The adorable doggie nose. It sniffs, snuffs and snores. It contains forty times the scent receptors then the human nose. This incredible sense is how our pups learn much about the world we have them live in. You and I learn about our world visually, we see, we react to what we see and take it from there.

Our dogs, on the other hand, learn as much as we learn through sight by the use of their extraordinary sense of smell. The part of our pup’s brains that processes these smells is also highly developed. According to research, it seems that dogs can differentiate between two major types of scents when tracking a smell;  a smell in the air from something or someone that has recently been in the area and scents in the ground, which remain trackable for a longer period of time.

In spite of their innate ability to smell things, doing it as a job is actually very taxing for dogs. Dogs who are bred for this purpose, scent hounds for instance, have an even more highly developed sniffer, originally used for hunting purposes. We are used to seeing dogs trained to sniff out contraband in airports, border control and in crime investigation. These pups are trained to recognize specific scents such as narcotics, firearms, or agriculture products and are familiarized with the circumstances and situations under which they will work.

Even with all of their natural talent, only 1 out of every 10 dogs that is submitted to Canada’s Detector Dog Services Unit for training will be accepted into the training program to become a certified Detector Dog.

Search and Rescue dogs use airscenting, tracking and trailing as a primary means of assisting authorities in missing persons scenarios or crime solving cases. Countries around the world work with dogs for this purpose. Their routine success ensures that the mighty few who pass rigorous training live out their lives working hard with plenty of rewards, playtime and affection to keep them motivated.

Bearing all of that in mind, its no wonder that our pups spend a great deal of time sniffing, even if it isn’t professional! They can tell on their walk who has been there before, four or two-legged, if a dog was male or female, neutered or natural and they can smell a bitch in heat for miles away!
That is how they understand the world, that is how they know us, their pack. It is why they are underfoot or trying to climb all over us while we eat or cook something tasty.

For such a highly developed organ, the nose requires relatively little care from our end. Usually, it is cool and moist, the mucous secretion from inside the nose coats it and makes it more sensitive to odors (i.e. the scent ’sticks’ to the wetness).

When sleeping, the doggie nose is often warm and dry and perfect for kissing. Given that this is how our dogs experience the world, it is important to give scent a great deal of thought in our interaction with them.

I always like to think of Trusty, the old Bloodhound who has lost his sense of smell from Lady and the Tramp when thinking of a dog’s nose. He always tries to share tidbits from his “Grandpappy, Old Reliable,” a first rate tracker, but Trusty can’t quite recollect if he has mentioned Old Reliable, or what Old Reliable used to say!

When it counts, Trusty’s sense of smell saves Tramp’s life.

The truth is, any of our dogs would do the same for us.

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Dogs - General Interest

 

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