When your dog stops to sniff a lamp post, they are analysing the evaporation rate of the molecules.
Strong Scent: The dog was here minutes ago. This might trigger a more immediate reaction like looking around, peeing or following the direction the other dog went.
Faint Scent: This is “yesterday’s news.” Your dog will still gather information, but they won’t be as physically activated by it. And they can distinguish between different layers of scent on the same object.
Your dog can tell that a Golden Retriever was at a fence post 20 minutes ago, but underneath that, a Terrier visited 4 hours ago. They are perceiving a timeline of events that happened before they arrived at the same spot.
This is how search and rescue dogs know which way a person or animal went.
As a person or creature moves, they leave a trail of skin cells and scent. The dog sniffs one area, then another. If one place is slightly “fresher” (more concentrated), the dog knows the trail is moving in that direction.
Sniffing is so important for our dogs to be able to carry out, with many reasons.
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