The phone is ringing!!

My cell phone was ringing; I wasn't in the mood to pick it up nor was I did I feel like getting off of the couch. Luke immediately sat up and stared at me; he knew that I should be moving when he heard my phone. I could tell that he was waiting for me to get up; he continued to stare at me while the ringing lingered from my phone. "I know, I hear it," I said to him. He gave me another glance over his shoulder and put his head down. This makes me realize how perfectly suited dogs are to helping us in our daily lives. Luke has picked up the whole sequence of behaviors when my phone rings.

Dogs are innately tuned into the world around them and the world around us. You may not think that your dog is clued into all the daily cues, oh but they are. How do they know when we are leaving? They not only know that we are leaving the house; they know whether or not they are going with you. Each and every cue (a sensory signal used to identify experiences, facilitate memory, or organize responses) gives them vast amounts of information that would more than likely go unnoticed by we mere humans.

Constantly reading, watching and taking in our subtle body cues; our dogs are masters in the art of communication. So it goes without saying that they are amazing alert dogs. Dogs trained specifically to alert at a trained action. There are diabetic alert dogs, epileptic alert dogs, drug alert dogs and even noise alert dogs. We could never even come close to doing what dogs can do easily.

It is amazing how they know; even when we try not to let them know, they still know. I work very hard at giving no cues sometimes, like bath time. I will go about my day; placing bathtime items throughout the day. And it never fails, they know, somehow they just know. Going into the bathroom each day is about the same each time, but when I am going in before we go for a walk they know. I come out to see three dogs standing there, haven't quite figured out how they pick up on that yet.

Movements so small, so minute that we cannot decifer any difference between two but dogs can. With a breath, a lack of breath, a hesitation in motion or more velocity given to a movement can be all they need. They are truly amazing, on a daily basis, every one of them.