Do you ever get the feeling you dog has a sixth sense? Before you go and dismiss their potential abilities as a product of heightened senses, you’ll want to know about some of history’s psychic dogs.
Throughout history, there have been a number of instances of clairvoyant canines. These dogs had the seemingly otherworldly ability to know things that the average dog, or even human, didn’t. What’s interesting is that the notion of psychic dogs is not a 21st century idea; records of future-predicting dogs have been around since at least the 1930s.
One of the earliest examples of psychic dogs comes from the United States. During the early 1930s a Llwewllin Setter named Jim the Wonder Dog made a name for himself in the town of Marshalll, Missouri through his ability to predict the outcome of future events.
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Using his sixth sense, Jim was able to correctly determine the sex of babies before they were born as well as predict winners of the World Series and the Kentucky Derby. In fact, he correctly chose the winner for the Kentucky Derby seven years in a row! To prove to naysayers that his ability was real, Jim would make the predictions even when asked in multiple foreign languages and Morse code.
Another example of canine clairvoyance was during 1930’s Germany. When Hilter was first coming into power, Kurwenal the Dachshund had much to stay about his country’s new leader; none of it positive. To voice his concerns about Hilter’s government, Kerwenal would communicate by barking letters of the alphabet to spell out his messages against the Nazi regime.
The little Dachshund’s ability became so well known, some 70-plus researchers tried to debunk his gift in one year. Much to their dismay, not one researcher could find a way to refute Kerwenal’s ability, giving them no other option than to admit he might truly be psychic.
While Jim the Wonder Dog and Kerwenal may be two of the most well-known psychic dogs, there are plenty of examples of modern day clairvoyant canines. Two such dogs are Elvis the schnauzer-poodle cross and Samantha the Labrador retriever.
When Elvis’ owner became too sick to care for him, one of the nurses at the hospital offered to adopt the 6-year-old pup. Everything had been going well in his new home until December 22nd when his original owner died. That very day, Elvis bolted from his new home and was found nine days later outside of the church his owner had been buried in.
How he knew that his owner had passed away and was able to make it several miles to a church he had never been to makes it hard to deny that the series of events was just random.
Another unexplainable example of canine clairvoyance comes from the day that Samantha saved her owner Stephen. The pair had a daily routine of walking to the park to play fetch, but one morning on route to the park Samantha suddenly dropped her ball, laid down, and refused to budge.
Perplexed by her behavior, Stephen bent over the pick up the ball to try and convince her to get going. It was only then he realized that a manhole cover just feet ahead of them had a hairline crack across it. When he touched the cover gently with his foot, it completely caved in. Stephen has no explanation for how Samantha knew the manhole cover was dangerous, but knows that he owes his life to her.
While some may still be skeptical about the existence of psychic dogs, the stories collected over the years make a pretty compelling case. Whether or not you believe that dogs may be able to tell the future, I predict that you will agree that the idea behind it is pretty cool.
H/t to: Brooklyn Paper and Express.
