Dogs are renowned for their powerful sense of smell, but it’s hard to convey just how incredible the canine nose is without reviewing some of the features that make it exceptional, even in the animal kingdom.
Though one might assume that a dog’s nose is just like a human's but far more powerful, there’s really no comparison. Yes, a dog’s sense of smell is more powerful, but by a truly incredible amount—at least 10,000 times more powerful (some experts say it’s more like 100,000 times). We have just 6 million olfactory receptors, whereas dogs have up to 300 million, giving them a far better ability to identify smells. Likewise, the odor-processing center in a dog’s brain is around 40 times larger than a human's.
They even have a specialized organ called the vomeronasal organ (also known as Jacobson’s organ) that serves as an additional olfactory system, helping them to identify animal pheromones (which perhaps explains why they love sniffing lamp posts and fire hydrants so much).
Everything about the anatomy of a dog’s nose is designed to maximize their ability to smell and use the information from those smells to navigate their world. They can operate their nostrils independently, helping them to accurately pinpoint the location of an odor. Dogs can sniff almost continuously because, rather than leaving the nose the same way it came in, exhaled air exits via slits on the sides of the nostrils. Perhaps more incredibly, their nasal passages divide up airflow into air for breathing and air for smelling. And even the characteristic wet nose of a healthy dog is linked to smell, as this moisture helps to secure scent particles.
The amazing canine nose:
- Dogs have been trained to use their incredible sense of smell for a wide range of applications. In addition to tracking game animals and locating missing people, they can also learn to detect weapons, narcotics, and even certain illnesses.
- Unlike working dogs, pet dogs aren’t required to use their incredible sense of smell for anyone else’s benefit, yet they still put it to good use. Dogs have been found to recognize their owner’s smell from 11 miles away (17.7 km) and can remember that smell even after being separated for years. They can also detect differences in their owner’s emotional state based on fluctuating hormone levels, such as adrenaline, that accompany feelings of stress.
- The next time you take your dog for a walk, keep in mind how vital it is for them to have the opportunity to process the world around them through their nose. While it may seem tedious to let your dog spend several minutes smelling a bush, they are taking in an huge amount of information with each sniff. Having regular opportunities to smell new things has been directly linked to improved canine behavior and emotional well-being.
