Can dogs really sense danger? – DW – 12/25/2025

Countless clips of heroic dogs saving humans are circulating on social media. But do dogs really have a magical sixth sense, or are their “superpowers” ​​just biology held to great importance by their human owners?

Stunningly staged rescue videos get millions of clicks on social media, whether they're real scenes, cleverly edited clips or AI illusions.

Psychologically, this is confirmation bias in action. People remember the dog's obvious behavior before the accident, but they forget all the times the dog reacted similarly without an incident.

The willingness to believe in a special relationship with your pet and its unique abilities makes belief in canine clairvoyance even more compelling.

Superior senses

Dogs have much superior senses than humans. They hear much higher frequencies, are sensitive to vibrations and changes in air pressure and weather, and have a sense of smell that is about 10,000 to 100,000 times stronger than that of humans.

Studies on epilepsy, diabetes and cancer show that they can detect the slightest biochemical changes in the body – in sweat or breathing, for example. They also register the smallest changes in their caregivers' behavior and emotions, such as muscle tension, breathing rhythm, and the smell of stress.

In a study by Neil Powell of Queen's University Belfast, 19 canids reacted very differently to sweat samples taken from epileptic patients shortly before a seizure versus control samples.

Diabetes or cancer assistance dogs are not guided by supernatural forces. Instead, they detect physiological signals such as heart rate, breathing rhythm, stress hormones, and what are known as volatile organic compound (VOC) patterns, groups of organic molecules that reflect a person's health status.

Humans have about 5 to 6 million olfactory cells, while dogs — depending on the breed — have about 200 to 300 million; This dog learns to sniff out the coronavirus (COVID-19) Image: Lillian Swanrumfa/Getty Images/AFP Biological interpretation

Canadian psychologist Stanley Coren of the University of British Columbia is a pioneer in canine research. Coren developed the “Stanley Coren Index” of the same name to evaluate the intelligence of different breeds of dogs. His studies show that average dogs understand up to 165 words, while smart dogs understand up to 250 words, which is comparable to the cognitive performance of a two-and-a-half-year-old.

Koren explains the behavior of some dogs before disasters in terms of their biology. “Many of these stories about dogs predicting disasters or accidents seem supernatural, but can usually be explained by their unusual sensory organs,” he told DW in an email interview.

Physiological advantage

According to Koren, dogs, for example, can hear the first sounds of breaking layers of rock when an earthquake is imminent, sounds that far exceed the human hearing threshold.

They also sense heat sources “like an infrared sensor” and perceive even minimal instability or vibrations via tiny tactile sensors between the pads of their feet. This is why a dog may become agitated shortly before a bridge begins to sway or a car skids on a wet road, Koren wrote.

What appears to be a “sixth sense” is therefore primarily a physiological feature. Dogs react early to stimuli that are already present but cannot be perceived by humans.

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Dogs cannot predict car accidents

Other animals also have much stronger senses than humans. A team led by Martin Wikelski of the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior equipped cows, sheep and dogs in Italy with sensors, and observed a significant increase in activity before several earthquakes, especially among animals in stables.

They appear to react to minute vibrations or electrical effects in rock layers. “This is not an alarm but a reaction to physical stimuli,” Wikelski explained in an email to DW.

But this does not allow for reliable predictions. “Dogs can certainly do a lot, but warning of car accidents seems practically impossible to me, except perhaps when it comes to their owners' stress that might lead to accidents,” Wikelski said.

He stressed that data is needed to separate myths from real capabilities. “Such tales should be verified using transmitters attached to animals, as we did in our study of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.”

Most sixth sense incidents in dogs can usually be explained by chance, retrospective interpretation, or the dog's hypersensitive reactions to real stimuli.

Dogs can notice unusual noises, screeching tires, smoke trails, or their owner's anxiety seconds before humans become aware of these factors. If the dog then displays stressful behavior — panting, whining, or urging — it's easy to see that as an early warning in retrospect.

This article was originally written in German.

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