Dogs are known as “man’s best friend,” but it isn’t just their amazing companionship that marks dogs as unique in the animal world. Dogs have been proven to detect cancer, predict storms and some people even believe they can see into the future. In one recent case, a Russian man is certain that a stray dog tried to warn him that he was about to get in an accident. Read on and decide whether you think the dog knew what was going to happen.

16. Warning From a Dog

Dogs have highly developed senses and they can understand what is happening in their environment before humans are able to detect anything. Dogs can seem to predict storms, but what about accidents? A Russian driver uploaded a video that he says proves a dog was trying to send him a warning, which he failed to heed.

15. A Dog Appears

Saransk the driver was heading down a street when a dog suddenly jumped in front of his car. The man was startled because the dog had not been there a moment before. He seemed to appear out of nowhere. The man temporarily stopped the car to make sure he didn’t hurt the dog. But what was this dog up to?

14. The Dog Refused to Move

After a second, Saransk settled down and decided he should continue on his way. He started to move the car very slowly, to urge the dog to move out of the way. However, he was careful again to avoid hitting the dog. At this point, most animals would have run out of the way of the car, but this dog was not going to budge!

13. A Sudden Accident

Saransk finally drove around the dog. He almost forgot about the situation but just ten seconds later, he was struck by another motorist. Thankfully he and the other man were okay, but their vehicles did suffer some damage. That got Saransk thinking about his encounter with the dog, which had happened mere seconds before.

12. A Warning?

Could the dog have been trying to warn Saransk about the upcoming accident? Although it may seem far-fetched, the man swears that the dog knew something bad was about to happen. That was why he insisted on jumping in front of the car and then refused to move out of the way. Saransk never saw the dog again. But can dogs predict future events?

11. A Sixth Sense

Some people believe dogs and cats can sense the future, that they are clairvoyant or have a sixth sense. There is no scientific basis for this assertion. However, it is clear that dogs have sharper senses than humans. They have very acute senses, which means they pick up on signals in the environments much sooner than people do.

10. Dogs Detect Pregnancy

Dogs have been proven to detect pregnancy in humans. A dog named Keola not only insisted a woman was pregnant when a test said that she was not, the dog later saved the life of the unborn baby. Keola went and fished the bad test out of the garbage and refused to leave her owner’s side. Dogs can sense the change in body chemistry when a woman is pregnant. That’s why Keola picked up on her owner’s changed body odors.

9. Predicting Serious Infection

When the woman felt extreme pain the doctors said there was nothing wrong, but the dog continued to bark and whine and follow her around the house when she was sick. When the woman told her mother about Keola’s actions, she told the woman to trust Keola because she was trying to tell her something. Eventually, it was revealed she had a drug-resistant infection that could have killed her and her child.

8. Storm Predictors

Dogs often seem able to perceive storms and earthquakes before they hit. A dog may become highly agitated or anxious, or start to whine even on a clear day. Owners are then surprised when the skies suddenly darken, with a storm quickly brewing.  Dogs who can do this can hear, smell, and feel it long before people.

7. Hearing Storms

Dogs have hearing that is in the ultrasound frequency range, so they can literally hear things humans cannot. Thunderstorms may have sounds in the ultrasound range that are perceptible only to dogs. The low rumbling that characterizes storms is also easy for dogs to detect even when the storm is still far off in the distance.

6. Smelling Storms

Dogs have such sensitive perceptions of smell that they can detect concentrations of chemicals in the low parts-per-million range. They are actually more sensitive than a mass spectrometer. This is why dogs are prized for their ability to sense weapons, chemicals, and other substances. Lightning ionizes air with the formation of ozone, creating a specific metallic smell. Dogs may be able to smell this or to detect other smells associated with oncoming storms.

5. Feeling Storms and Quakes

400;”>Dogs may be able to feel the vibrations caused by thunder in their feet. The same is true of earthquakes, dogs may be able to sense the oncoming earthquake because of proprioceptors in their joints. They may not be as accurate as scientific seismographs, but many owners who have been in earthquakes swear their dogs tried to warn them. Before a devastating earthquake in China in 1975, people reported strange behaviors from dogs. The earthquake killed about 2,000 people.

4. Evolutionary

A dog’s ability to predict things could be evolutionary. Dogs are known for associating one event with another. “This ability to anticipate and thus prepare oneself for imminent events, gave animals that were able to do so an edge over animals that could not, and so classical conditioning evolved,” said Jean Donaldson in the book Oh Behave! Dogs from Pavlov to Premak to Pinter. This may be the key to enabling them to avoid danger.

3. Lucy the Lab

Lucy, a Labrador and Irish Water Spaniel mix, failed at guide dog school because she was so attracted to various scents. But being kicked out of dog school turned out to be a new beginning. Lucy’s owners wondered if her nose could be useful. As it turns out, Lucy became a cancer-sniffing dog.

2. Daisy Detected Breast Cancer

Lucy was trained to detect kidney, bladder and prostate cancer correctly over 95% of the time. This is a better rate than even some lab tests! Claire Guest is the CEO of Medical Detection Dogs. Her fox red Labrador, Daisy, caught her breast cancer six years ago when she was 45. “She kept staring at me and lunging into my chest. It led me to find a lump.” According to studies, cancer tissues release certain chemicals and dogs can recognize the difference between malignant and normal tissue.

1. Saving Lives

400;”>This is Whizz the rescue dog. This Newfoundland worked for 10 years as a lifeguard off the coast with the British Navy. During his life, Whizz saved nine people and one dog by pulling them from the water. He was posthumously awarded the order of the British Empire (OBE) for his bravery. Which proves that having a dog may do more than improve your life – the dog might even save your life one day.