A Dog’s Five Senses:
They are just like ours-but not. Just like for humans, the five senses play an important role in helping dogs understand their surroundings. But the way dogs use those senses if often very different than how we do.
TOUCH -
The sense of touch is used immediately at birth, when puppies are cleaned by their mothers through licks and nuzzles, which may register with them the way a hug does for a human. A dog’s paws contain nerve endings that can help it navigate its movements. A dog’s muzzle is rich in nerve endings, and the nose thus serves both an olfactory and a tactile, exploratory function.
SIGHT -
A common misconception is that dogs don’t see color. They do, but not complex colors like humans do. It’s likely that dogs can see yellow and blue shades well, but reds and oranges are more difficult for them to perceive. Dogs do have better night vision than we do, and they are skilled at picking up on movements even in dim lighting.
SCENT -
The area of a dog’s brain dedicated to scent is thought to be 40 times as large as that of a human’s. Not only that, dogs have hundreds of millions of scent receptors in their noses, versus a mere 400 for humans. And dogs smell continuously while they breathe, unlike humans, who smell only on the inhale.
SOUND -
Dogs have very acute hearing and are able to detect sounds that are significantly higher frequencies than what we can process. They are also better than humans at isolating sounds, which means that in an area with a lot of noise, they are skilled at finding their target. (Those movable ears help a lot here.) Hearing is considered a dog’s second-best sense, after smell.
TASTE -
Dog’s don’t excel. People have around 9,000 taste buds on their tongue; dogs have only around 2,000. Of course, a limited taste range doesn’t mean dogs aren’t open to enjoying new things. As anyone who has lived with a dog knows, if something is edible (and sometimes if it’s not), they’ll try it. The problem is that they can’t handle the rich foods that we eat. Chocolate, garlic, coffee and onions are thought to be harmful to a dog's digestion.
So as you can see, dogs have the same five senses as humans. However, some are more highly developed, and others are deficient compared with those of humans. Dog’s sense of smell is by far the most acute and is immeasurably better than that of humans. Dog’s also have Special Senses. They have an acute sense of hearing, which allows them to hear distant thunder before we do. Dogs can smell changes in the atmosphere (ozone) better than we do, so they may sense an oncoming storm. Dogs can detect changes in barometric pressure or electromagnetic fields that may be related to coming storms.
The more we learn about our canine friends the better we are in understanding their needs and behaviors. This results in much happier lives for the pet owner and the dog.
Gail Moscato
Founder
Positive Paws BHC
4-25-2024