Dog sense of Smell

The nose, the olfactory organ of the dog is much more sensitive than a human’s.  Dogs are among the animals to recognize a sense of smell even more by the number of olfactory cells, but there are significant differences between breeds. Roughly one can say the longer the dog’s nose, the better the sense of smell. So man has 5 million olfactory cells, the dachshund 125 million and a sheep dog has 220 million. For its perfume the Bloodhound is especially praised.

To assess olfactory performance, measurements have shown that the sense of smell of the dog is about one million times better than that of humans. The dog may in short breaths, breathe up to 300 times per minute, so the olfactory cells are constantly supplied with new odor particles.

Equally important is the role of the brain, where the incoming data is processed and analyzed. It should be noted that dogs can smell and the nose can also differentiate left and right, similar to their vision. In this way, the dog is able to judge the direction of a track and prosecute even an old track.

The olfactory brain is huge compared to man but 10% of the dog’s brain is responsible, whereas in humans it is only 1%.  Man uses this special ability of the dog as a sniffer dog in many areas. Distinction must be made between the “mechanical” and tracing the scent trail. Today it is common practice to train the dog (for example, guard dog) on the mechanical trail, then to the smell of breaches of the soil and plants.

A crossing, created at the same time, can then trace and lead to a Fehlsuche, as both tracks are equivalent for the dog. For the trail work of the police, this approach is unsuitable. Here the dogs are trained to the scent, so that would be strengthened.

This trail makes a turn, but by external factors like the wind from the “mechanical” track, collects on calm bodies and is heavily diluted on windy corners. The track is clear for the dog, because every “air freshener” has a unique odor.  Dogs’s taste and smell of the Jacobson’s organ (vomeronasal organ), is located in the palate. This conveys the information immediately recorded in the limbic system. It is responsible for the emergence of feelings for the formation of hormones.