Has your dog ever woken you up by licking you on the face, or perhaps offering affectionate ‘snoot boops’? Does Fido sometimes get completely fixated on an aroma he’s picked up on his walk? Your canine companion’s cute nose is likely one of his most adorable features. It’s also pretty amazing in and of itself! A local vet talks about Man’s Best Friend’s sniffer below.
Keen Smell
We all know that dogs have a great sense of smell and the actual data is pretty interesting. Fido has as many as 300 million scent receptors in his nose. In contrast, we only have a mere 6 million. To put that another way, dogs can sniff out a single drop of liquid in 20 Olympic-sized pools.
A Helping Nose
We’ve long used Fido’s keen sense of smell for tracking and hunting. However, these days, one can find pups trained to specifically sniff out many different things, including drugs, bombs, dead bodies, and even bedbugs. Some of our furry buddies are also able to detect things like illnesses and imbalances in the human body, and can smell things like upcoming seizures, cancer, and blood sugar changes.
Something New
As you have probably already noticed, Fido is always on the prowl for new smells. (There’s actually a name for this: neophilia.) Indulge your four-legged friend a bit. Let him stop to smell the roses on his walks. That’s also a great life lesson for us!
Noseprint
Here’s another fun fact: your furry best friend’s nose has a print all its own. Much like our fingerprints, dogs’ noseprints are all different and no two are alike. (Note: if Fido likes making nose art on your windows, use newspaper and vinegar to clean your pup’s ‘canvas’ so he can start on his next masterpiece.)
Wet Or Dry
You’ve probably heard that when a dog’s nose is dry, it means that he’s sick. That actually isn’t the case! However, a wet nose does have its advantages. The Moisture helps to trap scent particles, which makes it easier for Fido to smell … everything.
Truffle Hunters
Pigs are often used for sniffing out truffles, as you may know. However, they also tend to damage the truffles in the process. Fido has helped to solve that problem. Dogs—particularly the Lagotto Romagnolo breed—are now often used in the place of pigs.
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