A nose by any other name… did you know the furless skin surface of a dog’s nose is called the rhinarium or the planum nasale, but some dog owners simply refer to it as nose or snout, while breeders may prefer to call it “nose leather.”
A dog’s nose has two functions—smelling and breathing
Did you know a canine’s nose has the ability to separate air? A portion goes directly to the olfactory sensing area (which distinguishes scents), while the other portion is dedicated to breathing.
Dogs can smell up to 100,000 times better than humans
A dog’s sense of smell is so sensitive that dogs can detect the equivalent of a 1/2 a teaspoon of sugar in an Olympic-sized swimming pool. While all dogs have strong sniffers, hound breed dogs have the best sense of smell. Working dogs like German Shepherds and Labradors also rank high in their smelling abilities. Other dogs, like Pugs and Bulldogs have short faces (also known as brachycephalic dogs) and may have some airway compromise that could affect their sense of smell.
Dogs have the ability to breathe in and out at the same time
When sniffing, dog noses are designed so that air can move in and out at the same time, creating a continuous circulation of air, unlike humans who have to either breathe in or out only.
That little indentation in the nose has a purpose
The little line down the centre of the nose to the dog’s upper lip is known as the “philtrum,” is thought to carry moisture from the mouth to the rhinarium—the moist surface area of your dog’s nose.
Wet noses help capture scent
Interestingly despite the myth, whether a dog’s nose is wet or not has little to do with health. Wet noses play a primary role in detecting smell. Having a wet nose helps dogs capture tiny scent particles which increases a dog’s ability to detect the smells. Just as a wet cloth picks up dust better than a dry one.
Dogs have a special organ that gives them a “second” sense of smell
A special organ called Jacobson’s organ (also known as the vomeronasal organ) is located inside the nasal cavity and opens into the roof of the mouth behind the upper incisors and helps them detect pheromones. Pheromones are hormone-like, behavior-altering agents that are released by dogs for the purpose of other dogs detecting them.
Dogs smell 3-dimensionally
Dogs can smell separately with each nostril. Just as our eyes take two slightly different views of the world and our brain combines them to form a 3-dimensional picture, a dog’s brain uses the different odor profiles from each nostril to determine exactly where smelly objects are located. How amazing is that?
Dog noses can sniff many types of cancer
According to UC Davis Health System, researchers have established that dogs are capable of recognizing melanomas as well as bladder, lung, breast and ovarian cancers. Wouldn’t you love to see furry little helpers in future cancer diagnostic settings?
Dogs have a bump on the roof of their mouth that helps them analyze odors
This little bump is known as the “incisive papilla” and communicates with the dog’s vomeronasal organ (Jacobson’s organ ) which is responsible for detecting pheromones.
Teeth chattering helps send scents to the incisive papilla
Dogs may sniff a spot, then flick their tongue against this little bump or they may chatter their teeth and when they do so, they send scent molecules towards their incisive papilla so that they reach the vomeronasal organ and dogs can better analyze the smell.
Dog nose prints are as unique as human fingerprints
The fact that the canine nose pattern is unique to each individual dog has been actually known since 1926. Interestingly, the Canadian Kennel Club has been accepting canine nose prints as proof of identity since 1938! The practice of collecting nose prints though has now stopped being replaced by microchips.
Some dogs have a Dudley nose
A Dudley nose in dogs refers to a nose that is flesh colored or even lacking pigment. A dark, black nose is usually preferred from a health standpoint because the pigment protects against the sun. The term Dudley nose derives from bulldogs bred from a part of Black Country in Worcestershire, UK.
A dog’s nose has special structures that amplify smells
These special structures are called turbinates and they consist of intricate mazes made of bone. Their purpose is to control how air moves through the dog’s nose providing an increased surface area, and therefore, greater reception of smell. A dog’s long nasal cavity helps accommodate these turbinates.
African Foxtails / Blue Buffalo Grass are a threat to dog noses
African Foxtails / Blue Buffalo Grass release seeds that may get sniffed up into dog noses, causing sneezing, pawing at the nose, and even nose bleeds. Affected dogs require veterinary attention to remove the lodged foxtail from the nose.
Dogs have slits at the side of their noses for a reason
While the interior part of the dog’s nostrils is meant to take in air, the exterior slits found on both sides of the dog’s nostrils allow air to escape every time the dog exhales. The exhaled air flows out of those slits creating a swirl of air which lifts more particles of odor off the sniffed surfaces allowing them to be suctioned for further investigation.
A puppy’s nose can interfere with potty training
If you fail to clean up properly soiled areas using the right products, this may come back and bite you. Patricia McConnell in her book “Way to go! How to housetrain a dog of any age ” claims: Any scent left behind says: “this is your bathroom” just as those universal bathroom signs found scattered around in any public place. Make sure to use an enzyme-based cleaner to clean up your puppy’s accidents to prevent this “bathroom sign” effect!
Dogs prefer to “make-their-mark” on vertical items
When dogs urinate on something to “mark-their-territory” they are leaving their scent on certain surfaces for the purpose of providing other dogs with relevant information, sort of like a business card.
Dogs prefer marking on vertical objects so to leave their scent “at nose height for other dogs.”
Dogs may be able to tell the passage of time with their noses
Dogs can detect the tiny reductions in the concentrations of odor molecules that occur over short periods of time. This helps tracking dogs to quickly assess which direction a person or animal has gone in by sniffing the ground. Alexandra Horowitz in the fabulous book: Being a Dog, Following the Dog Into a World of Smell claims, “As each day wears a new smell, its hours mark changes in odors that your dog can notice. Dogs smell time. The past is underfoot; the odors of yesterday have come to rest on the ground.”
Researchers suggest that after dog owners leave the house, their smell lingers for some time. There’s a possibility that the scent decays slowly over the day, and around a certain time, dogs associate a specific amount of scent with when the owner should be unlocking the door.
Dogs detect individual scents
You may just smell soup when you come home and mom is cooking dinner, while your dog smells carrots, celery, potatoes, parsley and all the other minute components of that soup!
Putting your dog’s nose to work increases your dog’s optimism!
According to a study, allowing dogs to spend more time using their noses through fun nose-work activities makes them more optimistic. By giving your dogs more scavenging or “hunting” time with hiding games or toys, their welfare is therefore improved.
Don’t you agree that dog noses are fascinating? Can we blame them that they are on high alert when we are cooking?
We hope you enjoyed learning about dog noses as much as we did! Remember that in addition to exercise and fresh water – a good premium dog food contains all the nutrients that your pups need to ensure that their K9 secret weapons are well maintained.