I remember once being home alone in bed with my dog. There was some unexpected noise in the house (probably a cat, I don’t think I ended up investigating) and he and I both turned and looked each other in the eyes as if asking “did you hear that?”
I think it’s probably the closest I’ve come to truly communicating with an animal.
My cats always look at me when they hear something unusual.
They want to know if they should be concerned or not. If I look concerned they go investigate. If I don’t, they settle back down.
They also gladly follow me into the basement when there’s a bad storm and I rush down. Doesn’t take much convincing, they trust me very much. Won’t come when I call them any other time tho.
I’ve not had many dogs, but for the most part if there’s an unexpected sound, they look towards the sound, then maybe look at me for clarification. This experience was unique in my memory.
Maybe I was anthropomorphizing but it felt like he had identified that we were home alone, identified that the noise was unauthorized, and looked to me to confirm that the noise was not imagined.
He was never too worried about weather, but would come if called. I’m not sure that, during his lifetime, we ever had a weather event worthy of retreating. The next dog came from an abusive household and I’m pretty sure had been repeatedly left exposed during storms; the moment there was even a hint of thunder, she was leaning against the nearest human if not hiding behind them. I couldn’t have gone downstairs without her even if I tried under those circumstances.
My cats don’t care about noises or inclement weather in the least.
If it was a cat as I suspect, they’ve been following me for years! Two of them were the first pets I got as an adult and they’ve outlived all but one pet I got since them.
I remember once being home alone in bed with my dog. There was some unexpected noise in the house (probably a cat, I don’t think I ended up investigating) and he and I both turned and looked each other in the eyes as if asking “did you hear that?”
I think it’s probably the closest I’ve come to truly communicating with an animal.
My cats always look at me when they hear something unusual.
They want to know if they should be concerned or not. If I look concerned they go investigate. If I don’t, they settle back down.
They also gladly follow me into the basement when there’s a bad storm and I rush down. Doesn’t take much convincing, they trust me very much. Won’t come when I call them any other time tho.
That’s great!
I’ve not had many dogs, but for the most part if there’s an unexpected sound, they look towards the sound, then maybe look at me for clarification. This experience was unique in my memory.
Maybe I was anthropomorphizing but it felt like he had identified that we were home alone, identified that the noise was unauthorized, and looked to me to confirm that the noise was not imagined.
He was never too worried about weather, but would come if called. I’m not sure that, during his lifetime, we ever had a weather event worthy of retreating. The next dog came from an abusive household and I’m pretty sure had been repeatedly left exposed during storms; the moment there was even a hint of thunder, she was leaning against the nearest human if not hiding behind them. I couldn’t have gone downstairs without her even if I tried under those circumstances.
My cats don’t care about noises or inclement weather in the least.
Awww
Glad the source of the noise didn’t come after you! It’s nice that you had someone in that moment!
If it was a cat as I suspect, they’ve been following me for years! Two of them were the first pets I got as an adult and they’ve outlived all but one pet I got since them.
edit: s/then/them/
I had the exact same experience with my pet bunny!
Me too!