Summer means it is storm season. You may not have to check with
the weather service to find out if lightning is about to strike,
however. The answer could be curled up in your lap or resting at
your feet. According to a survey by the Associated Press and
Petside.com, more than two-thirds of dog and cat owners say
they’ve received weather warnings from their pets. Even more
surprisingly, almost half report they’ve been alerted to bad
news by their animals. Do pets really have this mysterious
“sixth sense”? “It’s not that they have a sixth sense but that
their senses are much more acute than those of humans,” says Dr.
Nicholas Dodman, professor of animal behavior at the Tufts
Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. “For example, a dog’s
most highly developed sense is its ability to smell,” he
explains. “We humans have something like 12 million olfactory
receptors in our noses. Dogs can have up to 4 billion. So, it’s
hardly surprising that they have an incredible ability to detect
trace amounts of odors.” “So, l