Image credits: kolesnikovsergii / Envato (not the actual photo)
Image credits: marevgenna1985 / Envato (not the actual photo)
Image credits: kubrador
Dogs really do smell people more than they see or hear us
Image credits: Joshua McLaughlin / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
Psychologist Daniel Marston, Ph.D., who has over three decades of clinical experience, says, “Smell (or ‘olfaction’ in the animal research world) plays a major role in how dogs recognize others. They recognize other dogs, and determine which are familiar and safe, through smell. Dogs also recognize members of other species through smell. This is another way that they can identify who is safe and who might be a danger. They even recognize dog toys and other objects through smell.”
In one study, researcher Alexandra Horowitz set out to determine whether dogs recognize familiar people primarily through scent, independent of visual or auditory cues. To isolate it from other senses, the experiment was designed so the people themselves were not physically present during testing.
Dog owners were first given brand-new T-shirts and asked to wear them overnight, allowing the fabric to absorb their natural scent. Each shirt was then sealed in a clean container to prevent contamination.
Shirts worn by unfamiliar people were prepared the same way.
During the experiment, dogs were brought into a testing room where multiple containers were placed, each holding a different T-shirt. Using verbal prompts and attention-getting cues, the researcher encouraged the dogs to locate something familiar. The dogs consistently approached and spent more time investigating the containers holding their owner’s scent compared to those with unfamiliar scents. And since the owners were not present, the dogs could not rely on sight, sound, or movement—only smell.
Importantly, dogs included in the study had not been trained to suppress sniffing behaviors, ensuring natural olfactory use. The results showed that dogs could reliably discriminate their owner’s odor from others, demonstrating that scent alone is sufficient for recognition and serves as a primary source of information for dogs.
Image credits: Roberto Nickson / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
“People who have dogs in their homes would be wise to recognize just how essential smell is for their companions,” Marston explains. “Taking care of dogs means helping to care for their sense of smell in addition to the other things they need. So owners should think twice about how much they train dogs from not relying on smell. I know that some things dogs do when they smell people or objects can be embarrassing or problematic (like dogs getting in between you and another person so they can smell the person). But it is important for dogs to rely on smell and interfering with that can be problematic for them.”
Sounds like our Redditor really tapped into his pet’s nose’s full potential.
People were quite impressed with the dog’s new skill set
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