Connie Standley has epilepsy, and fits can strike at any moment. Although she used to be trapped in her home, a prisoner of her unpredictable illness, she now lives a normal life, thanks to a unique warning system. The Floridian has two enormous Bouvier des Flandres dogs, who've learned about their owner's affliction. A half-hour before a seizure is about to strike, the dogs pull on her clothes and drag her by the hand to get her to a place of safety before the seizure begins. Connie reckons that her dogs predict more than 75 percent of her seizures.

Although we like to think of ourselves as the most well developed of all species on the planet, animals have abilities that far surpass us in almost every regard.

Most of us are aware of the special talents of different animals - that they can remember better than us (in the case of squirrels and nuts), navigate better than us (in the case of birds) or hear or smell better than us (in the case of dogs). But most remarkable of all is the ability of animals to predict events.

Although doctors tend to pour cold water on the possibility of animals predicting illness, cases abound of dogs predicting epileptic seizures in their owners. Many are trained to be seizure-response dogs to help their owners get to a safe place before a seizure has begun. These dogs have been taught to lie down on top of their owner or fetch his medicine, once a seizure has begun.

Such trained behavior is well within the reach of any dog. But many owners report that their dogs have moved from responding to seizures to predicting them. This has arisen spontaneously; most trainers believe it is impossible to train a dog to anticipate a fit, as humans themselves have no reliable early-warning system. Yet, some 10 per cent of people with seizure-response dogs claim their dogs have become seizure-alert dogs (Grandin T, Johnson C. Animals in Translation. New York: Scribner's, 2005). Indeed, Florida is considering giving epileptic-alert dogs the same status as seeing-eye dogs.

According to Dr. Rupert Sheldrake, the first study of dog epilepsy prediction was by British vet Andrew Edney, who studied dogs of all breeds who'd become seizure-alert. Of the 21 owners who responded to Edney's survey, all claimed that their dogs developed this talent without training. In all cases, the dogs would show: 1) concern, apprehension or fear; 2) attention-getting behaviour, usually barking or whining; 3) making frantic contact with the owner either by jumping up, or licking his hands or face; 4) standing by their owner, encouraging him/her to lie down or shepherding him/her to safety.

During the seizure, the dogs either stayed with their owners, often licking them, or rushed to get help. According to Edney's study, the dogs had a remarkable track record. One pet even could distinguish a 'fake' seizure from a real one. (Sheldrake R. Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home. Hutchinson, 1999).

Medical scientist and dog-lover Val Strong founded Support Dogs in 1992 to train dogs to help physically disabled owners. Several years later, when a physically disabled epileptic contacted them about having a companion dog, Val hit upon the idea of attempting to train the dog to predict the woman's seizures. They chose a rescue dog (most of the trained dogs are from a shelter) and, within three months, the dog was giving the woman a half-hour warning as well as arriving with a blanket and the telephone once she'd had her seizure. Because the woman often finds it difficult to talk immediately after seizure, the dog has been trained to bark down the phone to her friends.

Trainers like Val Strong, who has now founded Seizure Alert Dogs®, emphasize that they don't train dogs to recognize an epileptic fit per se. Instead, they simply observe the dog's reactions prior to a fit and train it to accentuate its behavior. So, if a dog reacts by staring at the owner, Val will teach it to lick the owner's face, jump up or tug on his hand. Some Seizure Alert Dogs® even jump on top of their owner and shake, imitating the seizures they've observed. In Val's experience, most - if not all - dogs that are closely bonded with their owner will be able to predict fits.

Val's Support Dogs is now investigating other avenues: seizure-response dogs for children; hypoglycaemia-alert dogs for diabetics; and even canine help for people with emotional conditions. Although traditional medics believe it mostly has to do with smell, a heightened sense of smell doesn't account for the times animals have made these predictions long-distance. As Sheldrake says, the answer may lie closer to the same information source that helps pets read their owners' thoughts and intentions - a non-local clue from The Field.

Lynne McTaggart is a journalist and the award-winning author of the bestselling book The Field. Her latest book is The Intention Experiment. She also publishes several alternative health and spirituality newsletters. For more information: livingthefield.com & theintentionexperiment.com