Can dogs pinpoint pressure changes?

[TheMadWriter]

Sorry, I just could not get the Quick Question Thread to work. Anyway, my point is, I know they can tell when the pressure is different because thats how they know about storms coming early. But if one spot has an abnormally high or low area, can they tell? I also wouldn't mind the science behind how they know.

Thanks!

[Velocity_Boy]

Sorry, I just could not get the Quick Question Thread to work. Anyway, my point is, I know they can tell when the pressure is different because thats how they know about storms coming early. But if one spot has an abnormally high or low area, can they tell? I also wouldn't mind the science behind how they know.

Thanks!

 

 

Although not scientifically proven there is so much anecdotal evidence for dogs acting strangely before storms and other atmospherical events that few people really bother to argue against the notion that dogs are indeed endowed with this and other enhanced detection abilities. I even know few scientists who seriously doubt this to the point where they will attempt to disprove it with experiment.

 

It stands to reason that dogs and other animals would be imbued with more heightened sensory perception than we homo sapiens. Through Evolution, what we gained withour big brains and reasoning abilities we seemed to have lost in the way of acute sensory perception. Many anthropologists reckon we once had better awareness of all this stuff, but lost it over time from living in modern society. It is thought to be a sort of "use it or lose it" skill set.

 

And here is some other stuff that good ol' canis domesticus might be capable of doing......

 

https://www.thedodo.com/5-amazing-things-dogs-can-sense-before-they-happen-1186416501.html

[John Cuthber]

Our big brains are easy to mislead- they assume causality for observations.

So, if you see the pet dog behaving oddly and later a storm arrives you assume that the dog predicted the storm.

However that's a very dubious assumption.

So, it looks like I'm one of the scientists who doubt that dogs do this.

 

It seems that Velocity boy thinks it's my job to do the experiment to prove that dogs can't predict storms.

Well, science holds that it's the other way round. The people claiming that dogs have this talent need to do the experiment to prove it.

Until they do, it's not science.
It is, of course, quite likely that a dog might hear a storm before we did. It might also smell chemicals drawn out of the ground by the drop in air pressure.

Edited June 4, 2016 by John Cuthber

[Strange]

Sorry, I just could not get the Quick Question Thread to work. Anyway, my point is, I know they can tell when the pressure is different because thats how they know about storms coming early.

 

 

There is no good evidence that is the case.

 

But if one spot has an abnormally high or low area, can they tell? I also wouldn't mind the science behind how they know.

 

IF they are sensitive to air pressure, then it is almost certainly only to changes in pressure. I can't imagine any mechanism that could allow them to be sensitive to absolute pressure.

[Robittybob1]

Sorry, I just could not get the Quick Question Thread to work. Anyway, my point is, I know they can tell when the pressure is different because thats how they know about storms coming early. But if one spot has an abnormally high or low area, can they tell? I also wouldn't mind the science behind how they know.

Thanks!

How long before the storm do you think dogs react?

[StringJunky]

Maybe they can detect ozone, created by lightning strikes, at much lower concentrations than we can.

Edited June 4, 2016 by StringJunky

[Velocity_Boy]

How long before the storm do you think dogs react?

Well since it's is the drop in atmospheric pressure they react to i would imagine that their behavior might be noticed around the same time the barometer drops. They also have a ken sense of smell of course so I suspect they sniff that ozone from lightning strikes before we do as well.

[StringJunky]

Well since it's is the drop in atmospheric pressure they react to i would imagine that their behavior might be noticed around the same time the barometer drops. They also have a ken sense of smell of course so I suspect they sniff that ozone from lightning strikes before we do as well.

Well ,according to the makers of Pedigree Chum (dog food) their sense of smell is a billion times better than ours

[Robittybob1]

Well since it's is the drop in atmospheric pressure they react to i would imagine that their behavior might be noticed around the same time the barometer drops. They also have a ken sense of smell of course so I suspect they sniff that ozone from lightning strikes before we do as well.

Is that 1, 2, 3 days away or just in the next hour or so? Blowflies seem to sense rain up to 3 days into the future. They get real active looking for somewhere to lay eggs presumably. I was thinking the dogs could react to the flies.

[TheMadWriter]

That could be, but we don't have blowflies in my area, or anything like that, and my dog has acted weird around the time, 1-3 hours early ( I don't exactly remember). Still something to think about, thank you!

[Strange]

They have very sensitive hearing, so they may be able to hear distant thunder.

[Phi for All]

They have very sensitive hearing, so they may be able to hear distant thunder.

 

This is a big part of what's going on (among others, since that's usually how senses work). My corgi (enormous ears) will suddenly show up at my side, wanting comfort for no reason (which is odd), and then a few minutes later the cats are at my side as well. A few minutes after that and I can hear the distant thunder myself.

 

It's my three-stage storm warning technology.