OK,
I'm told that dogs can smell about 600 times better than humans can.
It's suspected dogs can smell the difference between diseased cells and healthy cells and often know if a human has cancer.


It just dawned on me that such a sense of smell would seem like a terrible burden. For example, it would absolutely be impossible to walk into a room, with that sense of smell, and not know who's washed their ass and who needs to wash their ass. Or hell, for that matter, who's washed their hands after taking a piss and who hasn't washed their hands. Jealous lovers could smell who their partners have touched that day. Hell, if you tell your partner you're going down the street to buy some milk, he/she can always follow the scent trail later that day to confirm your story. Hell, if you were a houseguest in, say MrsMdiver's home, she would be able to tell if you spunked in her spare bedroom that day. Or the day before, or the day before that.

Having a keen sense of smell may be helpful in keeping us safe--in short, being able to sniff out rancid food verses fresh food. But, I would imagine we as humans REALLY don't need to developing a sense of smell beyond that.


I often wonder if having an owl's sense of sight (they can see several times sharper, further, and in greater detail than we can) would help us. I think I'd freak the fuck out if I could see every detail of a person's skin--it would just be sort of gross. But I'm glad our sense of sight is not as limited as a manatee's. I'm also sort of relieved we don't see in the ultra violet realm--that shit would just be too damned confusing.


Anyways, if a dog can smell 600 times better than we can, why is it that dogs don't get grossed out by shit, garbage, and nasty smelling things that make us nauseated with our own barely adequate sense of smell?


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[Edited 4/23/10 0:18am]

They sure can help sniff out cancer cells. Phil is doing volunteer work for a cancer dog research center.
It is amazing what these dogs can do.


I am glad that I do not have a dogs sense of smell...not living with 3 boys.

MrsMdiver said:

My hypthosis on why dog's don't get grossed out by the smell of rancid meat and rubbish like humans do is that we've evolved to become quite sensative to this biological poisons. Being discusted by rancid meat actually helps us to avoid getting sick and dying.
Dogs would be able to eat this stuff and not be affected the same way. Their digestive tracks may be quite tough and they wouldn't get sick by eating it like we humans do. Ergo, though they smell the stuff quite profoundly, it doesn't turn their stomach because it doesn't need to.

For us, just trying to swallow rotted flesh would gross us out enough to cause us to vomit it (another evolutionary feature that protects us).

I would imagine the smell of chocolate and certain other things dogs do have issues with (Garlic, etc.), probably smell quite foul to a dog.

MrsMdiver said:

There are dogs that can be trained to aid Diabetics. They can alert the diabetic when their blood sugar is low or high.

TheVoid said:

You are probably right.
When we give Dylan a fresh bone from the butcher he takes it outside and leaves it for days.
He pushes it around with his nose so the dirt covers it then goes back to it later, once it is all rotten and gross.

Shawnt27 said:

The Cancer Dog center that I was talking about also trains dogs to detect low blood sugar and seizures.

Amazing stuff!


[Edited 4/23/10 3:42am]

dogs like those poisonous onions and chocolate stuff.


dogs used to be pretty smart but humans have bred them to be really ignorant. I bet many of these dogs don't even really have a good sense of smell (I know pugs and bulldogs don't, they can barely get air into their little nostrils, poor things.

the ones that can are probably the ones that keep trying to escape outdoors!

I dont think about their sense of smell as much as their hearing... When im in the car blaring my music, or at home for that matter, does it hurt their ears? Cuz their hearing is way better as well..

TheVoid said:

Can assume that dogs find the smell of shit, garbage and nasty smelling things to be disgusting? I have seen dogs eat shit and they certainly will run right up to a steaming pile and stick their nose right in it.

What you think is a burden, might be a olfactory bonanza in the canine world.

Stax said:

True! Ive seen my dogs roll their bodies in some gross ass stuff like dead things!

Dogs don't seem to be very sensitive. They eat shit, literally, love the smell of asses, and will put the entire weight of their bodies on their throats as they strain at the leash. They aren't exactly soft-spoken, they will walk in glass, snow, dirt, whatever.

I get the feeling that smells are just experiences to dogs. They are not good or bad. I also think humans have just gotten overly sensitive, as the world used to be a lot smellier--and still is pretty stinky in some places.

Cats seem to love dirty socks, too, BTW.

Stax said:

yeah I have heard theories that they might even get high by sticking their noses out the windows of cars. It's like a blast of sensation on their [possibly] most developed sense.

TheVoid said:

Nah. Rotten stuff can make dogs sick too, and most of them will eat chocolate/garlic/etc when given half a chance.

You know how, when a smell has been around for a while, you stop noticing it as much? Your brain tunes it out. Dog brains are adapted to their sensitive olfaction, so that they are not distressed/distracted by things that are normal to them.

tackam said:

I agree about the garlic and chocolate eating.

My schnauzer got his paws on a bag of Dove dark chocolate. Ate about 19 pieces, foil wrappers and all. He got reallllly sick and it was Christmas Eve so our vet was closed once we got home late to realise that he got up on the dining room table and finished off the bag.
He made a full recovery and we had to be really careful where we put the chocolate after that.