A dog’s nose
All Dogs Love Sniffing! In fact, this natural instinct makes it a basic necessity for them.
Their nose helps them to “see” and understand the world around them. Your dog has between 200 to 300 million olfactory receptors compared to your 6 million. They can do some amazing things with their nose and they absolutely love using it.
The part of their brain that is responsible for interpreting these scents is 40 times larger than ours. The olfactory bulb is responsible for sending signals to their brain, which science has proven that when activated, makes the dog feel good, releasing those happy hormones - exactly what we we want to do for all our dogs!
Allowing your dog to sniff will release a lot of pent up energy, leaving them calmer and more satisfied in that environment. This has multiple benefits, it will allow you to keep your dog’s focus and attention for training and general obedience. Additionally sniffing releases your dog’s endorphins, leaving them in a positive state of mind, this can greatly improve the lives of nervous / reactive dogs.
Fun fact: Did you know dogs can technically use their noses to ‘see’ into the past and into the future.
Their sense of smell is so strong that they can pick up on scents like of other dogs and people, who have been in that area before you, basically allowing them to understand the past! And, their noses allow them to pick up scents through the air, which could tell them who is ahead of them, helping our dogs to understand who they might meet in the future!
How your dog’s nose works:
When a dog smells, the air is pulled in through their nose where they can identify different chemicals from the scent by using two distinct methods: orthonasal and retronasal olfaction. Their bodies send some of the air to the oflactory bulb to be analysed and some to their lungs, allowing them to breathe whilst they sniff.
What does scent work involve?
Some owners may not realise that they are practicing nose work at home already… your dog probably knows to ‘find the ball’ or how to use their nose to look for their favourite food toy scent. This is your dog using their nose to locate an item. To make this game more challenging we can hide these items to make searches, such as boxes paper bags or even Tupperware!
