With upwards of 100 million scent receptors (compared to our 5 or 6 million) there is no doubt that sniffing is a superpower for our canine companions.
Dogs’ primary sense is scent, and they sniff to find out more about their surroundings. When you let your dog to stop and sniff, you are allowing them to connect with and understand their environment.
The detailed information that dogs can gather from sniffing is astounding – they can tell the age, sex and health of other dogs who were there before them just by smelling scent marked areas.
Astonishingly, dogs can detect scents up to 40ft underground, and from over a mile away in open water. One amazing retriever worked with marine biologists to sniff out whale poo in the ocean! He would indicate which direction the boat needed to go by pointing with his nose, and then point downwards to the specific area where whale poo was located. The scientists could then collect samples for testing.
Snout science – did you know…?
- The smelling portion of a dog’s brain (the olfactory cortex) is 40 times larger than a human’s.
- Dogs have an additional scent organ called the Jacobson’s organ which is also found in cats, snakes and horses. This organ has special scent receptors that detect pheromones (chemical messages that influence the behaviour of other animals of the same species).
- Thanks to all their extra scent receptors, a dog’s nose can pick up scents far beyond our reach. For example, when humans smell something cooking, we smell a complete dish. But dogs can detect each individual ingredient.
- Sniffing increases your dog’s respiration rate, and they use lots of mental energy processing the information they’re picking up. This make sniffing a tiring activity.
Sniffing provides a great deal of mental stimulation for dogs, and studies have shown that it produces feel-good hormones and even increases optimism. When you let your dog stop and sniff, you are literally making them happy.
Letting your dog choose when to stop and sniff on a walk can be a great confidence builder, and has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety too – games like ‘find it’ are a great way to encourage your dog to sniff. Find out how to play on our engagement games page.
A sniff-centric walk adds valuable mental stimulation to complement your dog’s physical exercise, and lots of sniff stops can be nice opportunities for us humans to pause and take in our surroundings too.
Top tips for a sniff-centric walk
- Let your dog follow their nose. Allowing your dog to take the lead by letting them choose when and where to stop and sniff is a wonderful way to add more choice to your dog’s day.
- Keep your dog busy and engaged with sniffy games. Hide treats or part of your dog’s daily portion of kibble in the environment. You can then ask your dog to ‘find it’ and watch them have fun using their nose to locate the hidden snack.
- Mix things up and introduce your dog to new and different environments. Different habitats host different smells, and exploring somewhere new can be very enriching and enjoyable for dogs. Just remember to keep paws on paths where asked and follow requests on signage.
If you’re keen to take your dog on a sniffari somewhere new, take a look at our ‘where to walk’ page where you will find a variety of interesting routes to try.
