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Dog's Intuition Helps Saves Boy's Eyesight

Sometimes people talk about dog's intuition and being able to sense things that humans cannot. When it comes to people being ill, it’s one area that time and again pet parents have noticed dogs can sense. Sometimes people can pick up on a dog's intuition and help save whoever is in danger. That is exactly what happened to one little boy who caught the attention of a very large dog.

Alfie is a five-year-old, 182-pound Dogue de Bordeaux who constantly hangs around his pal Mark, a young boy. However, whenever the pair are together, Alfie does something odd - he will sit on the right of Mark. Alfie's pet parents have countless images of the pair together with Alfie sitting on Mark's right. Yet, they never did anything about it, they simply thought it was odd.

"We always just thought it was a funny coincidence that Alfie would only sit or walk on one side of him," Sharlene Cannon, Mark's mom, told UK-based publication Caters News Agency.

A remarkable discovery

Then in April 2015 something odd happened. Mark made a visit to the eye doctor, who informed him that he had severe astigmatism in his right eye. The condition was so severe that he could barely see out of that eye, and only could use his left eye as a guide. All of a sudden, it clicked for the two parents. Alfie did not sit on Mark's right side because he liked that angle better, he sat there because he knew about Mark's disability and wanted to guide him from that side, since his eye could not. The doctor also told Mark it was a good thing he arrived when he did. If the diagnosis was not discovered at that time, Mark risked losing his eyesight all together.

Of course, for a young boy like Mark, he did not realize he had the condition. Instead, he simply figured that was the way things were. Luckily, Alfie knew the difference the whole time and was able to protect Mark from any danger coming from the right side. Naturally, Mark's parents were bewildered and could not believe their dog sensed such a silent condition before they themselves even noticed.

"You think as parents that you know your children, so for a dog to notice something like that is special," Cannon stated to the publication. "I think Alfie's been on this planet before. There's just something all-knowing about his nature."

A general sense

It turns out, Alfie is pretty good at sensing things in general. This is not the first time he picked up on an ailment before the other family members did. The Cannons used to have a dog named Cass, and Alfie had an odd tendency to lick Cass's leg. After a while, the family brought Cass to the veterinarian, where they discovered that Cass had a large tumor in the leg that Alfie always licked. Sadly, when the tumor was discovered, the cancer had spread and Cass passed away a few months later, leaving a serious emotional impact on Alfie.

Luckily, Alfie still has Mark to look out for. While Mark's eyesight in his right eye will not be restored, physicians were able to stop his eyesight condition from progressing and getting worse. Now, Alfie and Mark can enjoy lots of activities that Mark used to not be able to do, including walking around the block and playing in the park.

This is not the first story to come out about dogs' intuition. Research has shown that thanks to dogs super-sensitive hearing and smell, they can detect things long before humans can, such as cancer. Now, these senses are being put to the test as researchers train dogs to help sniff out cancer and other dire health conditions.

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Posted on Mar 12, 2016 by VOYCE Lifestyle