Do You Know Your Dog’s Favorite Scent?

  Posted on October 28, 2014  by joyofliving  No comments

Bolt, Yorkie-Poo guest blogger: Let’s dish about dogs and sense of smell today! If you have a dog, you know that most any tantalizing smell coming from the kitchen is a direct call to the dog to come forth and investigate from exactly where that smell is coming. It typically means food is nearby and we want in on the action! As for myself, well, I tend to gravitate towards anything meaty! Once I hear that meat drawer open, I race into the kitchen.

However, I did a bit of research online and discovered something interesting. Dogs have a favorite scent, and while you might be inclined to think it is food-related, it is surprisingly not.

Do you know what your dog’s favorite scent is? YOU! Now, before you go smelling underneath your armpit, just know that your dog actually prefers your scent over any other human and over any other dog! You are amazing, right?

In a study as related by healthypets.mercola.com, a dozen dogs were trained to remain perfectly still in an fMRI scanner. While in the scanner, dogs were presented with swabs containing the scent of a familiar person and of an unfamiliar person; of a familiar dog and of an unfamiliar dog ; and even a swab of their own scent.

The scanner revealed that the pleasure centers of the dogs’ brains were most highly activated when sniffing the swab containing their human’s scent! The study even went on to reveal that the dogs showing the most positive response to human smells were those in training as service or therapy dogs. This, in turn, could at some point aid in the selection of the best candidates for service and therapy dog training!

So, with that, I am off! It’s potty time, which means sniffing out something of a different nature. To the yard I now race!