The dog's nose is a powerful device that guides them through their days in some pretty impressive ways. Allowing your dog to spend five minutes of sniffing can tire your dog out as much as an hours physical exercise. This is because it isn't just their noses working, a large part of their brains are being used as well.
Your dog has up to 300 million olfactory receptors compared to a human that has about 6 million. This means a dog's sense of smell is 100,000 times better than ours. They can detect half a teaspoon of sugar in an Olympic sized swimming pool! So you can imagine when your dog sniffs a patch of grass they are taking in so much information!
Dogs have an extra olfactory organ called the vomeronasal organ. Also known as the Jacobsons organ. It is responsible for detecting pheromones and helps a dog identify suitable mates, recognise between friendly animals or potential predators and illnesses
Dogs continually sniff the air, ground and things nearby to get information on what is happening around them. The design of the nostrils accommodates this process. Remember this and watch your dog a bit closer when out on your next walk
Dogs will sniff to maximize their detection of odours. When they sniff continuously, washing out of the odour does not occur due to the presence of a nasal pocket created by the bony subethmoidal shelf. This pocket allows the unrecognisable odours to accumulate and interact with the olfactory receptors longer. This means the information can be passed along to the olfactory nerves and eventually to the dog’s brain aiding the dog in recognizing a scent and following a trail
Do you have a nervous or reactive dog? Sniffing can help them feel more secure - as they have spent time working out what is out there and whether it needs to be worried about or whether, far more likely, it is safe. This is also important to remember when introducing your dog or puppy to a new environment. Let them take everything in at their own pace. Slow and steady wins the race!
For active dogs, or for dogs who start their walks totally uncontrollable and either pulling on the lead in their excitement, or else whizzing around all over the place, time spent sniffing can take the edge off their unfocussed energy. You will both enjoy your walk much more!
We have mentioned what great abilities our dog's have using their noses we know dogs can be trained to scent detect a wide variety of odours. This includes
Drugs
Money
Explosives
Cancer
Covid 19
Tracking missing people and animals
Dog's can be trained to become "Medical Detection Dog's" and help assist people with type 1 diabetes, Addison's and severe nut allergies. Check out www.medicaldetectiondogs.org.uk for more information on this
Did you know we UK Sniffer Dog Bronze and Silver Courses? Your dog could become a pet detective and use their noses to their full ability!
Details are here....
