Thursday, April 30, 2015

What the Dogs Nose Knows!


What Does the Dogs Nose Know? 


Dogs use their nose in the same way humans might use their hands. A dog's nose can detect particles in parts per trillion. They can have 300 million olfactory receptors in their noses compared to the human beings meager 5-6 million. The dog's portion of their brain that is dedicated to smell is roughly 40 times greater than humans. When a human breathes, we breath and smell at the same time. We have a small area on the top of the nasal cavity that gives us our sense of smell as we breath air in. When a dog exhales, the exhaled air goes through slits in the sides of their nostrils that allows fresh scent to be taken to their olfactory sensors even while they exhale. Dogs can wiggle their nostrils independently helping them to determine which nostril an odor arrived in and aids them in locating the source of odors. That is why you see them weave back and forth across the odors invisible trail.


This unique sniffing ability is why dogs are used to detect many different odors including, explosives, drugs, insects, people, cancer, animals and many other things. When a dog exhibits the right behaviors and is then paired with the appropriate human handler, they can be invaluable in finding what might take us days or weeks and sometimes the human may be unable to detect them at all. 



Finding the right dog for the job can be challenging but fortunately for the Honu, we found the right hound.