Clever dogs

Our last cat but one could hear? smell? my husband when he turned the corner 100 yards away on his way home from work.

She would open an eye, listen then vacate his armchair, which she certainly didn't do for anyone else!

My parents put two dogs into care when they moved to Scotland the year I was born as they didn't have a house to move to.

When my father collected them at the local station - they had been sent in the guard's van, as you did then from Huddersfield to Barrhead, they were thrilled to see him.

He set off to a house they had never been in before, in an area they didn't know, and a mile from their new home, his well-trained dogs went completely beserk jumping around in the back of the car, whining and barking.

He could only ever explain it by saying that at that distance they had caught my mother's scent.

When I was a child our dog would sit up at the window every day at 4pm the time my sister and I returned from school. He didn't do that at any other time.

Peggy our JR would have made a really good assistance dog if she'd been properly trained when she was younger.

She alerts me if my text bleep goes off and I don't hear it, ditto pans about to boil over and the fan of the oven still makes a noise because I've sat down without turning it off.

DH sleeps in a recliner in the lounge owing to his breathlessness and heartburn. She scratches and wines at the bedroom door if she thinks I need to check on him, which was very important just before Christmas when I had to call an ambulance.

My jack russell Milo could always find his wrapped christmas toys. No matter what I bought and no matter how well I hid them amongst the children s presents under the tree. He would gently part all the packages until he found his own.
He was a wonder.

I had a much loved pony who would appear in the field near the house the day I returned from boarding school.

I don't know about dogs but one of my cats meows, sitting on the kerbside before I've even turned the corner on returning from the local shop, so not even seeing me either.
Is it the footsteps or do they have a sense of smell like a dog does ?
The cat sits on the other side of the road and won't cross, it just sits and waits like a dog would.

I remember a story one of my old aunts told me. She lived in the Kielder forest in Northumberland.
She had a labrador dog, Rex. One day she told him "I'm going to see soandso, on the bus. I won't be away long." About 10 miles away.
When she got there, there was Rex, wagging his tail. .

Nice story. I think animals in general are very clever. I see the anti dog brigade are on the warpath again on another thread ... each to their own. Give me animals any day