Canine Scenting Abilities

Last week I let my dogs out after waking. As usual, they were out about 5 minutes then came back in to eat their breakfast. 10 minutes later I was letting them out for "round 2" in the yard. The second I opened the door, all three headed immediately to an area under our deck - a spot for which they showed no interest just 10 minutes earlier. After getting them back indoors, I went out and found a young skunk had made it's way under the deck as sunrise arrived. The thing that I found most amazing was how all 3 of my dogs knew the skunk had come into our yard - this, of course, by scent (and no, the skunk did not spray anything ;->)!

In the winter I enjoy watching my dogs track things outdoors with their noses. In fresh snow, I can see tracks of the various animals they are smelling. While many people are aware of how keen a dog's nose can be, how many consider how such profound 'scenting' ability must alter their perception of our world? I often wonder if it's like the difference between seeing two-dimensional shadows vs three-dimensional images. And while a dog's sense of smell is really beyond our comprehension, they can also separate out very specific scents. And they can be trained to track, trail, or react to those specific scents. Think about that for a while, and it can be quite humbling.

While I feature stories about dogs every day on my Daily K9 page, I wanted to share the story below. I ran across this story the same my dogs had impressed me with their noses. Angus searches out bacteria in hospitals that can cause patient infections. Aren't dogs amazing?