet and try to calm me down with licks and affection.
They are very good at giving anger therapy, and will work for a few pieces of chicken! 😀
It really does seem that dogs can read our minds and even sense things about us that we may not yet know about ourselves.
Are dogs truly magic?
Here is the definition of magic from the Merriam Webster Online Dictionary –
1 a : the use of means (as charms or spells) believed to have supernatural power over natural forces b : magic rites or incantations
2 a : an extraordinary power or influence seemingly from a supernatural source b : something that seems to cast a spell : enchantment
3 : the art of producing illusions by sleight of hand
Dogs do not perform magic rites and incantations but many of them can certainly exert an extraordinary power or influence over us. Many of them easily charm and enchant us, but the source of their power is not supernatural.
Where does a dog’s magical power come from?
Observation. Dogs patiently observe us while we are doing what we naturally do around the house. They also run experiments on us. My Shiba Inu, for example, is always running tests on me of the form – “If I do this while she is calm, on a sunny day, what will she do?”
I can almost imagine him wearing a lab coat and taking down notes! 😀
As a result, when I am sad, and nobody else notices, my dogs know. They will come over and cheer me up in a way that only dogs can.
This made me wonder …
Why do humans lack that dog-magic?
I think there are probably many reasons. We are often very busy, and spend much of our life working. As a result we have very little time and no patience to stop and just see.
Empathy and understanding are often seen as signs of weakness in our modern society. Instead of listening, we often prefer to shout over each other and keep our senses stubbornly closed towards alternate points of view.
It feels like we now see everything as a zero sum game. If we listen, we lose and they win. Therefore we keep shouting and spreading online negativity.
Our dogs know otherwise. That is why they are magic.
There is much we can learn from our dogs if we stop shouting and just try to see.