The nose knows

[dOg]

We were very fortunate to have the opportunity to listen to <span style="color: #3366FF">Tom Brownlee</span> speak to us and give a
shorter version of his Olfaction & Scent Basics seminar. Three and a half hours just FLEW by!

In an effort to retain the material, I reviewed my notes from that seminar and thought it might be useful to all to share:

Ever seen a skeletal head of a big dog or wolf? They have a honeycomb
of turbanates which are covered with a layer of tissue, which are covered
with receptors, and each of those have dendrites, microscopic hairs which
have kinky shapes which trap gas molecules.

Dogs have 220 Million receptor cells, humans have only 50 Million.
The Olfactory bulb of a dog's brain takes up 50% of the grey matter,
whereas in a human it's only about 12%.
Conservatively, they can smell 120 times better than we can...
do all the math in their favor and it's more like 330 times better.

The nairs of a dog do amazing work to stir the air. Normally the air circulates
in one direction when inhaling and the other when exhaling, though they can
click a valve to seperate them so one works the opposite direction to plow up
the scent in the air.

Gas molecules do not bond with others, are heavier than air, so tend to sink,
but very light so the different molecules tend to stratify and collect in low undisturbed
spots.

So there are many gases involved. Crushed vegetation gives off a diaminal butane.
Animal, vegatation and earth all give off a putrescin, and faunal skin and breath give off
a diaminal pentane. Spent adrenaline provides an epinephrine off of breath and sweat.
A cornicopia of scent creates a cone shape trail behind a track layer, whether it's a
training exercise, a criminal on the run, a lost child or alzhiemer's patient.

Scent tends to cling to moisture and vegetation, so the weeds in the cracks of
urban sidewalks are more interesting than the concrete, and morning dew is
an aid to tracking training. A 3 hour window is about all a trail can stay "hot" for,
and dry heat can shorten that window.

Dogs also have a vomero organ on the roof of their mouths as well,
tongue flicks and jaw chatters feed this organ with vital information.

We can train a dog to indicate on a given scent, be it a person, or a substance
in the case of drug or bomb detection, or other contraband, be it plastics or a plethora
of things which give off gases we cannot be aware of. The dog can detect parts per million.

OK, now this is just me rambling:

Amazing to us, so ill equipped to discern. Now one would think a creature who could smell so well
surely would have enough sense to know a cat turd is not a tootsie roll, but the fact is,
they can smell undigested protien and as scavengers, digest it. It disgusts us, but
we are not dogs.

So your dog's toy, with his slobber all over it, is not such a difficult task to find.

I have 2 gsds, my older female is a frisbee nutjob. Visiting kids were tossing frisbees on a Thursday,
while I was at work. Saturday, I asked her where was her frisbee? Off she went, nose to the ground,
casting left & right in an ever widening triangle. A bit later she was barking up a tree, on her hind legs.
One of the 2 frisbees was stuck up on a pine bough.

Later I asked her where the other one was, off she went, later she downed next to a privacy fence.
I thought she was just tired, and ignored it. Later I asked again, she went to the same place,
looked at me as if I was a moron, looked at the fence, back at me, as if to say, "I already answered your
dumb question!"

I went into the nieghbor's yard on the other side of where she sat and found her frisbee.

Yeah, they surely can smell something crazy ! In tracking, most days
it's a matter of them training us!

[Chris Wild]

Great summary, Dan! Glad everyone enjoyed the seminar and found it informative.

[acurajane]

Thanks for posting that!

[Debbieg]

That is fascinating! Benny always has his nose to the ground when we first go outside. Sometimes i am afraid he will stub his nose He air scents like crazy when we start approaching the house where an aggressive dog lives in the front yard.
Our dogs must get very frustrated because we don't smell what they do!

He is good at finding hidden toys too. Now I need to train him to find my keys!

[LHunter82FXRS]

Thanks for sharing that informative info!

[Ruthie]

Good summary, dOg. I really enjoyed the seminar too. My favorite facts were...
- A dog can identify a scent at 1.4 parts per trillion
- Wrapping something in plastic only improves the ability for a dog to scent it because the compression increases the airborne molecules (Which explains why the dogs know that there are treats in my shopping bags as soon as I come in the door even though they are shrink wrapped and in a plastic bag.)
- There is no such thing as an air tight container.
- Drug dogs can tell if there are drugs in a school from the moment they come in the door

My favorite quote (paraphrasing)...
I don’t know why people put so much stock in the amount of time someone has been working with dogs. Some people just have the knack and can read a dog after a short time.

[LHunter82FXRS]

Originally Posted By: Ruthie....
- Wrapping something in plastic only improves the ability for a dog to scent it because the compression increases the airborne molecules (Which explains why the dogs know that there are treats in my shopping bags as soon as I come in the door even though they are shrink wrapped and in a plastic bag.)

...

That is so interesting b/c, just like you, I have always wondered how Chico can pick out what his treat is from the grocery store.

[Chris Wild]

I think my favorite quote was (and imagine this being said to K9 handlers, which is what the seminarian usually works with)

"If you don't sound like a 7yo girl, you're not praising your dog properly."

[LHunter82FXRS]

Originally Posted By: Chris WildI think my favorite quote was (and imagine this being said to K9 handlers, which is what the seminarian usually works with)

"If you don't sound like a 7yo girl, you're not praising your dog properly."

I actually had to "train" myself to do that. Now when we are out in public and people are around, I get some strange looks when I start telling Chico he is such a good boy and I'm so proud of him. A few people have asked me why I talk to him like a baby and I explain that he responds a lot better to my "happy" voice than my normal one

[Debbieg]

Originally Posted By: Chris WildI think my favorite quote was (and imagine this being said to K9 handlers, which is what the seminarian usually works with)

"If you don't sound like a 7yo girl, you're not praising your dog properly."

That makes me feel a lot better. My family thinks i sound silly when I praise Benny!