8 Awesome Facts About Your Dog’s Powerful Sense of Smell

Every living creature has its own way of interpreting the world. From your canine companions to a furry friend, every cute animal develops a perception about the environment, surroundings, and world its living in. While some have strong intuitive capacities, there are animals with an exceptional smelling power. In case you have petted a dog, you will be aware of its power to smell danger and sense the surroundings.

Dogs possess a remarkable and exceptional sense of smelling. Their nose turns out to be a powerful apparatus that helps them walk through every situation easily. Your four-legged companion relies on its nose to sense dangers lurking round the corner. That’s not all; its sniffing capabilities has also earned it prestigious job roles in police departments and anti-terrorism squads. How about taking a look at the amazing facts that say how your canine friend is equipped with this unique smelling power.


Pointers to note
Before we dive directly into the discussion, dog owners would be intrigued to know an awesome fact. If you take a close look at the physiological structure of your pet’s nose, you will come across dual functions. A dog has this exceptional capability to classify air. While one part of the nasal system deals with the olfactory functions, the other part helps the creature breathe. When it comes to comparing your dog’s sense of smell with its human counterparts, you will surely come across certain exciting facts. Here are some:

1) Stinky humans

You might be bathing often in a day and using mesmerizing perfumes. Even then, your dog will find you stinky. Every individual has a distinctive smell associated with him or her. It is this body odor that helps a dog identify a person. Pet dogs are acquainted with the odors of almost all the people living in the house. Their sense of smelling helps them distinguish amongst people.

2) Strong smellers

Dogs can smell dangers or any undesired activity even from a distance. Compared to human beings, their sniffing capabilities are better and stronger. Research and market studies reveal that your dog’s smelling capability is 1000 to 10000000 stronger than yours. That explains why they are included in police squads and search-and-found operations.

3) Scent detection

Although humans can smell different type of scents and perfumes, they are no quite equipped to differentiate between them. A canine can do that perfectly and also identify the presence of other creatures in the vicinity. The vomeronasal organs in dogs help them detect, sense, and identify pheromones. They easily get to know about the presence of other animals in the area, and that proves to be an integral part of their physiology.

4) 3D smelling

Just like the ways human beings perceive the world through 3D imaging, dogs do it the same way. When you view something with your eyes, you actually develop two different images of the object thus compiling it for a 3D picture. Quite similarly, canines identify various odor profiles thus developing a correlation between them. They study and examine these images later on alongside developing a 3D profile of all these odors.

5) Smelling your feelings

Dogs can sense your mental state just by sniffing. Human beings can’t identify feelings such as anxiety, fear, or adrenaline-rush with the help of their nose. However, your canine partner can pick up such feelings readily and understand what your mind is going through. You can mask the inner desires or your state of mind from another human being, but not from the furry companion at home.

6) Expressions through peeing

Whenever you take your best companion out for a walk, it sniffs around profusely. Right from smelling the neighborhood, surroundings, and adjacent areas to sniffing around the road, dogs get engaged into a lot of smelling action. However, the best part is when the animal decides to express these feelings. Dogs usually do that through urination as that is the best way to express their thoughts.

7) Getting to know each other more

At times, dog owners come across situations when they sniff at each other’s nether areas. This is an exciting way of getting introduced to each other. While dog owners get to know a lot about canine behavior through chitchat sessions with other people, canines also have their own way of learning. Sniffing the nether areas give them the chance to understand a particular aspect of dog behavior along with helping in the communication process.

8) Unique nasal architecture

What most of the people are unaware of is the special and amazing nasal architecture possessed by dogs. With almost 300 million receptors for olfactory functioning, dog noses are capable of performing diverse jobs. Apart from classifying scents and breathing, dogs can also identify and determine the direction of a particular smell. The nasal architecture helps the creature move its nose independently, which provides the impetus to perform advanced functions. Your canine partner will identify the direction as well as the nature of the smell.

Know your furry companion

Dogs are awesome partners for any person. They are the perfect companions in times of distress, the most reliable security professionals, as well as lovely pets. It is quite evident that you would like to know about its behavioral characteristics and things that make it unique. With this information on its smelling instincts, you will surely know why your canine friend is amazing and distinctive.