Can Dogs Predict Bad Weather

The question is, can dogs predict bad weather? The answer is, yes, dogs can predict bad weather that has not even been forecast by meteorologist.

I will share a story about a service dog named Hunter with you. He is a Springer Spaniel that sounds the alarm to his people when he knows that there is going to be dangerous weather coming soon.

The photos are my own.

Hunter The Service Dog Predicts Bad Weather

Hunter the Service Dog would like to tell you a little story about himself, kind of a personal touch for you to get to know him a little better.

First of all, Hunter is a black and white Springer Spaniel and he has many traits that come naturally with his dog breed that makes him just a wonderful companion and friend. Attentiveness, for instance, is a Springer Spaniel characteristic that certainly contributes to making Hunter an excellent Service Dog. Hunter was born at the home owned by a lady who raise Springer Spaniels.

There is one special ability that Hunter has that I would like to tell you about. Hunter just naturally, with no training, is able to sense on-coming storms and he sounds the ALARM quite enthusiastically to, Bob, his spokesperson and all around. Hunter's spokesperson told me that, "Hunter just goes nuts" when a storm is approaching. That alerts Hunter's spokesperson to move Hunter's lady to safety in the basement before the storm hits. Hunter's lady relies on a wheelchair for mobility after her right side became paralyzed due to a stroke thirteen years ago.

So far, there has not been a devastating storm that has done any damage to their home, but no one has ever been sorry that they have practiced storm preparedness.

Hunter's storm sensing ability may have saved lives though. A few years ago, Hunter and his family were camping in an area with many wonderful large trees by a lake. Suddenly, Hunter "went nuts" again and, Bob, went into action to alert the park ranger. He told the ranger that Hunter was alerting him to a serious storm on the way and told him that he needed to get people out of their tents to safety. The ranger said that there was nothing on the radio about a storm on the way, but, he took Hunter and his spokesperson seriously and alerted the campers to severe weather approaching.

Everyone got to safe clear areas away from falling trees. Ten minutes later a storm with straight line winds hit the camp ground. Bob said, "Trees were popping like popcorn as they broke off." We have seen the devastation that straight line winds have caused across the country, they come fast and can cause great damage in moments.

The next year, the park ranger was talking to, Bob, about that very storm and was still marveling about it, but he could not remember who had alerted the camp. Now he knows, it was Hunter's warning, because of his keen sensory ability coupled with his intelligence and persistence that saves the day.

A dog's keen sense of smell is twenty times greater than ours, and their ability to hear sounds is about four times greater according to articles I have read.

It Was A Downburst

This is a campground along a river near the area Hunter and his family were camping in. Imagine what it looked like with about two hundred more trees that were lost because of a sudden downburstthat created straight-line winds.

I had stopped here before the storm once and was shocked to see what it looks like after the wind storm. I did not recognize it. The broken trees had been removed, only the stumps remain of their past glory.