What Do Dogs Think About?
Do Dogs Think?
29 Dec 2022
Category:- Dog Behaviour
Thinking. What is thinking..?
When we think, we tend to think in a language, usually our first learnt language. Dogs of course, do not have a language as we do, in term of words and sentences. So we know they cannot be ‘thinking’ in the same way. Neither do dogs judge themselves for how they look in a certain jacket, or in photos. They do not tell themselves off or mentally reflect with hindsight about something they did or didn’t do, should or shouldn't have done...
So. What do dogs think?
And do they really think at all?
The question also arises: do they even need to think to be part of our world?
And if they don’t think, does that really make them ‘lesser’ in some way?
I don’t believe it would. Instead, could it actually be something to celebrate?
I hope this article goes some way to explaining why this matters: why we must open our hearts and minds to the world our dogs really live in, in order to fully understand them, their behaviours and learn more about ourselves too.
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The Present
We don’t actually have thoughts in the Present Moment – that's the point of being in the Present! All empowerment and self-development coaching ultimately gets you to be in the Present Moment: to find your inner-self, to encourage an allowance of your thoughts, letting them simply wash over you. For thoughts to come, but to then go again, never focusing specifically on them, just allowing them to Flow. In this thought-free Present Moment of pure awareness, all possibilities become available. Our other senses are heightened and we start to open up to our Heart's (electromagnetic) frequencies, becoming more intuitive and able to know things without the need for thought (just like Eckhart Tolle's teachings state). Therefore, our thoughts (and potentially our dogs) must always either be about the Past or the Future. -
The Past
Example of thoughts about the Past include:
Should I have done that?
Maybe I should have said this or that?
Why did I do that?
How did that happen?
When did we go and see that?
Where did I put that thing?
None of these are thoughts that a dog needs to have because they live totally in the moment. They don’t have regret. They don't concern themselves with what could have been or should have been. Memories don’t require thought. We know this from how a smell can suddenly bring on a memory that we were not trying to ‘think of' at the time. Memories are simply there for us and just appear when triggered. They are not the same as a thought. Instead, they are an imprint of information that is within our field of knowledge. A dog does not reflect on a person he met earlier, he doesn't consider if they liked him, or if he will see them again. However, the memory of how that person made him feel is stored as a memory. If the emotion is a strong one, it will be a stronger memory. If the emotion is weaker, it's likely to be forgotten more easily. When a dog re-encounters a person, something about the person will trigger their memory - usually primarily smell. No thought occurs for this to happen. A memory immediately appears. It can seem like a thought to us humans, as we have over-developed the use of our minds and will add a language to the memory in an instance. Although it's not been proven where memories are actually stored, memories have been shown to absolutely NOT be in the brain! Many theories exist about memory location (check out Dr Rupert Sheldrake’s lectures for more information).
OK, so we know Present and Past thinking is not applicable to dogs. What about Future thoughts?
- The Future.
Examples of thoughts about the Future include:
What will happen to me when that time comes?
I am worried about that forthcoming event.
How can I achieve my goal?
When my friend gets here, I will make her a cake!
When I am on my walk, I will go left at the junction this time as I want to see what's down there.
I’m so fed up, next time I see that person who wronged me, I will confront them!
Again, none of these are thoughts a dog needs to have living in the Present. Besides, dogs are not capable of plotting, planning or even knowing it has ‘got the better of you’ in some way! If a dog needs to cross a room it doesn’t think about it, it just does it. Dogs respond to anything that comes up in front of it, in each moment, as it occurs. They do so without thought, but with Feeling. They sense the world and their options in front of them, rather than thinking about them.
Feeling is sensing frequencies in the environment to help navigate life, such as electromagnetic frequencies, sensing smells, sensing how a person or another animal feels, or sensing which route feels the safest to travel. Whereas Thought is kind of a pointless attribute for an animal like a dog, especially when you recognise that their ability to FEEL is so blimmin’ strong! It's undoubtedly way more honed than most humans ability to act from Feeling instead of thought. Not ‘thinking’ doesn’t make them less of a being; it actually makes them stronger, more receptive and better able to sense the world than a human. We are supposedly better able to survive because of our thought or ‘intellect’. Yet dogs are already living in the present moment - exactly where all our self-help and personal development journey guides us towards!
Whenever confronted with options or choices, a dog never ‘thinks’ about which to eat/take/follow, it simply goes by what FEELS the safest or most vibrationally matched to how it ‘is’ in that exact moment. Dogs can also telepathically receive the information we send out through our Energy of Intent. Telepathy is not a mind-based ability. It's an ability to connect with source and/or with the Energetic Field of an animal, person or item. It's called Psychometry when done with a solid object but it's the same thing happening.
To explain further, an Intent is our felt intention. It's an Energy we give out from our Heart, measurable several feet away from our bodies, and 100% felt by our dogs when we emit it! This phenomena is apparent in the fact most things you touch or look at will become your dog’s focus also (even babies do this). It also correlates with the group or pack life wherein prey is the most important thing to the group: they all become focused as a group on a prey, no matter who sees it first and work as a pack to obtain it (dog trainer Kevin Behan discusses it as 'Group Prey Drive'). They actually show us this 'group prey' focus all the time. For example, have you ever glanced at a cushion or chair and felt or thought ’I’ll sit there in a moment’ then turned round and find your dog's already there?! Or gone to pick something up off the floor and, quick as flash, your dog's there looking at it or trying to sniff it? It is all about the energy between you both. Hopefully you'll have fun noticing it in your own dog now!
Commands are also Vibrational: they carry Energy in their sound and your intent when you give the command. Any memories of them wouldn’t need to be ‘thought about’, they would just appear when the command is given as a vibrational match to it (remember memories don’t live in the brain). Dogs have so many different ways of sensing Energy information - thoughts would really get in the way! It's possible that dogs can see Energy – as colours perhaps, who knows?! But they definitely do sense Energy. They ‘read’ Energy via their huge electromagnetic Hearts and with their incredible VNO (an organ with no exact purpose under thought-based, mind-based dog training techniques).
So as you can see, dogs don’t think because they live vibrantly and abundantly through their senses in the Present Moment. As we move away from the limiting belief that the mind holds the keys, we open ourselves up to the beautiful lessons and teaching our dogs have for us, and for our own growth and progression as a human species. They become the very thing that moves us towards not thinking so much ourselves!