5 Ways Your Dog Senses The World Differently From You
Do dogs sense things differently than humans do? Well, yes
and no. Dogs share the same basic senses with us: they see,
hear, touch, smell and taste. But the level of their senses
is different – an important distinction when you're trying
to figure out just what your dog is doing.
Sight It was once thought that dogs were "color-blind" –
only able to see shades of black and white with some grey,
but scientific studies have found that's not true. Dogs can
see in color – ranging from blues and greens to greys and
crèmes, and of course, black and white. It's been estimated
that humans can distinguish somewhere between 7 and 10
million different colors. (We don't even have names for
that many colors!)
Picture courtesy of Dr. P's site:
http://www.uwsp.
over humans in detecting motion – that's one reason they
can detect a cat up a tree at a much greater distance than
you can! And their night vision is typically better than
ours – dogs have an additional reflective layer in the eye
called the tapetum lucidum, which reflects light back into
the receptor cells of the eye, which not only increases
their night vision, but gives them that spooky appearance
of eyes glowing in the dark.
Hearing When your dog is barking like crazy in the middle
of the night, don't just assume he's lonely and wants you
to get up and keep him company. He may be listening to
something that you can't hear, that's extremely upsetting
to him – like a burglar breaking in your basement window.
Dogs can hear at four times the distance humans can – that
means you might hear something from a 100 yards away your
dog could hear from a quarter of a mile away. Their ears
are also better designed to gather more of the available
sound wave – they have 15 different muscles that move their
ears in all directions, plus they can move one ear at a
time – and independently of the other to absorb even more
information!
Touch Dogs also have a well-developed sense of touch,
surprising perhaps under all that fur, although this sense
is much less sophisticated than a human's. Puppies are born
with sensory receptors in their faces so they can find mama
even if they're separated before they open their eyes. But
they also can sense touch all over their bodies, just as
humans can. One reason your dog flops down on the couch
next to you and tries to snuggle up on a hot day (or any
other day for that matter!) is because he likes the comfort
of feeling that you're right there!
Smell We can't even come close to our dog's ability to
smell things. It's been estimated that a dog's sense of
smell is 100,000 times more powerful than a human's.
Scientists think that humans have about 40 million
olfactory receptors, versus 2 billion for your dog! That's
part of the reason dogs make such good trackers, and can
trace scents across all sorts of distractions – like across
roadways or through dense woods. Dogs also use their sense
of smell as a communications tool – when they're running
around the park with their nose to the ground, sniffing
everything in sight, they're actually reading the calling
cards of everyone – dogs, humans, cats, squirrels, and
anyone or anything else, that has been there before him.
Which is why he may not pay attention to you when you first
get to the park – he's trying to see if any of his buddies
have been there before him!
Taste Just as with humans, taste is closely linked to the
sense of smell – the main difference is humans won't eat
something that smells bad; while dogs are the opposite –
the smellier the better. Dogs will gulp first and ask
questions later. While humans many times won't eat
something that doesn't look appealing, let alone doesn't
smell good, dogs are more concerned with smell, than taste.
They frequently gobble down food before they have time to
chew it, let alone taste it. But that's ok – it's why when
we clean out our refrigerators our dogs think it's time for
treats.
So the next time your dog engages in some puzzling
behavior, whether it's barking for no reason, or ignoring
you at the park, he might not be trying to irritate you –
he's just responding to a different level of senses than
you are. Take a moment to look around and try and figure
out what's triggering his behavior before you get mad. Your
dog could be trying to tell you something!
About the Author:
To transform your stubborn, misbehaving dog into a loyal,
well-behaving "best friend" who obeys your every command
and is the envy of the neighborhood,
visit:http://tinyurl.
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