A man sits on the couch, his dog alseep in the next room. He thinks, "I should take Daisy for a walk," and suddenly his dog comes bounding in the room, leash in mouth.

A cat curls up next to the phone just before a family member calls, but never when anyone else is about to call. These stories are told by many pet owners from all over the world.

Most dogs and cats are attuned to their owners and learn their patterns, read their body language and anticipate what's going to happen next.

But there are so many stories of pets seeming to know more than their natural senses would allow that it has been the subject of study and debate for years. Are their natural senses even greater than we ever imagined? Or do they have a sixth sense?

Biologist Rupert Sheldrake, author of "Dogs That Know When Their Owner is Coming Home," believes that animals have perceptive abilities of telepathy and premonitions. Veterinarian and author Dr. Allan Schoen says in his book, "Kindred Spirits," that people and animals are intimately connected. Pets whom we feel especially close to seem to understand our needs, read our moods, and even communicate with us on a level that transcends words or body language.

Can pets be so connected and attuned to their owners when they are far apart, even when there is no possible way they could be using their sense of smell or hearing?

Physician and author Dr. Larry Dossey says there is a connection between all species, which is not limited by locality. He refers to it as a "nonlocal mind." Consciousness is not restricted to the brain or the body, or time or place. Therefore, people and animals can have an effect on each other, even when miles apart.

Traditional scientists remain skeptical about psychic abilities among people -- let alone pets. They say much of the phenomenon can be explained in other ways, through pets' acute senses of hearing and smell, reading human body language, or noting other cues.

Dogs and cats live mostly in a scent and sound world. It may be that when an owner thinks about taking her dog for a walk, this happy thought causes a change in her body chemistry, which the dog can smell and associate with walks. Some who swear their dog knows when their owner is coming home may find their pets are unable to do so when they come home in a different car.

A simpler explanation is that owners notice their pets' mysterious behaviors only when related events coincide. The cat may curl up by the phone now and then, but the owner doesn't notice. If the cat happens to sit by the phone when "dad" calls, the owner is more likely to take note.

There is no dispute that our pets live on a sensory level that's different from our own. Though we share the same five known senses, dogs and cats take in their world mostly through scent and sound and act on instinct. We take in our world mostly through sight and act on intellect and emotion. So it's not surprising that our pets are able to clue in on things that we can't imagine could be possible. But sometimes, hard science has no explanation for extraordinary pet perception.

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