"A part of me believes Max may have sensed the tension and did some "companion animal" work. Another part suspects I'm anthropomorphizing him. Regardless, he's the best dog ever."
Dogs are a lot more sensitive than most people give them credit for. That's part of why there are "therapy" animals and such. They may not know things in the same way that we do (in fact I'm sure of it) but they *do* know when there is a being in need of the kind of help/assistance that only they can provide. Each dog is a little bit different, too. Just as humans are.
Case in point: my three are still rather skittish around Mom and Dad and will almost never approach them on their own (long story involving fish nets) unless they have food and even then it's iffy. Yet just last week, the Docs added a new med to Mom's routine which essentially knocked her out for 24+ hours*. The kids stayed really, really close to her during this time and didn't bark at all. Nova was "guard" at the foot of her bed while the girls both snuggled in beside her.
Now as for the best dog ever part...
*This was a Very Good Thing as she has not been getting much sleep at all due to her pain levels.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-04-13 11:12 pm (UTC)Dogs are a lot more sensitive than most people give them credit for. That's part of why there are "therapy" animals and such. They may not know things in the same way that we do (in fact I'm sure of it) but they *do* know when there is a being in need of the kind of help/assistance that only they can provide. Each dog is a little bit different, too. Just as humans are.
Case in point: my three are still rather skittish around Mom and Dad and will almost never approach them on their own (long story involving fish nets) unless they have food and even then it's iffy. Yet just last week, the Docs added a new med to Mom's routine which essentially knocked her out for 24+ hours*. The kids stayed really, really close to her during this time and didn't bark at all. Nova was "guard" at the foot of her bed while the girls both snuggled in beside her.
Now as for the best dog ever part...
*This was a Very Good Thing as she has not been getting much sleep at all due to her pain levels.