Why Dogs Sniff: The Nose Knows More Than You Think

We all know that dogs love to sniff. A freshly peed on fire hydrant, the sidewalk as you take your morning constitutional, the behind of a friend they’ve never met before. But why do dogs sniff? And can too much sniffing sometimes be too much of a good thing?

When a dog is born, before their eyes or ears become fully functional, the first sense they begin to use is their sense of smell. It’s the only thing they’ve got going for them until their eyes open up at around 10-14 days old. They are born only knowing how to process their world, through their nose. 

As the eyes and ears are introduced to the sensory department, a dog now has other senses influencing how they should think and feel. Ideally, the nose is always the first thing they use when introducing or being introduced to something new. However, as they continue to develop, and depending on the dog’s individual personality, they may begin relying on those other senses more, and giving their sense of smell the back seat. A dog heading down this path usually becomes reactive, and without proper human and dog interaction, could be in real trouble. So what does this tell us? A dog’s sense of smell is their gateway into properly socializing with their environment and one of the most important tools in their tool box.

So how could too much sniffing be harmful? Let’s put this into a human perspective: how could too much talking be harmful to a social situation? Sniffing is a dog’s main form of communicating with their environment. Talking is a human’s main form of communication. If a human talks all the time, then they are missing out on what other people have to share or important goings on happening right in front of them. There are times when it’s appropriate to talk, and times when it’s better to listen. If a dog is sniffing all the time, they’re doing too much communicating and not enough dialing in to what is going on around them. For example, any dog that I have worked with that sniffs excessively on the walk, also pulls on leash, and depending on the dog is either super excited or reactive to people and other dogs. The sniffing has now become a nervous habit, so to speak, and as a result they are disregarding your existence and completely in their own world. Dog’s of this caliber need to be taught how to slow down and learn how to use their sniffer more appropriately. 

Dogs that have developed into nervous/anxious dogs tend to not use their sniffer enough, if at all. They go through life wide eyed, with a tight mouth, and usually tail down low or tucked. They are unsure how to process life, so they rely on their ears and eyes exclusively to tell them how to navigate their day to day. These dogs benefit from confidence boosting exercises that include a variety of games that strengthen their sniffer. Their walks need to be kept short and sweet, and little by little they will begin to use their nose. As they continue to strengthen this sense that they’ve not relied on for so long, their anxiety will begin to melt away. Why? Because they are finally processing their world the right way. The dog way.

A dog’s sense of smell is unlike any other. It can smell a drop of pee in 13 gallons of water. It can locate a human buried in rubble. It can sense when someone is about to have a seizure. Dog’s sniff because that’s how they talk. So let us learn how to listen!