How to find dogs for an experiments?

[alex.tsakiris]

I’m trying to find dog owners who might want to participate in an experiment testing to see if some dogs know when their owners are coming home (I mean in a psychic way where they wait by the window or door before they hear anything). There has actually been some research suggesting this really occurs, and we want to follow-up on it.

I was wondering if anyone has ideas on how I would go about collecting stories (and hopefully participants).

Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome.

 

[Dreeza]

welcome to the forums. I think that kinda stuff is so interesting. I actually have a book about it....with lots of stories and what not...some of them are SOO cool!

I am kinda confused as to what you actually plan on doing with the stories you collect, cause umm...haha, collecting stories off the internet is basically worthless in terms of valid research, seeing as anyone can just make a story up...

I have no clue what your background is, but doing "real" research, if you actually want it to be published and seen as valid, would require quite a bit of time, money and manpower.


I'd love to hear more about it though!

 

[~Jessie~]

Are you doing research through a university? Or is this on your own? Either way, you will need to get a proposal for this passed through the IRB, in order to make sure that the safety of the participants and dogs are not compromised.

I agree with Dreeza, though- it will be expensive and difficult to do on your own.

 

[joce]

My moms actually been trying to figure this out for years My dogs all whine and get antsy when I'm about fifteen minutes from home. At first I blamed my stereo but its not quite that loud

If I were you I'd go to local dog clubs,grooming shops,training classes etc and see if you can post an add.

 

[gdsgregory]

Experiment

About 20 years ago we had a Lab who would sit by the door 15 minutes before my dad got home and wait for him. I must also mention that it was not a case of at 17:00 mon to fri or anything like that it could be any time, she would just know.
It was great for two mischievous young boys as we always got a warning as to when we should tidy up and act innocent!
My step mum also used to use this "info" knowing when to pour him a drink and put the dinner / lunch / kettle on etc.

Kind of spooky but also very reassuring in another way.

 

[squirtsmom]

About ten minutes before my twelve year old gets h ome from school, the dogs are alert and sitting by the front door. when they h ear the breaks on the bus, they go beserk.

 

[Dreeza]

here's the book I was talking about: Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home

I havent read it in awhile, but IIRC the coolest story was about some son who went to war or something, and the family had basically no contact with him, and had NO idea when he was coming back, or if he was even alive.

The dog was miserable with him gone, he was gone for more than a year (once again, IIRC...)...3 or 4 days before he came home, the dog started getting REALLY antsy and excited, waiting by the door...the time when he started getting excited matched up with the day the son began his travels back home...crazyness!!

Or there was another dog, whom, like the dogs you mentioned, would wait by the door 15 mins or so before his 'mom' came home. One day, he was waiting, all excited....then just went back and layed down....then 20 mins later, got all excited again...then 15 mins later his 'mom' came home. The husband, or whomever told his wife this...turns out, she had forgotten something at work and had to go back to get it!!!

 

[mrose_s]

i duno howd you'd do it. but i know it happens. sophie picks up about 50% of the time when mum is coming home. usually abotu the time she would be just leaving work. Buster picks up sometimes to. but usually when she's a lot closer to home, and my mums dog Martha used to start waiting for my sister and i to arrive home, she's start up about the time that we'd be leaving wherever we were

 

[alex.tsakiris]

I am kinda confused as to what you actually plan on doing with the stories you collect, cause umm...haha, collecting stories off the internet is basically worthless in terms of valid research, seeing as anyone can just make a story up...

I have no clue what your background is, but doing "real" research, if you actually want it to be published and seen as valid, would require quite a bit of time, money and manpower.

Yea, stories are just a starting point, we’re really doing research and teaming up with Universities to do it. You can read all about it at the OpenSourceScience.net website.

 

[alex.tsakiris]

Are you doing research through a university? Or is this on your own? Either way, you will need to get a proposal for this passed through the IRB, in order to make sure that the safety of the participants and dogs are not compromised.

It is through Universities and I’m sure the proper procedures will be followed (I’m just helping try to locate superdogs). But, to clarify, the researchers don’t really do anything but observe (with a video) camera. They measure whether the dog goes to the window when the owner is called at some random time.

 

[alex.tsakiris]

My moms actually been trying to figure this out for years My dogs all whine and get antsy when I'm about fifteen minutes from home. At first I blamed my stereo but its not quite that loud

If I were you I'd go to local dog clubs,grooming shops,training classes etc and see if you can post an add.

Thanks for the suggestions... I just began looking into that today.

And yes, early research suggests some dogs can really do this. Do you think you'd like to try and run some informal tests with your dog. Maybe come home a 15 minutes early or late and see if your dogs pick up on it?

 

[alex.tsakiris]

About 20 years ago we had a Lab who would sit by the door 15 minutes before my dad got home and wait for him. I must also mention that it was not a case of at 17:00 mon to fri or anything like that it could be any time, she would just know.
It was great for two mischievous young boys as we always got a warning as to when we should tidy up and act innocent!
My step mum also used to use this "info" knowing when to pour him a drink and put the dinner / lunch / kettle on etc.

Kind of spooky but also very reassuring in another way.

Wow... amazing. Would it be ok to use your story on our website?

 

[alex.tsakiris]

About ten minutes before my twelve year old gets h ome from school, the dogs are alert and sitting by the front door. when they h ear the breaks on the bus, they go beserk.

Do you think they are picking up on something more than just schedule? Do they act the same when he/she comes home early or late (like our 12-year-old does)?

 

[alex.tsakiris]

here's the book I was talking about: Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home

Exactly! This is the research we are replicating. I've had a chance to speak with, and email correspond with, Dr. Sheldrake and would like to see if his research can be repeated. If you look at our website you'll see that some folks are very, very skeptical of this work and the debate has gotten quite nasty.

 

[alex.tsakiris]

i duno howd you'd do it. but i know it happens. sophie picks up about 50% of the time when mum is coming home. usually abotu the time she would be just leaving work. Buster picks up sometimes to. but usually when she's a lot closer to home, and my mums dog Martha used to start waiting for my sister and i to arrive home, she's start up about the time that we'd be leaving wherever we were

So, it doesn't seem to matter when they leave, the dogs just know? This would be similar to what the researchers found?