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Dogs experience the world in a very different way than people do. Sure, they have the same five senses, but while we first take in sights and sounds, dogs largely rely on their amazing sense of smell. Dogs can out smell, out hear, and in some situations out see us humans. Smell The dog nose contains over two billion olfactory receptors compared to our paltry-in-comparison forty million. A dog’s sense of smell is extremely important. Dogs use smell to take in most of the information that they receive from the world. They smell other dogs, prey and people. Another dog’s scent can give off a wealth of information about his state of mind, energy level and readiness to mate. Dogs likewise leave their own scents in various places as a sort of calling card for others. To be comfortable in any given environment, a dog needs to thoroughly smell his surroundings. Hearing A dog’s sense of hearing is also superior to a human’s. They can hear sounds at approximately four times the distance that we humans can. This can often explain the behavior of many dogs that is so irritating to their human companions: barking at seemingly nothing. In reality, our dogs often hear things and react when we have no clue that there is anything to hear. Dog ears operate with fifteen separate muscles and can even move one independently of the other. This allows them to gather far more sound waves than the stationary human ear. Not only can dogs collect more sound than people, but they can also hear sounds at lower volumes and at higher frequencies. They can hear sounds that are impossible for us to receive, no matter how loud. Sight In some ways dog vision is better and in other ways worse than human vision. Dogs can’t see nearly as much color as we can, although contrary to popular thought, they are not color blind. They also have fairly poor vision for objects that are stationary. They can see moving objects very well, a product of evolution as predators. Dogs also have a reflective layer in the eye that produces that eerie eye shine. This gives dogs excellent night vision. Touch Dogs have a quite sensitive sense of touch. Their skin and especially their paw pads contain several nerve endings, which make them able to sense touch very well. The faces of very young puppies are especially sensitive so that they can find their mother before they have even opened their eyes. Whiskers on the face are deep-rooted and are another way for dogs to take in information from the world outside. When their whiskers touch an object, they can gather plenty of information about it. Taste Most dog owners would probably guess that dogs have very little sense of taste considering the variety of horrible things they will put in their mouths. They actually have receptors for all the same flavors that humans have in addition to water receptors. The water receptors help to stimulate saliva necessary to break down food and also to indicate when to drink. With smell being a dog’s primary sense, he will most likely smell and then eat without tasting, which is why so many things end up going down the hatch. Putting the Senses to Use Dogs’ excellent senses, especially scent, hearing and sight have lead humans to use them throughout the ages to work for us. With their amazing sniffers, dogs can search out victims in rubble or in snow, trace amounts of explosives or drugs, and even illnesses in humans. In hunting, we have used sight hounds to track moving prey for us and scent hounds to smell out hidden rabbits and birds. Well-trained dogs with their great sense of hearing can act as guards for us and lead the blind and otherwise disabled. For many years and surely many more to come, we will partner with dogs to use their superior senses and to benefit the human race. Puppy City has been around for over 50 years, we pride ourselves in being the home for quality puppies for sale in Brooklyn, New York. We also have all of the supplies you will ever need, from dog food, to wee wee pads, to all the treats you will ever need in a lifetime. Visit us at http://www.PuppyCityNY.com
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