By Lisa Cohn

I’m reading Dogs That Know When Their Owners are Coming Home, and I’m riveted by the stories and research about how humans and dogs communicate via telepathy.

In the book’s section about dogs, the author relates many stories from dog parents about how their dog knew they were coming home. In many cases, the dogs got excited 10 to 15 minutes–or longer–before their humans were close to home. The author insists that the dogs didn’t see, smell or hear their people returning. The humans didn’t follow any specific schedule returning home, so the dogs weren’t anticipating their return based on the time of day. The humans returned home via airplanes, trains, buses, cars and on foot.

To conduct his research, the author, Rupert Sheldrake, sent out requests for stories from dog parents, animal trainers and kennel proprietors and received nearly 1,000 responses.

The dogs’ behavior was reported by family members who were home. In a few cases, the author and the family members worked together to videotape the dogs’ behavior.

When their humans were getting off planes and trains, for example, the dogs got excited or started to wait by the window or door–long before the humans were close enough to smell, see or hear.

“I think that the evidence considered in this and the following chapter suggests that the invisible cord connecting dog to owner is elastic: it can stretch and contract. It connects dog and owner together when they are physically close to each other, and it continues to attach dog to owner even when they are hundreds of miles apart. Through this elastic connection, telepathic communication takes place,” said the author in one chapter.

Here’s an example:

“When Peter Edwards arrives home at his farm in Wickford, Essex, his Irish Setters are nearly always at the gate to greet him. Yvette, his wife, says they often wait for him for ten to twenty minutes before he arrives and well before he turns off the road into his drive. She had taken this behavior for granted for years, simply thinking, ‘Peter’s coming home, the dogs have gone to the gate.'”

Peter worked irregular hours and often didn’t let his wife know when he was returning. The dogs responded regardless of which way the wind was blowing, or what vehicle he was driving, the book says. After reading about the author’s research, Yvette realized that the dogs were likely telepathically picking up information from Peter.

The book gives many more examples, including examples about cats anticipating when their people are coming home.

Dog telepathy is a theme in our latest book, Bash and Lucy Say, “Love, Love, Bark!” Golden retriever Lucy solves the mystery of the missing dog books by reading the minds of potential thieves. That’s all I can say without giving too much away!

Please send your dog telepathy stories to BashAndLucy@gmail.com

And don’t forget to watch Hudson in our book trailer, filmed when Hudson, now 11, was a puppy!