How and what do dogs scent?
Smelling is the strongest and
the most important of dog’s senses. Canines
communicate and get information about the
environment through smells. Some researchers
even believe that while people “see” dreams,
dogs smell them.
The rhinarium of a healthy
dog is cold and moist. The moist works as a kind
of “sticker” or “glue” that traps even the
smallest particles of smell. Through nostrils
they drift to nasal cavity and forward to the
brains. The nasal cavity contains millions of
cells that are specialized in processing
information about smells. The part of the brains
that process information is much bigger and more
complex than one of a human.
Dogs scent is thousands of
times more effective than one of a human, at
least. Some people say that the number is one or
maybe two thousands and the others talk about
hundreds of thousands while some people assume
that the dogs scent is hundreds of millions
times as effective as humans. Comparing one
attribute in two species is always difficult
(possibly impossible), but scent being
subjective experience makes things even more
complicated. In addition, the dogs scent, is not
a stable feature and one snout is never
completely similar to another. Old age, diseases
and drugs may weaken the dog’s ability to smell.
Also fleas in snout may affect. The most
important thing however is that the worlds of
smells that human and dogs can sense are not
alike. Unlike a human being, a dog can
1) detect very weak stimulus
2)
detect
and identify myriads of smells
3) remember and recognize myriads of different
smells
Every dog owner should
understand, that a dog experiences (read:
smells) lots of things that we’re incapable to
understand. For example, dog gets lots of
information (gender, age…) about dog walking
tens of meters before it only by smelling his
pee or the air drifting between them. Everyone
who ever has got frustrated by a dog that stops
to smell ever single lamp and mail box should
remember that the dog is trying to discern the
world, not to tease his owner. This may (or may
not) comfort those, whose dogs are completely
house-trained, but do their business on the
living-room carpet as the first thing when
visiting. Instead of embarrassing his owner and
ruining all the social relationships the dog is
trying to get to know the new and possibly scary
environment. |
