Here's a good article on canine olfactory talents...

[Mary Plummer]

Hello everyone,

I wanted to share this with you, because it's something I find so fascinating some of the other sites listed in this piece are also really good. In one, I read that dogs can detect smells in the range of 5-27 parts per BILLION. I was really impressed! That same article also talks about how dogs recognize "odor signatures." For example, rather than smelling, say, nitroglycerine, what a dog is responding to is a combination of acetone, toluene, and limoene. All of this comes from the article called "Detecting Illegal Substances." Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

http://www.sciencentral.com/articles/vi ... =218391249

[davet]

see if you can dig one up on their hearing also....that is pretty good, in fact with Sassie, too good...she hears things in the middle of the night that she has to warn us against....

[Mary Plummer]

...Google search. This fits with something I remember reading somewhere (obviously, I didn't save it - I wish I did!) that both dogs and cats hear "better" than we do. Of course, then there's the "selective deafness" of dogs, when their humans say something they don't want to hear, like "Bath time"

http://www.nhm.org/exhibitions/dogs/for ... aring.html

[momPaws]

Interesting articles, Mary- that "scanning"- I think I have seen Honey do that. Also, in the evening when she is in the house and it is getting dark...she is very in-tune and listening for whatever animals are stirring outside. Those ears are like radar screens...up and scanning. It's so obvious that she is listening to the outside night world. She also goes to a certain window and sniffs the air coming in. (even when it's closed) Does Mr. Blue do this? I figure he has a very good hound dog nose.

[Mary Plummer]

time we go out for a walk, he stops on the porch and does a quick sniff, just to make sure there's no evil bunnies hiding in "his" yard. I've also played some scent games with him, but I don't think they were challenging enough for him I left him in the house, and took one of my hubby's worn socks out into the yard, and walked trailing it on the ground in circles, finally leaving it behind some bushes at the back of the yard. Then I brought Mr. Blue outside, and told him to find the sock. He went right to it, following the trail I'd made with it earlier. He did it so quickly that it obviously wasn't hard at all for him! I was impressed, though!