The Nose Knows

I have long been fascinated by the power of a dog's nose.  A dog's olfactory system (their sniffer) is as big as an 8 x 11 sheet of paper, while ours is only as big as a postage stamp.  For instance, dog's can smell 1 part of urine per 60 million parts of water (4-Hers remember this fact, it's in your Dog Project book and you might just be asked this very question at State Fair).  Let's break that down into something we all can understand; dogs can smell 1 teaspoon of sugar in the water that would fill 2 Olympic sized swimming pools. Their noses are amazing!

 When my dog receives and leaves his "pee mail", he both can receive information about another dog and leave information about himself.  Did you know that when your dog smells another dogs pee (or bottom for that matter) he can tell if that dog is male or female, young or old, in good health or ill health and much more?  Did you know that the United State Military relies solely on the dog's sense of smell to keep their soldiers and our civilians safe from explosive devices?  Did you know that dogs have been trained to sniff out cancer and alert a child that a seizure is coming?  Again amazing!

 Humans and dogs "see" the world differently.  While humans see and view the world, a dog smells the world around him.  Are you starting to get the picture of why, so often, human and canine are not on the same page?  Why we can become so frustrated by our dogs actions? We actually view the world differently.

Although I believe strongly that your dog should learn to walk politley on lead with you, I also believe you should allow for some freedom for your dog to view his world.  Here are a couple of ways to allow your dog to view the world around him...

Play your "Find it" game often and in varied places.  If you have taken a class with me, I have shared with you three different versions alone of the "Find it" game to play at home. This game can be played indoors as well as outdoors in your yard.  For a real thrill take the game on the road and to a local park. Set up your game in and around the trees, picnic tables and playgrounds. Allowing your dog to use his sense of smell while spending time with you is a true jackpot!

Take a Sniff walk.  Plan a walk specifically to allow your dog to sniff and smell the world around her.  Visit a new park, a new trail and allow your dog as much time as she would like to view her world. This walk will get you no where in particular, but it will give you both an opportunity to slow down and "smell the roses". While your dog is enjoying his smell-a-vision, take time for yourself to relax, see the beauty around you, listen to the birds, a running brook, crickets and locusts and smell the rich summer foliage. You get the picture.

Allow your dog to give you the gift of living in the moment!  Winding down from a busy day, taking in deep breaths and truly enjoying and embracig the beauty that is all around you.

Happy trails!