Dog Pure Awareness blog

I just posted 5 more haikus by Chloe to see if they give us any insight into the way she relates differently to the various beings in her life.

Yes, we need to hear from Chloe. If Chloe only responds to “Bob’s” sneezing, we need to ask her what distinguishes Bob’s sneezing from Bev’s (or anyone elses). Now here is another thought: Bob is the male leader of the pack. Is it possible that his sneezing is more significant in some way to Chloe because he is the male leader? I know that Shiro treats Soren, the male pack leader, differently from the rest of us. And Bryce, before he died, responded differently to Soren also.

Here is Bev’s original comment that I am moving so that we can read it again:

This is an odd attunement instance. Our current dog, Chloe, a black lab/maybe border collie mix, (rescue puppy) is very intelligent and connected to both of us. She studies us when we talk to her, cocking her head as though struggling to comprehend our spoken language and file away the messages. Her oddest piece of “caretaking” ( and I know I’m anthropomorphizing here) occurs when my husband sneezes. Wherever in the house she is, she will rush to him, and attempt to climb in his lap and lick his face. Last night she was with me in the study, drowsing. My husband was in the next room, his back to us, but visible. Suddenly Chloe became alert, and started toward the living room. Then my husband sneezed – a whopper. She was instantly in his lap, licking his face. I think she must have been getting silent pre-sneeze vibes from his breathing, and was proactive in expressing her concern post-sneeze.

Joanna is of course right in her relational interpretation of the attunement sneeze. I think what confused me was that I don’t experience sneezes as disturbing, so I didn’t think of Chloe as tuning into the human’s upsetedness when he sneezed. (Let’s call the human Bob to make this easier to talk about). So Joanna is saying that Chloe’s response to Bob’s sneezing is like Sasha’s response to Joanna’s upsetedness on the phone, and I agree. If Chloe had had a traumatic experience as a puppy, and associated sneezing with danger, she would try to comfort or protect everyone who sneezes, and from Bev’s comment it seems that Chloe only goes to comfort or protect Bob, not anyone else. So, Bob must get upset when he sneezes, or have some feeling, some change in his inner world, that Chloe tunes into and interprets as his needing to be comforted or protected. 

Is this making sense? Do we need more facts, such as how Bob feels when he sneezes?

I love the example of Chloe tuning into her human’s sneezes, sensing the sneeze before it happens and going to him. We know that our dogs tune into our inner worlds, our joy and sadness, but these examples can be hard to describe. The sneeze is so concrete, so bodily. It is, at the individual level, the same as the dog’s attunement to dramatic changes at the planet’s level. Did you know that scientists trying to predict earthquakes now look at the behavior of companion animals before a quake? Cats, dogs and birds run away from home if they can, and if they are trapped in the house they become terribly fearful. Before that devastating tsunami, the wild animals fled to the mountains and did not die. They tuned into the vibrations of earth and ocean and acted upon their perception.

So Chloe tunes into the vibrations of her human who is about to sneeze and goes to comfort him. I’ve never heard of another dog who does exactly this. I wonder if Chloe had a frightening experience as a puppy centered around someone sneezing.