The Foster Files, Episode 2
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We see the world. Dogs smell it. If you want to understand your dog, and especially a nervous foster or a high energy shelter dog, you have to start with the nose.
How a dog's nose works
A dog's nose has up to 300 million scent receptors. Ours has about 6 million. A big part of a dog's brain is devoted to processing smell, which means scent is not just one of their senses. It is how they read everything around them.
A dog reads scent the way we read a clock. One sniff tells them who walked by, how long ago, where they went, and how they were feeling. When your dog stops on a walk and buries their nose in the grass, they are not wasting time. They are catching up on the news.
Sniffing is mental exercise
Following a scent makes a dog's brain work hard. That is why a slow walk where your dog gets to sniff can leave them calmer and more settled than a long run where they never get to stop.
This matters most for dogs that seem to have endless energy. A tired body is not the same as a settled mind. If all you ever do is run a dog hard, you can end up building an athlete who needs more and more to wear out. Mental work is the other side of the scale, and a balanced dog needs both.
Easy ways to put the nose to work
- Sniff walks. Give your dog a loose leash and let them choose the pace. Let them stop, investigate, and move on when they are ready.
- Scatter feeding. Toss part of a meal or a handful of small treats in the grass and let your dog search them out.
- Find it games. Hide treats around a room, starting easy where they can watch you, then make it harder as they catch on.
- New places, slowly. Let a nervous dog sniff out a new room or yard before you ask anything of them. Smelling a space is how they decide it is safe.
Small pieces work best for scent games. Our Turkey Tendy Toppers are bite sized, single ingredient pieces that are easy to scatter. And because scent means so much to a dog, our Heartstring Keepsake is built around it, with a pocket for a worn shirt that smells like you.
Every purchase from The Happy Hunting Grounds sends 25% of profits back to shelter dogs and veteran programs.