Why Do Dogs Sniff?
Did you know that the nose is the greatest asset of a dog? The sense of smell is the most sensitive sense of man’s best friends. This sense coupled with the excellent hearing ability is what makes these animals excel as hunters.
Hunters would know that the tracking abilities of the hunting dog is attributed to a great extent to its scenting ability. Breeds of hounds can find a wounded animal by following a track that has gone cold not only for hours but for several days. Dogs really do have powerful scenting abilities. Do dogs sniff a lot because they are honing the already powerful scenting ability? Dog owners are already aware of the ordinary and the not so ordinary habits of the pet. Nonetheless, you would still be perplexed by the dog’s habit of sniffing anything in its environment.
The ground, the grass, the food and especially the feces will be sniffed by the dog. Dog not only sniff humans but the backside of other dogs too. There has to be a reason why these animals have an unaccountable inclination to sniff. Dogs are very curious animals thus they have the tendency to investigate their environment and in the absence of hands the nose will be the dog’s most excellent tool.
Dogs are hunters but they are hunted as well. With the heightened scenting power of the dog, the location of a prey and the presence of a predator will be revealed. A dog merely have to sniff the air to know the imminent danger from predators.
Dogs use an excellent method to communicate with each other very well. Of course dogs would make use of the movements of the different parts of the body to convey a message to other dogs. However, it cannot be doubted that the dog’s nose and consequently sniffing, have played an important role in dog to dog communication. Have you noticed how dogs would sniff each other’s rear end? The doggie smell secreted by the dog’s glands that is unique to every dog is used by dogs to identify each other. Dogs sniff a lot and their sense of smell is far superior to what humans have. The inclination to sniff is a valuable asset of rescue dogs as with this ability, a lot of people have been saved from death. Sniffing dogs are now being trained to detect some types of cancer in humans. We can now understand the reasons for the dog’s inclination to sniff.
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