Dogs and smelling

[smartrock]

Here's a recent article from the NYTimes about a dog's sense of smell. I never thought about why else they might wag their tails!

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/11/science/dogs-can-train-us-to-have-a-better-sense-of-smell.html?_r=0

[Shelley]

Hmmm.... Dispersing the scent from their anal glands... Makes sense, actually, and I never thought of it that way either. LOL Fascinating.

[labsnewfy]

Poor little Ginger is always shouting out hello.... she has no tail to cover or send off her own scent LOL My cats sniff and smell too along with lick things too, especially my Tucker. He licks blankets clothes, my hands etc.

There are times I do just let my kids lead me on a walk where their noses lead them I follow - it is amazing to just watch them in their element. That is why I love to take them for rides just after it rains, you can smell the wet dirt and trees. They smell so much more then I do and are usually ready for a nap when we get home. The car rides really help if they are supposed to be quiet.

[Snowshoe]

The dispersing scent theory makes sense but then how to explain a meeting where each is trying to impress the other and tails are stiff and straight up? Wouldn't more scent dispersal be the thing for them to do then?

A fear of following a scent that I have is that my dog will find someone's body. So many times that has happened as reported in the news. So when they dive into the bush I always pray it's a bird. There have been bodies, but animal bodies. And that awful dumped freezer garbage this summer.