I bet you remember learning about the five senses in school: touch, taste, sight, hearing, and smell. But did you know that there are three other \u201chidden\u201d or \u201cinvisible\u201d senses<\/strong> that we have\u2013and our dogs have them, too? <\/p>\n As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Let\u2019s dig into what these senses are, and then we\u2019ll be able to discuss why it matters, which is the most important point in this discussion! So, here are the three hidden senses:<\/p>\n Have you ever wondered how your body \u201cknows\u201d it\u2019s time to eat or sip water or go to the bathroom? Or, have you ever noticed that when you\u2019re feeling embarrassed your entire body gets hot? Or fear turns your stomach into ice? <\/p>\n Your internal organs have special signals in them to tell your brain something\u2019s going on inside your body. This is your interoceptive system. <\/strong><\/p>\n This sense answers one question: How do I feel? <\/p>\n Your dogs have this, too.<\/p>\n When you\u2019re potty training a puppy, the key isn\u2019t teaching your dog where<\/em> to go to the bathroom. That\u2019s part of it, but it\u2019s only secondary to teaching your puppy that this specific feeling<\/em> means she has to pee. Only once she recognizes the feeling can you get her to go where you want her to go. It\u2019s why poop training and pee training never align; they\u2019re two different feelings your dog needs to learn. (This is the same with toddlers and why it\u2019s a fool\u2019s errand to teach a too-young kiddo to use the toilet because this system hasn\u2019t come online yet.)<\/p>\n What if your dog\u2019s interoceptive awareness is weaker?<\/strong> Just like in humans, there\u2019s huge variability in how effective each sense is. So, if your dog has any degree of interoceptive dysfunction, she isn\u2019t great at reading the cues her internal organs give her brain. <\/p>\n She might not have a predictable response to pain.<\/p>\n It might be incredibly difficult to potty train this pup. (Or, conversely, with a heightened sense, you might be amazed at how easy potty training was.)<\/p>\n A dog with interoceptive dysfunction might never feel full\u2013or never hungry, depending on if it\u2019s over- or under-responsive.<\/p>\n These dogs (and, ahem, humans) can have trouble regulating stress, aggression, obsessions, and so on.<\/p>\n Interoceptive dysfunction isn\u2019t a medical diagnosis, but if your dog experiences any\u2013or many\u2013of these challenges and doesn\u2019t have another underlying health condition, it might be worth a conversation with your vet. <\/p>\n This system keeps your dog oriented in space. What does that mean?<\/p>\n Inside your dog\u2019s inner ear (and yours, too!) is a series of structures that help your dog maintain balance, detect and direct movement, stabilize their eye gaze, and more. <\/p>\n Your dog\u2019s sense of balance and spatial orientation comes from the vestibular system. <\/strong><\/p>\n What does that look like in practice? Well, it keeps your dog from falling, tripping, and crashing. (Zoomies notwithstanding!) <\/p>\n This hidden sense is extra tricky because it can become dysfunctional for all sorts of reasons like taking certain medications, stroke, brain tumor, nutritional deficiencies, and even chronic ear infections. <\/p>\n The symptoms are pretty difficult, too, like vertigo, nausea and vomiting, involuntary eye movements, loss of coordination, and so on. <\/p>\n Obviously, if your dog is displaying any of these symptoms, it\u2019s critical to first rule out underlying medical conditions. If everything is normal and your dog is still wobbly or uncoordinated or dizzy, it could be vestibular dysfunction<\/strong>. Sometimes this can come and go. In other cases, you might have to manage your environment pretty carefully.<\/p>\n This is my favorite of the three hidden senses in dogs. (And it\u2019s my favorite in us humans, too!)<\/p>\n The proprioceptive system provides a super unique function: It connects your muscles and joints to your brain and helps your brain control your body and determine force. <\/p>\n That\u2019s a little confusing, so let\u2019s look at an example. Say you\u2019re playing fetch with your dog. You pull your arm back and throw the ball. Your dog\u2019s proprioreceptive system kicks into gear, connecting his eyes to his muscles and joints so that he knows which direction to run and how fast. <\/p>\n In humans, it\u2019s like sitting at a busy intersection waiting to turn. Your proprioceptive system connects what your eyes are seeing to your foot to press the gas pedal and your arms to turn your steering wheel. <\/p>\n The receptors for this system are located in muscles, joints, and tendons. So, dogs with injuries that affect those parts of the body may have proprioceptive dysfunction. Likewise, this system helps control your dog\u2019s sense of balance, posture, and coordination, but it\u2019s distinct from the vestibular system, which resides only in the inner ear. <\/p>\n Proprioceptive dysfunction<\/strong> can look like clumsiness, lack of coordination, using too much (or too little) force to complete an action, and so on. <\/p>\n To badly paraphrase Maya Angelou: When we know better, we are obligated to do better.<\/p>\n Understanding these hidden senses is crucial for meeting our dogs\u2019 needs in a well-rounded way. <\/p>\n As a side story: My daughter has a sensory processing disorder and needs a ton of help with many of her sensory systems. Until we understood what was going on, though, it was challenging to give her the supports that were the most beneficial. Once we knew and understood what was going on, we were able to implement useful tools and practices. (BTW, we gave a presentation to her class at school to help her classmates understand what was going on, too, and you can view that here<\/a> if you think it might be helpful!)<\/p>\n So, if you notice your dog struggles with any sensory issues at all\u2013think: dislikes some types of touch, trips and falls or is uncoordinated, gets overstimulated easily<\/strong>\u2013consider if there might be some type of sensory dysfunction.<\/p>\n Then ask how best you can support that sensory struggle. <\/strong>And, for anyone who is dysregulated, as occupational therapists are fond of saying: When in doubt, prop it out! <\/p>\n That means giving proprioceptive input, i.e. heavy work. It\u2019s one of the ways to regulate the entire system. <\/p>\n What does proprioceptive input look like for our dogs? <\/strong><\/p>\n I thought about breaking this post into three, one for each sense, but I didn\u2019t know if anyone would sustain an interest for as long as I tend to nerd out on this stuff, so we\u2019ll consider this our overview! If you want to learn more, let me know, and I\u2019ll try to work it in soon.<\/p>\n Otherwise, I\u2019m curious:<\/strong> Did you know about these three hidden senses in dogs\u2013and in humans? What questions are you left with? Do you see any possible relationship to your dog and your dog\u2019s behavior? I\u2019d love to know in the comments!<\/p>\n And, if you enjoyed this post, you\u2019ll probably LOVE my book For the Love of Dog, which you can pre-order for only a couple more weeks!! Snag your copy on Amazon<\/a>, Bookshop.org<\/a>, or anywhere you prefer to buy books!<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ohmydogblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Hidden-senses-in-dogs.jpg?resize=683%2C1024&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nWhat are the three hidden senses in dogs?<\/h2>\n
Interoception<\/h3>\n
Vestibular<\/h3>\n
Proprioception<\/h3>\n
So, why do the hidden senses in dogs matter at all? Especially since they\u2019re hidden?<\/h2>\n
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In conclusion\u2026<\/h2>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ohmydogblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/9798888456910.jpg?resize=683%2C1024&ssl=1\")
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