Animal Doctor
And this sense of smell can be harnessed by humans who train dogs. Everyone has heard of drug-sniffing dogs at ports and airports, dogs being used to track people, to detect victims buried in earthquakes and to sniff out truffles in woodland.
More recently, dogs have been used to carry out diagnostic tests on urine samples from humans: they can sniff out prostate and bladder cancer cells, providing more accurate diagnoses than any human-designed technology. They have also been shown to detect lung and breast cancer cells by sniffing patients’ breath.
So it’s obvious that dogs experience an entirely different world of smells compared to humans. Which brings us back to my friend’s dog sniffing in a patch of undergrowth.
What would be going on inside that dog’s head? The area is popular for dog walking, and over the previous few days, hundreds of dogs will have passed by that spot. It is quite possible that my friend’s dog could be picking up the individual odour of every single dog. To make a comparison, it could be like you or I scanning a group of people, seeking out friends in a crowd.
It’s also possible that the process of sniffing areas like this might in itself bring pleasure to the dog, perhaps like a human gazing at an intriguing picture in an art gallery, or someone listening to a song that they enjoy.
So how long should the dog be left sniffing?
The best answer is probably to follow through with those comparisons.
How long should someone be left to look at a picture in an art gallery before being asked to move along? The answer is “as long as they want to keep looking”. For as long as they continue to gaze at the picture, they are obviously enjoying the sight of the work of art.
And how long should someone be left listening to a song? The answer is “as long as they want to keep listening”. Nobody wants to have the radio turned off in the middle of an enjoyable piece of music. Nobody wants to be dragged away from music while they are still appreciating the sound.
And so it is for dogs sniffing in undergrowth. Give them as long as they want. Wrap up warmly so that you don’t mind waiting around, and let them have a drawnout, lengthy, indulgent, deep inhalation. It’s one of their favourite pastimes, so don’t rush them off. Take a long pause, and let them enjoy those sniffing sensations.