Unusual encounter....(dog&sheep)

[Tobi]

Just a snippet from my day....

This morning I went for a long walk. About half-way round I saw some people on their land sawing logs. Then I caught sight of what appeared to be Misty!
I looked again, and a dog had its nose in the air, catching my scent. Then it came racing through the grass, out through the gate and round the lane to greet me. It (she) looked almost exactly like Misty! The similarity was incredible. The only difference being that she had a black nose and dark brown eyes, and Misty had a pale brown nose with golden eyes.
The people sawing wood stopped to look and they laughed; "I've never seen her greet a stranger like that!" the woman said, "That looked like a scene from a film when a long-lost dog sees someone it loves!"

We laughed while I petted the dog. Her name was 'Ronnie'.

Then a sheep came running up to me as well. I greeted and petted the sheep, and then she and Ronnie raced back together into the field, like a couple of pups!

[Catherine]

That is interesting. The dog really acted like she knew you and you acted like you knew the dog because it looked like Misty.
Curiouser and curiouser.
The sheep part of it makes it even more curious.

You do have some interesting days.

How sweet that the sheep and the dog both greeted you.

[Tobi]

Yes, dogs are not stupid, and maybe she sensed my thoughts or energy I had with me when I saw she looked almost exactly like Misty! Maybe that's why she responded like she did. I bet I gave her a great big welcome in my feelings!
The sheep was hand-reared, so the woman told me, and hand reared sheep are extremely friendly. So all that makes perfect sense.
It was so nice to see them playing together though.

[Catherine]

I don't know if dogs read minds, but they do read hearts. The dog sensed how you were feeling and responded accordingly. You were feeling like he was a long lost old friend and he greeted you the same way. That is what makes dogs so special. He sensed what you needed and greeted you accordingly. The sheep may have been hand raised, but I bet she took her main cues from the dog.

No wonder dogs work as therapy pets. They give to everyone what ever that person needs.

Of course maybe he could also read some of the relationship you had with Misty and was honouring that.

[Tobi]

Our emotions and states of mind put out subtle cues that dogs naturally read and understand. I think that is one of the reasons they do so well as 'therapy companions'. We humans have forgotten the many skills we probably have latent inside us. Dogs just use them! Plus a dog's nose is so sensitive and I am sure we give out a different scent according to our mood.

[Catherine]

Quote:Plus a dog's nose is so sensitive and I am sure we give out a different scent according to our mood.

I really think this is true. When I had a colony of dwarf hamsters they responded to my moods. I had a bad encounter with someone and it scared me and I couldn't go near the hamsters for hours. They could smell the distress chemicals and they were acting distressed.

Dogs can smell the chemicals we give off and they know how to respond to them. It is not just that they know, they also care and want to help.

I think really empathic people can pick up on other people's emotional states. It may partly be reading body language, but I will bet that a lot of it is reading the chemicals that go with the emotions.

[Tobi]

I think we may have these skills but they are not conscious in us most of the time and we don't live by them as dogs and many other creatures do.

If I am with someone and they have a nasty or suddenly angry outburst (not necessarily towards me...this happened the other day)-especially if this takes me by surprise, I get a kind of 'scent' from them. It's hard to describe how I 'smell' it but it seems to be at the back of my nose somehow or in my sinuses. And it's more obvious when I breathe out very slowly, rather than when I breathe in. It is quite a bitter scent and not pleasant. If I were a creature I would want to get away from it.

And I went through a very strange phase about 2 and a half years ago, just after Misty left, when I could smell every place dogs had peed, just when I was walking along! Not only that -but weirder -I could discern all the individual 'signatures' of the dogs (each one was so different) and I could tell if they were well, or old, or not so well, or female, or male, or had drunk water a lot -or not.... That phase only lasted a couple of weeks. I think it was somehow linked to subconsciously 'trying to find' Misty. But it showed me what we are capable of.

[Catherine]

I think we have a lot of hidden skills. Humans must have been able to do these things long ago. I am sure if we worked at it or rather were sensitive to it, we could regain our past abilities.

You can smell the anger because you are very sensitive to things and because anger is a strong emotion and gives off a lot of chemicals.

I find I can smell/feel/taste grief. If it is a group of people grieving I am almost overwhelmed by it. I feel it too because I am picking it up from the people around me.

I think this is why people in crowds act differently. The strong emotions of some trigger a response in others and they start reinforcing the emotional response.

Misty must have almost taught you to be a dog. Interesting that you were so sensitive to smells that you could read them like that.
The human brain is more amazing than we realize.

[Tobi]

I haven't smelled grief. It seems I get 'anger' more.

I just feel a tiny bit guilty because during my 'strange phase' I picked up the scent of a dog's pee, and could tell it had waterworks problems -maybe kidney.
A bit further along the lane I did see a woman walking a dog. I greeted them and yet said nothing about what I'd smelled. I didn't know how to..... I tried to engage her in general conversation about dogs/vets etc, and said something about catching kidney problems early if possible via blood test. And did say something about making sure they get regular blood tests. That was the best I could do. I bet she thought I was creepy!

[Catherine]

Quote: I just feel a tiny bit guilty because during my 'strange phase' I picked up the scent of a dog's pee, and could tell it had waterworks problems -maybe kidney.
A bit further along the lane I did see a woman walking a dog. I greeted them and yet said nothing about what I'd smelled. I didn't know how to..... I tried to engage her in general conversation about dogs/vets etc, and said something about catching kidney problems early if possible via blood test. And did say something about making sure they get regular blood tests. That was the best I could do. I bet she thought I was creepy!

That is always a dilemma isn't it. You knew something was wrong, but there was no real way to tell her. You did plant the idea so maybe later when she noticed something she would react sooner and get her dog tested.

I end up at a lot of funerals so I know the smell of grief. It can be really intense.
A number of the seniors I do home care with have some level of dementia/Alzheimer's. I really pick up the symptoms early because I know they are subtle at first. So who do you tell when you see early signs. Sometimes there are medications that can help. If not, it can still help to simplify things and get rid of things that are not being used. I could really help people, but I don't get to do it because people do not want to admit that something is wrong. They will pretend all is well until it is too late to help.

Maybe it is just as well that we have lost our extra powers/senses. We would be frustrated all the time because we would not be able to use them.