Dogs are amazing creatures, thanks in part to their noses! Canines have millions more scent receptors than humans, and their noses are 100,000 times more sensitive than ours. They can even smell the time of day and how long it’s been since their favorite person left the couch.
However, not all dogs have the same keen sense of smell. For instance, Pugs don’t typically fare as well as Beagles when tracking scents. Keep reading to learn 10 fascinating facts about your dog’s nose.
The 10 Fascinating Facts About Dog’s Noses
1. Dogs Have Around 200 Million Scent Receptors
Dogs have stunning senses of smell. The average dog has approximately 200 million smell receptors in their nose, while most humans only have around 5 million. However, some canines, particularly hounds and working breeds, have even more receptors than the average dog.
2. Dogs Tell Time with Their Noses
Scientists believe that dogs can tell time with their noses!1 If you pay close attention, you’ll notice that the smells in your home change over the course of the day. Air rises as it warms, creating indoor currents that carry odors.
Dogs pay attention to these shifts and learn to link the changes in smell to the passage of time. Your dog can also discern how long you’ve been gone based on the strength of your lingering smell. And when outside, they sniff everything in sight as it tells them who’s been hanging out nearby.
3. Dogs with Strong Noses Often Have Jobs
German Shepherds, Labrador Retrievers, Beagles, Basset Hounds, Harriers, Scottish Terriers, and Belgian Malinois all have keen senses of smell and often work as search and rescue and detection dogs. Beagles work with the United States Customs and Border Patrol teams as agricultural detection “officers,” and German Shepherds support narcotic and explosive detection teams.
Labradors and other sporting breeds have started to gain traction as detection dogs. They’re friendly, have excellent noses, and tend to be less intimidating to the public. Some Labradors and shepherds can detect diseases, such as diabetes and cancer, just by smell.
4. Dogs Have Unique Nose Prints
Each dog’s nose has a unique pattern of folds, dots, and creases. Nose prints provide such specific identification that the Canadian Kennel Club accepted them until 1992 when it switched to requiring tattoos or microchips.
Korean researchers evaluated the nose prints of 10 dogs and determined that dog noses are indeed unique. They also discovered that nose print patterns are completely formed when dogs reach around 2 months old and that once set, the whirls, dots, folds, and ridges don’t change as dogs grow or age.
5. Dogs Sniff In, Out, and While Breathing
When dogs sniff, they breathe in and out simultaneously, creating a continuous flow of scent molecules over their nasal receptors. To make things even more impressive, dogs can breathe in and out while allowing air to cycle over their scent organs.
After air enters a dog’s nostrils, some goes to their lungs, and some flows to the back of their nasal cavity, where it washes over the resident scent receptors. When sniffing, your dog sends more air to the part of their nose packed with olfactory receptors. Sniffed air flows outward from the curled slits on the side of your dog’s nose.
6. Dogs Smell Like Humans See
Dogs rely on smell more than humans can imagine, and it is more important than vision for humans. Dogs’ brains have about 40% more space dedicated to interpreting scent signals than human brains. A stunning 1/8th of your dog’s brain is dedicated to perceiving and interpreting scents.
Dogs can even smell in 3D thanks to this extra brain capacity and the ability to pick up and interpret scent signals from both nostrils separately. This provides your dog with two slightly different molecular scent profiles to interpret.
7. A Dry Nose Doesn’t Always Mean Your Dog Is Ill
Dogs usually have cold, wet noses, which makes many pet parents concerned when their dog’s nose feels hot and dry, thinking it could be a sign that their buddy isn’t feeling well. While a dry, hot nose can sometimes indicate illness, it’s often just a function of your dog licking their nose a bit less.
Dogs with fevers often have dry, hot noses, but some illnesses, such as the flu, cause fevers and wet, running noses. Have your dog checked out by your veterinarian if they start licking their nose more than usual, feel hot to the touch, and begin sneezing or coughing.
8. Dogs Also Smell With Their Mouths
Dogs have a second scent organ, the vomeronasal or Jacobson’s organ. It stretches between the dog’s nasal cavity and mouth, opening close to their front teeth. The organ’s nerves connect directly to the brain and don’t detect the same range of smells as those in the dog’s nose.
Your dog’s Jacobson’s organ allows them to detect scents entirely odorless to humans. Dogs often lick their noses to bring scent molecules closer to their Jacobson’s organ. When dogs flare their nostrils and sort of smile, they’re smelling with their mouths. The Jacobson’s organ is sensitive to pheromones, particularly those involved in mating.
9. Wet Noses Help Collect Odors
Your dog’s nose naturally produces mucus to moisten their delicate nasal passages. Some of it helps the outside of their nose stay nice and wet. A hydrated nose is so important to dogs; they’ll often lick their nose to get it nice and slobbery.
Watch your dog the next time they encounter an interesting scent. If they’re like most, they will take a few sniffs and then lick their nose. This hydrates the outside of their nose and improves their sense of smell, as moisture makes it easier for dogs’ nasal receptors to detect scent.
10. Dogs Recognize Their Mothers By Scent
Newborn puppies are born defenseless. They can’t see or hear until they’re around 10 to 14 days old, but they arrive in this world with their sense of smell fully intact. Newborn dogs that can’t see or hear can find their mothers in seconds through smell.
All dogs produce pheromones that provide information about their gender, health, age, and reproductive status. Pheromones even carry information about their diet and health. They make up each dog’s personal scent signature.
Dogs that can’t see recognize their mother and littermates by smell. They have scent memory, allowing them to identify their mother instantly after years of separation.
Conclusion
Dogs have astonishing noses and can smell up to 100,000 times better than humans. They use this supersense to pick up information about other animals, including how long ago they happened to be in the neighborhood, and even to determine the time of day.
Dogs are so talented with their noses that they can identify conditions such as cancer and diabetes just by smell. Breeds with powerful smelling abilities, like Beagles and Basset Hounds, often work on search and rescue and agricultural product detection teams.
Featured Image Credit: Miranda, Pixabay
Contents
- The 10 Fascinating Facts About Dog’s Noses
- 1. Dogs Have Around 200 Million Scent Receptors
- 2. Dogs Tell Time with Their Noses
- 3. Dogs with Strong Noses Often Have Jobs
- 4. Dogs Have Unique Nose Prints
- 5. Dogs Sniff In, Out, and While Breathing
- 6. Dogs Smell Like Humans See
- 7. A Dry Nose Doesn’t Always Mean Your Dog Is Ill
- 8. Dogs Also Smell With Their Mouths
- 9. Wet Noses Help Collect Odors
- 10. Dogs Recognize Their Mothers By Scent
- Conclusion
