Can Dogs Really Smell That?

[Airbrush]

Is it true that dogs, or perhaps certain kinds of dogs, have such sensitive sense of smell, that they can find their way home, over many miles distance, by sniffing for the wind from their neighborhood? The theory is that every area has a peculiar mix of smells that dogs can distinguish. When the wind carries the mix of smells from their neighborhood towards them, they head into the wind as long as they can smell that and when the wind shifts, they have to go around in circles sniffing for that wind again, so they can head into that direction.

[Ophiolite]

Given that a dog's sense of smell is orders of magnitude more sensitive than ours it seems entirely plausible. Of course their eye sight is crap and they are useless at poker.

[Phi for All]

Of course their eye sight is crap and they are useless at poker.

 

My art collection tells a different story. They seem to be masters at marking the cards, undone by a love of strong spirits.

[Airbrush]

If such is true, then suburbian streets must act as conduits for smells. Streets have a wide smooth surface bordered by houses, trees and bushes. These act to channel smells down the streets, but only in one of two directions, parallel with the street. When my dog arrives at a street corner, he stops and sniffs the air and takes a couple of minutes to decide which direction to go, which I usually allow him, unless there is a hazard. He likes to go different directions, so as to not miss the smells from other dogs. After about 20 minutes of investigating our neighborhood, he is satisfied, and we head for home.

 

He also has "frienemies". These are dogs that he likes to stop and bark at for a few seconds. It sounds to me like the two dogs exchange a few angry barks and it resembles humans cussing and swearing at each other. I do believe dogs love the casarsis of angry barks at another dog. My dog loves to express rage, tempararily. I wonder if humans don't sometimes love conflict and cursing and swearing, just for fun. Maybe humans even love things related to war, and that could be why warfare is not likely to disappear.

Edited July 7, 2014 by Airbrush