Owner feared their dog was unwell after he pressed ‘friend’ and ‘sick’ buttons repeatedly — but the real warning became clear 5 hours later

Most pet owners would lead simpler lives if their furry friends could verbally express their thoughts. When a dog parent taught their pet to use speech buttons, hoping it would be a fun skill for him, they did not expect a distressing warning. Cache, a Golden Retriever, was seen interacting with his owner in a brief snippet posted on his Instagram page, @cachecowadventures. During their exchange, he pressed the “friend” and “sick” buttons to inform his unaware owner about something important. They could not initially grasp the motive behind his message, but it soon became clear. 

Seeing his parent work in the kitchen, the Golden pup called out to them by pressing “Want.” He proceeded to press the buttons that said “Cache” was “Home.” Amused by his verbal accuracy, the dog mom responded with a warm acknowledgment. But the next word left them speechless and confused. Cache suddenly pawed “Sick,” prompting them to probe further. “Cache sick?” they asked, pressing the respective speech buttons. “Friend” was all the pet responded with. 

Unconvinced, the dog parent inquired again who he was referring to. Cache pressed the button for “Mom.” The owner was curious and baffled at the same time. “Do you know something I don’t?” they asked. Meanwhile, they revealed in the caption that their dog had predicted their cold that day. Five hours later, they felt nauseous and coughed on their way to bed. “Guess my little one is an early cold detection system now. Not terribly surprising given how good their sense of smell is, but wild nonetheless that he can tell me about it!” they wrote. Earlier, they also mentioned that Cache had been referring to them as “friend.” So, when he warned about a friend being sick initially, it possibly indicated the owner themself. 

However, they had not been feeling sick but rather a bit fatigued. It led them to believe that Cache was probably playing, but it did not strike until bedtime that their dog had made an accurate prediction. Though there’s plenty of anecdotal evidence that dogs can sense their owners' illness, being able to tell them verbally is what left this owner intrigued. The viral post received nearly 2 million hearts and dozens of comments about the pup’s talent. “I’m so fascinated by his understanding of sickness as wholly unrelated to behavior,” wrote @oh.anne.simone and @insouciant_si shared, “My sister's dog, who isn't very affectionate, smelled that I was pregnant. Everyone was shocked by her behavior and her guarding me, but I knew why.” 

It is a common phenomenon for dog owners to observe changes in their pets' behavior when they are feeling under the weather. Dr. Mary Burch, a certified applied animal behaviorist, said, “Considering that dogs can detect cancer, diabetes, and seizures, we have every reason to believe that our dogs know when we are sick.” Illness causes chemical changes in the body, which further alter the odor in humans that dogs can detect with their acute sense of smell, according to the American Kennel Club. 

For more dog videos, you can follow @cachecowadventures on Instagram.