Dog Umwelt by: John Wall

I was interested in the article “Dog Umwelt” by: Alexandra Horowitz. She ended up about describing two perspectives that different dogs have. Such as how certain dogs like a pug have flattened snouts tend to only notice or see things that happen right in front of them like humans. That’s the reason pugs are considered lap dogs and only tend to focus on their human companion. Unlike dogs with longer snouts, which focus on objects further out and tend to be more of scavengers or hunting dogs.

She also talked about how dogs smell way better than humans. Mainly because the way their nose is designed and they have some 300 million receptors in their nose when humans only have 6 million. Their nose has slits on the sides so that there can be a constant flow of air and the scent is constantly being refreshed compared to a human who has to constantly breathe in and out.

I found this all quite interesting because I have a dog of my own which is a Jack-Russell and he is always on the hunt for some rodent. This makes sense because he has a longer snout and tends to focus on things further away. Also I go bird hunting with my buddy and he brings along his bird dogs. It is amazing to think that their noses have 300 million receptors while we only have 6 million. No wonder they can follow a scent so well on the ground to where the pheasant is. I think be reading this article I’ve learned that there is more than one perspective besides mine.