Doggy noses are very cute. Fido loves to sniff you, and may shove his nose under your hand when he wants to be petted. Actually, our canine pals’ noses are pretty fascinating. Here, a Fayetteville, NC vet discusses doggy noses.

That Amazing Sense Of Smell

We probably don’t have to tell you that dogs have much sharper sense of smell than we do. Our four-legged buddies can have as many as 300 million olfactory receptors in their noses. (In comparison, we have a measly 6 million.) Our furry pals even have a separate organ that helps them smell. To help process all that scent information, dogs’ brains have evolved quite differently from ours. The area of Fido’s brain that processes smells is about 40 times larger than ours.

Sensitivity

You probably know that your canine companion can find a dropped piece of bacon in no time at all. Overall, your pooch can smell things as much as 100,000 times better than we can. To put this into perspective, Fido can smell the equivalent of a half-teaspoon of sugar in an Olympic-sized pool.

Noseprint

Does your canine buddy like to leave noseprints on your windows? These are actually one-of-a-kind doggy nose art masterpieces! All of our furry buddies have individual, unique noseprints. (Tip: if you don’t want to keep your pup’s ‘paintings,’ try using white vinegar and newspaper to clean your windows.)

Tracking

Your canine friend can smell separately from each nostril. In fact, the way dogs smell can roughly be compared to 3D. Fido will use the information from each side of his nose to pinpoint the location of a scent’s source.

Dual Exhaust

Dogs can actually breathe in and out at the same time when they are sniffing something. This keeps the air they intake constantly moving. (It also probably helps Fido run towards a scent.) Also, like ours, dogs’ noses have two purposes: smell and respiration. However, when Fido inhales, the air he breathes in gets separated. Part of it goes to his olfactory sensing area, and the rest goes to his lungs.

Heat

When your furry friend is panting or overheating, his sense of smell can be affected. In fact, Fido’s nose sensitivity can drop by up to 40 percent when he’s hot and/or overtired. Please reach out to us, your local Fayetteville, NC vet clinic, anytime. We are here to help!