February 3, 2015 –  Of the six basic senses, humans tend to rely most on sight and sound, but for pets… it’s all about the smell.  Dogs are dogged sniffers; cats are too, but not to the same degree.  The super-duper snooper has a long nose, tightly coiled turbinates and a sense of smell that exceeds the realm of any man, animal or machine.  Sniffing is their claim to fame as they force the smell into the depths of their snouts, and then wash it back out by sneezing.  Ever sneeze real hard and pick up the smell of an earlier odor?  That’s because smells are chemicals that can linger in the nasal passages for long periods of time.  It’s also why we adapt to smells and ignore them as needed.

Consider the question…  “If a tree falls in the forest, and there’s no one there to hear it… does it make a sound?”  The answer is technically yes.  But in realty the tree merely sets the transient waves in motion like the cell tower that transmits inaudible sounds to your phone.  If there’s no ear to receive and perceive the sound, it’s philosophically not there.  It’s not the same for smell.  Odor is a chemical that exists whether smelled or not.  So if a deer dies in the forest… and there’s no one there to smell it… the smell is still there; anyway you look at it.

Dogs have single-handedly advanced the art of sniffing to the level of a super sensitive science.  It’s not just for finding food, fun and females anymore… it’s now a method of detection that far exceeds the capabilities of any investigatory creation known to mankind.  From chemicals to cancer and cannabis to cadavers there’s no limit to the spectrum of sniffing services they can perform.

Bottom line:  Take heed when your dog is sniffing you in all the wrong places because if it’s not just a friendly gesture… it’s more than likely a sign of something in need.