Why does my dog sniff everything?

Just as we use vision as our main sense for understanding the world around us, dogs use their noses. The way something smells gives dogs more information than the way something looks, feels, sounds, or tastes. When dogs greet each other Information is transmitted via noses rather than barks or shaking a paw. In fact, dogs obtain more detailed information from scent than we could even imagine.

A dogs nose is far more powerful than ours. Whilst us Human have only 5–6 million scent receptors in our noses dogs can have up 100 million or more scent receptors in their noses dependent on the breed and Bloodhounds can have up to 300 million!

Whilst you might smell chocolate chip cookies, your dog can smell the chocolate chips, the flour, eggs, and other ingredients. And when dogs sniff another dog, they smell more than doggy odor they can tell the gender, health and status of the other dog. So no wonder dogs find “pee-mail” on the lamp post so fascinating as they are getting all the neighborhood gossip in one big whiff.

In fact the smelling section of a dog brain is 40 times larger than ours and one-eighth of this is dedicated to interpreting odor.

So not allowing your dog to experience the world through scent is like putting a blindfold on a human. The chance to smell provides your dog with important information and essential mental stimulation. Where dogs choose to go to the bathroom is an important decision. It’s not just about relieving themselves, it’s about communicating with the world-at-large. Dogs use their urine to signal their presence to other dogs. This system of pee-mail keeps dogs up-to-date on what’s happening in their neighborhood.

So when you are walking your dog don't get frustrated at the amount of times you need to stop to allow for a sniff,

remember that sniffing is one of the most important things to a dog and is part of what keeps them happy in life.

So just let them sniff away at that lamp post or tree trunk.