The Consciousness of Animals Part 1

Do animals have the same consciousness as humans?

This amazing account of a how a dog saved his human companion’s life suggests that animals have super-sensitivity and awareness way beyond our own.

Seth, channelled by Jane Roberts in the book, The Magical Approach, states the following:

… ‘animals do reason. They do not reason in the same areas that you do (intently). In those areas in which they do reason, they understand cause and effect quite well. Their reasoning is applied, however, to levels of activity to which your own reasoning is not applied. Therefore, often animal reasoning is not apparent to you. Animals are curious. Their curiosity is applied to areas in which you seldom apply your own.’

Kirsty, one of our Associate Members, gives the following example:

Bailey, our Autism Assistance Dog, has recently retired through ill health and has become our deeply loved pet. Before Bailey came into our lives I was unable to leave the house without my son, Charlie, being confined to a wheelchair, despite having no physical disabilities – the reason being I simply could not keep him safe.  Charlie has no awareness of danger and can suddenly bolt; this could even be into oncoming traffic.

Bailey was trained to ‘brace’ should Charlie attempt to pull out of a calm walking hold, in order to prevent the bolt. Having Bailey meant that we didn’t need the wheelchair any more, and for many years he assisted my son by keeping him out of danger when we were out in public.

Autism Assistance Dogs are only ever placed with children, never with adults,  because the taller and heavier the person in the AA dog’s ‘charge’ the less able the AA dog is to keep them safe, plus that weight would hurt them as they pull against their charge in the bolt. This, plus the fact that Bailey has done no work since his diagnosis for almost a year,  makes what he did even more extraordinary.

The Life Changing Moment

One evening in May 2021, I took Bailey for a walk. It had rained for most of the day and, as we both prefer not to take exercise walks in the rain, I had waited until late evening when the weather was dry and calm. Bailey was on his lead, not his support harness, happily sniffing his way along the pavement down the street near our home, showing his usual interest in each blade of grass, tree trunk and lamp post we passed. 

I have always been amazed at how Bailey’s personality was completely different when he wasn’t working. The moment his jacket was placed on his back and my son was ‘attached’ to him, he would go into ‘work mode’, setting a steady and safe walking pace according to the environment and no sniffing or toileting. 

This particular evening,  we were just walking he and I, not a working jacket in sight, just your average dog on a typical lead. We hadn’t got very far, when suddenly Bailey very forcefully pulled me off the pavement and down on to the front lawn of a neighbour’s garden. This would be no mean feat for him as I am no lightweight!

Lying on the grass in total shock (I landed with quite a thud), wondering why Bailey had done this – had he seen a cat or a fox and wanted to give chase?  I got my answer within a couple of seconds as a horizontal, low level flash of lightning shot across the pavement we were walking along, to the other side of the street, at what would have been the level of my chest had I taken one more step.

Bailey had prevented me from being struck by lightning!! Somehow he had sensed that the lightning was coming, without any prior warning. I wasn’t ‘attached’ to him and he wasn’t working. A violent thunder and lightning storm quickly followed – a surprise to everyone in the area – and we made a dash for home. Not only has Bailey changed my family’s lives beyond words, I reckon he saved mine that night. 

Kirsty McGowan