Some people might say that it isn’t possible to make a comparison of a dog’s sense of smell vs. human’s sense of smell. It is clear that a dog’s nose is far superior.
You can observe it merely from the way a dog’s nose visibly twitches, detecting some scent or other that neither you nor I can smell at all. When was the last time you noticed a human’s nose twitch like that?
In this article, we will be considering the dog’s sense of smell vs. human, even if only to celebrate the fact that our dogs are fantastic, and have amazing noses!
Namely, in this article, we will discuss:
- The Anatomy & Capability Of A Dog’s Nose Vs. a Human Nose
- Why A Dog’s Sense Of Smell Is So Important To Them
- How A Dog’s Sense Of Smell Has Been Useful To Humans
So let’s get started!
The Capability Of A Dog Sense Of Smell VS. Human
You might be wondering, how different is the dog’s sense of smell vs. human?
Before we look at the actual anatomy of your nose and your dog’s nose, let us take a moment to appreciate the significant difference in the capabilities of each.
Firstly, the human nose is pretty impressive.
According to a Neuroscientist called John McGann, we may be capable of discriminating around one trillion different odours.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t even get my head around that as a concept, never mind get my nose around it as a fact!
We are capable of tracking smells with our noses. These scents can have an impact on our emotions and behaviour.
Yes, your nose holds a significant amount of power over you; so don’t be so quick to underestimate the human sense of smell.
Now let’s take a look at your dog’s sense of smell. Did you know that the part of a dog’s brain that is dedicated to analyzing smells is proportionately 40 times greater than ours?
Your dog has 300 million receptors in his nose. We have about 5 million.
Our dogs’ noses are estimated to be between 100,000 and 100 million times more sensitive than our noses.
It’s no wonder we have clocked onto the fact that dogs and their noses can assist us in so many different ways. Keep reading to find out more about the dog sense of smell vs. human!
Dog Sense Of Smell VS. Human: The Anathomy
The way a dog’s nose works is also very different from ours. For example, every time you or I inhale, we breathe and smell through the same airways inside of our noses.
Your dog’s nose, however, has a fold of tissue inside of his nostrils, which works to help separate these two functions when he inhales.
It means that when air enters through the dog’s nostrils, it actually splits and takes two different paths. This function accounts partly for their ability to distinguish scents more easily and clearly.
When we exhale, the same air exits back down the same route and out through the nostril. On the other hand, a dog’s nose is designed with two slits in the sides where the outgoing air exits. Therefore, the incoming scents are not contaminated.
Dog Sense Of Smell Vs. Human: Interesting Facts
✓ Your dog can wiggle each nostril independently. It assists your pet in locating the exact spot a scent is coming from.
✓ Dogs have an extra organ called the Vomeronasal Organ, which assists in detecting pheromones.
✓ Your dog likes to lick his nose because keeping it moist aids in catching scents from the air and environment.
Why A Dog’s Sense Of Smell Is So Important To Them
When considering the dog’s sense of smell vs. human, you may be wondering how and why your dog has ended up with all of these nose-related superpowers. In fact, the nose is a powerful tool that aids dogs to navigate their world.
It helps their social life, their sex life, and their general survival. Without the powerful nose they have, they wouldn’t be able to do any of the following things, which are crucial in the natural dog world.
Few of these vital things are:
Navigating the environment and detecting any potential threats
Dogs use their noses to collect information about many events happening around them. For instance, they know who has been lurking in the territory before and what they might have been doing. Dogs also know whether these people are still hanging around.
In the wild, this ability would be essential for their survival to minimize conflict and keep a suitable distance between themselves and any potential threats.
In the domesticated world, their nose helps dogs to keep track of all the local dogs, humans, and other animals. It also provides them with plenty of mental stimulation on walks and better social skills in the human world.
Hunting down food
Dogs’ nose is potentially the most important tool they have when it comes to hunting down prey. For instance, canines can detect the exact location of the animal they are hunting before they go in for the chase. It increases the likelihood of them catching their dinner.
Dogs’ noses also help wild canines to scavenge through the undergrowth. This way, wild canines find leftover carcasses and burrows with small animals for an easy snack. In the domesticated world, dogs will use their noses to track down titbits and find their toys in the house or garden.
Finding potential mates and reproducing
The whole point of living and survival for an animal in the wild is to reproduce and pass down their genes to the next generation. The canine nose, of course, helps them to detect when there is a male dog in the area or a female in heat.
In the domesticated world, it works very much in the same way. Hence, make sure you get your pet dogs neutered and spayed unless you are hoping for a litter of pups.
How A Dog Sense Of Smell Has Been Useful To Humans
What happened when we found out that dog’s sense of smell vs. human has some considerable advantages?
We started using dogs for their amazing skills to assist us with our work for many centuries.
The capability of a dog’s nose is something that we have learned to appreciate and harness to help us do many essential jobs much more efficiently.
Here are some of the ways that working dogs have helped us with their noses:
Hunting Dogs – We have bred different kinds of dogs to do various types of jobs for us. The tasks range from herding groups of farm animals to flushing out pest animals from underground or bushes, helping us to hunt for food and more.
The dog’s nose is invaluable in assisting humans. For instance, it helps in finding the locations of the animals we want to track, herd, or guard against predators.
Assistance Dogs – People trained dogs to help assist people with disabilities in their homes and everyday lives.
Sniffer Dogs – Perhaps one of the most obvious ways that a dog’s nose has been of use to humans is in sniffing things out for us. From helping us to find things we have lost or people who need to be rescued, to detecting drugs, and even deadly diseases like cancer.
Dog Sense Of Smell VS. Human: In Conclusion
All in all, our human noses have great potential and can do many amazing things for us. However, when comparing a dog’s sense sense of smell vs. human, our dogs’ noses are much better in many ways.
It is no wonder that we have found ways in which to harness their superpowers to put the dogs’ noses to use in helping the greater good in our human world.
Written by: Zara M.