[Dailydrool] Do they know?

[Sandi Wittenberg]

In my experience - yes, they know.  They know when it is time for one
another to take the trip to the Bridge and they know when one of their pack
"comes home" also.  I have observed many times when it is time for one of
the pack to go to the Bridge, all of the dogs will go "say good-bye" -
usually by touching noses - sometimes before I have even made the decision.
Sometimes the one who is leaving initiates this and other times the others
do.  Then, when I bring the container home, they all want to sniff it.  Not
normal "what do you have, Mom?" sniffs - serious, different from all other
sniffs.  At that point, they all seem to accept the loss and if anyone of
the dogs has been "searching" for the dog who has died, the searching stops.
I keep my dogs' ashes upstairs and my dogs usually don't go upstairs.
However, whenever one of them gets the opportunity to go upstairs, they
invariably end up sniffing at the location where I keep the ashes.  

It sounds really weird, but if you think about it, dogs are trained to sniff
out human remains - even microscopic pieces of human remains.  After 9-11,
cadaver dogs searched all of the rubble that was hauled off the site.  If
they can detect human remains, then I am sure they can detect canine
remains.  Never underestimate the power of a basset nose - they can also
detect cancer through urine, skin cells, heart conditions, and other
illnesses long before medical science can detect a problem.

 

Sandi Wittenberg - Red Bay Bassets

sandi at redbaybassets.com

 

 

 

 

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