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I'll try to paint the picture; you try to imagine it.

It's early in the morning, and my husband is seated on an ottoman tying his shoes. Worn out before the day even begins, he drops his head into his hands...that's when he feels the tip of the dog's tongue tentatively licking the tip of his nose. He drops his hands, palms up and asks "What is it, Peach?" She remains seated, but puts first one paw then the other into his outstretched hands. She furrows her brow, and cocks her head to the left, all the while staring at him intensely, attempting the dog mind meld.

Was she asking if he was OK? Whatever it was, my husband laughed and gave her a big hug and some patting. What a wonderful symbiosis.

Dogs are really tuned into their owner's emotions. One time I was quite sick for about a week. My dog laid down on the floor across the room from me and watched over me for days. On the morning of the sixth day, the dog stood up and walked out of the room and went elsewhere in the house. I thought, "Gee, I must be getting better," and, sure enough, I was starting to feel better.  

My beagle is the same way. She can always tell when anyone in the family is down and will plop herself right into their laps and lean up against them sweetly. My sister would get upset sometimes and she would just lay there next to her like a stuffed animal and look up at her with a concerned look. She would sometimes act that way when I thought I was just tired and next thing you know it, I would be really sick.

I just remembered something my mom said. She happened to go into the hospital with a friend and ended up getting admitted herself. She barely avoided a major heart attack and was rushed into surgery the next day for multiple blockages in her heart. They still can't explain how they couldn't find anything wrong on the day of the surgery and she had somehow recovered to perfect vitals overnight. But that's another story. My mom didn't realize anything was really wrong in the days before, but she said the dog had been treating her very differently that whole week, like something was wrong. Dogs are very perceptive animals, and they really do have a sixth sense about them.