A dog has been known as man’s best friend for centuries, but have you ever wondered how a dog’s senses differ from yours? Dogs have a unique way of perceiving the world around them, thanks to their highly developed senses.
Unlike humans, dogs have an acute sense of smell that allows them to detect scents that are imperceptible to us. Their sense of hearing is also far more advanced, allowing them to hear sounds that are beyond the range of human hearing.
In this article, we will delve into the fascinating world of a dog’s senses and explore how they differ from those of us humans with a chart. We will also examine what are the dog’s strongest senses.
Why You Should Understand Your Dog’s Senses
We, humans, operate quite differently from dogs. We observe our surroundings first with our eyes and then with our ears.
If we are in a new place, our instinct is not to smell the place. Of course, we get alarmed if we smell something foul, but that’s exactly why we get alarmed. Smelling something that intense is abnormal.
Whereas dogs first and foremost want to smell the place. The smells tell them everything they need to know: who has been there, who is there now, and in what direction are they.
Dog’s Sense of Smell
This is dogs’ most important sense. Dogs have an incredibly accurate sense of smell. Their sense of smell is estimated to be between 1,000 to 10,000 times more sensitive than that of a human.
Dogs have about 300 million olfactory receptors in their nose, which is about 50 times more than humans. This allows them to detect a wide range of odors and scents, from identifying different individuals to detecting specific substances such as drugs, explosives, and even cancer cells. Letting your dog smell things around them helps support their normal brain chemistry.
Dogs have an organ called the vomeronasal organ, which is located on the roof of their mouth. The organ can detect pheromones that convey information about a dog’s reproductive status and territory. That is the reason why some male dogs start trembling their chins when the dog smells a scent of a female dog.
How Far Can A Dog Smell?
The distance at which a dog can smell depends on several factors, including the strength of the scent and the dog’s breed. In general, hunting dogs and breeds with longer snouts, such as Bloodhounds, have a greater ability to detect and follow scents over long distances.
Brachycephalic breeds are not as capable of achieving the things mentioned above due to their stubbed noses, but they definitely have a better sense of smell than humans.
Dogs have been known to detect scents from up to 12 miles away under ideal conditions, such as when the air is still and the scent is carried by a steady wind.
In challenging conditions, a dog’s sense of smell is more reliable for detecting scents at close range, such as a few hundred yards or less.
A dog that is older or in poor health may have a weaker sense of smell, and a dog that has been trained to detect specific scents may be better at detecting those scents at greater distances.
Dog’s Sense of Hearing
As you might have guessed, dogs can hear better than humans. Four times better in fact. They can hear frequencies ranging from 10 Hz to 60 kHz. And if you are wondering how far dogs can hear, the answer is even to a mile (1.6km) away.
A better sense of hearing means that we humans don’t always know what our dogs are hearing. If they are alerted while outside or they randomly start barking inside. It is more than possible that we just don’t have the same intel as they do.
Dog’s Sense of Taste
Some dogs enjoy eating more than others. It is known that 25% of labrador retrievers carry a gene called pro-opiomelanocortin. It means that the dogs that carry the gene are more likely to get obese. The labradors also show signs of “increased food motivation”.
Then there are picky eaters and those, that don’t feel like food is a considerable reward. Those dogs don’t get enjoyment from eating food. Dogs can have foods that they refuse to eat solely based on taste.
Dog’s Sense of Sight
Due to the shape of a dog’s head, a dog can see through a wide lens. Because they look at the world from a panorama view, they can also detect things happening by the sides. This excludes some brachycephalic breeds which have their eyes pointing more forward.
So dogs are better at “seeing the bigger picture” therefore they can detect details and moving objects more easily from their sphere of vision. If you have a timid dog, remember that walking outside can be more difficult for them because there is so much more happening in their field of view.
Detecting details means that dogs read our body language all the time, even when we are not particularly trying to communicate with them. A dog sees when you are reaching for the housekeys or nervously shaking your leg.
Are Dogs Color Blind?
Many of us have heard the tale that dogs are color-blind. That has been proven not to be true.
Dogs can actually see colors like yellow, blue, and violet. They can’t differentiate green and red tho, so you could say they are red-green color blind.
A study has proven that dogs can see ultraviolet light, or at least they have receptors that react to UV light. Humans can not detect ultraviolet light at all, so point for dogs.
How seeing UV light benefits dogs’ eyesight, is not known yet. Perhaps the ability helps them to see everything more defined or with their night vision. More research needs to be done.
Dog’s Sense of Touch
Dog senses touch about the same as us humans. So when you are petting a dog, they feel it the same way you would feel it if someone petted you. Belly rubs and all.
Dogs feel pain just like humans and other animals and have about the same pain tolerance as us.
If you’ve ever tried to touch your dog’s paws and they draw their paws away, here is the reason. This is because their paws are particularly sensitive, allowing them to sense changes in the ground and temperature.
Additionally, the whiskers on a dog’s face, known as vibrissae, are highly sensitive and help dogs detect objects in dark or tight spaces.
Magnetoreception in Dogs
Magnetoreception means the ability to sense the earth’s magnetic field. It’s a sense that allows animals to orient themselves in space and navigate. For example, it is believed that dogs can sense the magnetic field and know instinctively which way is north.
This could explain why many dogs know how to return to the starting point, and they don’t need to follow the same road back they came from. That’s how you hear about the great amazing stories of how a dog found their way back home from hundreds of miles away.
While it has been observed in many species of birds, insects, and fish, there is still ongoing research on the subject of magnetoreception in mammals, including dogs. More research is needed to confirm or disprove the presence of this sense in dogs.
Human vs. Dog Comparison Chart
This chart compares the senses of dogs vs humans, highlighting the areas in which each one is better. The chart includes data on the relative sensitivity of each species’ sense of smell, hearing, sight, touch, and taste.
| Humans | Dogs | ||
| Eye sight | – Eyes face forward – Can’t see what happens by the sides without moving – Can recognize all the colors – Can’t see UV light | – Wide lens view – Can detect details easier – Red-green colorblind but recognizes some colors – Can detect UV light – Can see more “frames per second” | |
| Hearing | – Can’t hear things from a long distance – Can only hear frequencies from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. | – Can hear 2-4 times better than human – Can hear things happening from 400 meters/0.2 miles – Hears frequencies from 10 Hz to 60 kHz | |
| Smell | – Sense of smell relatively weak – Can identify and remember familiar scents | – 1000-10,000 times better than humans’ – 60 times more olfactory receptors | |
| Taste | – Can taste different flavors, favor or dislike them – Finds enjoyment from good-tasting food | – Can taste different flavors, favor or dislike them – Some but not all dogs find enjoyment in eating | |
| Touch | Can feel touch and pain similarly to one another | Can feel touch and pain similarly to one another | |
| Magnetoreception | No capability | Can sense the magnetic fields and use it for their benefit |
Conclusion
In conclusion, dogs have incredibly keen senses that allow them to perceive the world in ways that are vastly different from humans.
Their sense of smell is particularly remarkable, as it is thousands of times more sensitive than that of a human. Their sense of hearing is also highly developed, allowing them to hear sounds that are beyond the range of human hearing.
Dogs also have an excellent sense of sight and touch, enabling them to easily navigate their environment. Overall, dogs are truly remarkable creatures, and their senses are a testament to their incredible adaptability and survival instincts.
