Animals Sense of Smell.

[worth1]

Has anyone else besides me experienced an animals sense of smell.
Like an animal hasn't seen you for a very long time and one little sniff and it is, "Howdy where have you been, with a wag of the tail.
It happened to me just the other day with a neighbors little dog.

[MissS]

Happens every day this week. I am babysitting my daughter's rabbit. He is always so excited to see me when I walk in the room. Even if I have only been gone to refill my water, there he is greeting me as if I have been gone forever. BUT if I come in with some treat such as kale, celery green, lettuce or such and have them behind my back, well he goes nuts to see me and is trying to climb his cage walls to see me. That little nose works great.
My horse went into my friends purse looking for her peppermints.

[Rajun Gardener]

It's not just smell, they recognize sounds too.

I lived in a neighborhood 3 houses from the corner, my Shepard could tell when my jeep was coming back home from 500' away from the main road. turning down my road. I noticed it when I was having a fish fry and lent someone my jeep, once he heard my jeep coming home he was all over the gate waiting.

[MissS]

You are right Rajun. When I went away to college I left my German Shepherd home with my parents. Mom told me that the dog would jump up and go to the window waiting for me before my car was even in sight. Mom said she always knew when I was driving up.
Aren't animals great!

[imp]

Back when still showing my dogs, have had a fully grown dog ( 5 years old) from a litter I had raised, "recognize" me immediately, even though I had last seen the dog when it was 10 weeks old. Doberman's look very silly doing the puppy squirm as an adult, LOL!!

[Whwoz]

Our chiropractors dog will often ignore the rest of the family when she wants a rub and comes over to me first. Years ago a family friend had a dog who would walk her garden paths to greet everyone else. If I came along it was shortest possible distance to say hello.

Cattle will get to know the sound of their feeders tractor and will head towards the appropriate gate even if other vehicles are in the paddock

[OhioGardener]

Dogs have an incredibly powerful sense of smell, even if they don't always show it. My 13 1/2 Siberian lost his hearing about a year ago, but he can detect someone coming up to the house and alert me just as quickly as the other dogs just by sense of smell. It's like that ability was dormant, but then took over when his other sense of hearing failed. Most people wouldn't realize he's deaf except that he responds to sign language.

[worth1]

It's really easy to teach some dogs sign language.
All I had to do is point to the house and Boo Boo would go to the house.
He was also bilingual.

[Clkeiper]

We have a german shepherd. their sense of smell is incredible. We live in the country and have a stand of woods behind us. she stands on point in the kitchen when there are deer out there.

A few years ago my son had invited a friend for the weekend. He misread the text of when the friend was going to arrive. he had been here once prior to that. maybe a year or two? I woke up on Saturday morning and our daughter was getting ready for work when I hear change drop in the living room. lo and behold there was the young man who was supposed to be arriving on Saturday evening... he found an unlocked door (no problem there) and came on in. the dog never made a peep. let him in and he went to the living room and slept on the couch. obviously she remembered him. a greman shepherd that doesn't guard? we got it!

[Growing Coastal]

It's really easy to teach some dogs sign language.
All I had to do is point to the house and Boo Boo would go to the house.
He was also bilingual.

Yes! Humans talk a lot to their dogs but they only get a few of the words. Repeating key words helps. One dog we had would go crazy if he heard the word 'beach' so my dot started calling it 'the place of sand and water' which is far too complicated.
We talk a lot and all they hear is babble. They watch us for signs and read body movements much more clearly. When I walk my little buddy and need to stop at a corner for traffic I use words but hold my hand a certain way which is as good as holding onto him, he stays put until he gets a different hand motion.

We went to the place of sand and water yesterday and saw a tiny chihuahua in a truck with its people. Truck dog got very excited seeing another tiny dog so I went over to the truck with my dog in arms. The truck dog was yapping a lot until I realized it could not smell mine until I moved upwind so the scent would go to the dog which calmed it down considerably. The more it got to smell the calmer and happier it became. I feel sorry for dogs whose owners do not let them stop and sniff. A dog's nose is its window on the world.

[Growing Coastal]

There is a couple living on this street with a pair of beautiful Bernese crosses which makes them fairly large. They are so well looked after and well behaved that I finally allowed my chihuahua to meet them up close. Now they whine and pine for each other when in sight ahead on the sidewalk. So funny to see big and small like that. Because my dog showed no fear with these two dogs the chihuahua/Russel mix across the street also stopped barking at them and went over to meet the big dogs, no problem. Dogs sort things out peacefully most often. It is their humans that are so dumb sometimes.
One of those Bernese X's sits in front of his owner to get attention and then looks at what it wants, like the box of Pringles over there. Fortunately he has a smart human!

[worth1]

Sometimes Smokey smells my face when I am asleep.
I guess she is smelling, the nose just bumps my skin.
The cat whiskers wake me up.
In the morn8ing she is in the same spot by the bedroom door.
When I get up she races me to the kitchen.
She has her chair across from mine with a cat bed in it.

[EdieJ]

When I take my dog out for her morning "constitutional" after she does her business, we have to go all over the yard. I call it "reading the newspaper!" Once she's satisfied she knows what's what she is happy to head back in.

[worth1]

The cat in my avatar is one strange story indeed.
Maybe I will tell it some time.
His name was Squeaker.