A dog's nose contains about 200 million olfactory cells. It is 10 times as many as we have.
This makes the dog's nose at least 40 times more effective than a human's nose. They have a larger olfactory cortex in the brain. The olfactory cortex processes the dog's nose data.
A dog's nose is the human eye. They construct their reality with the help of their nose. Dogs see with their nose so to say.
German Shepherds for example have an olfactory mucosa with an area of 200 square centimeters. Human olfactory mucous membranes are just 5 square centimeters in size.
The mucous membrane, with its moisturizing glands, wets the inside of a dog's nose. It's necessary so molecules from the air can be received by the olfactory cells in the nose. They send signals with the scents information to the dog's brain.
That is why dogs need to drink a lot. To maintain the moisture.
Dogs have a large olfactory brain. It makes up 10% of the dog's brain compared to ours with 1%.
The scents perceived by the olfactory cells in the nose are transmitted to the brain as electronic signals via the olfactory nerve. Processed it gives the dog the ability to "see by smelling".
They "see" you even when you are two blocks away.
A dog's nose is orientation and communication. They socialize through smelling, they talk pheromones. It is essential to them to be able to put their nose on the ground and even in other dogs butts.
YES!
Butt sniffing is our shake hands, high five, what's up. A social dog butt sniffs and should not be restricted by the owner. I know people think it's gross, but dogs perceive the world differently. It is us that need to understand that this is the best a dog can do. Aggression often results from hindering dogs to use their nose first.
So spoil your dog with letting him read the "WhatsApp chat" during a walk. Let your dogs sniff!
Special thanks to Juna for being such a great nose model!
