Can dogs smell fear?

Were you ever told that dogs could smell your fear?  Perhaps you tried to act brave when you felt otherwise. Whilst it is true that dogs sense of smell is around 10,000 times better than ours (I have read figures even higher) the suggestion is that when humans feel scared they omit a particular scent. Now I don’t deny this or the possibility a dog can detect an increase in our sweat or adrenalin output, which might indicate we are scared.  But in my opinion dogs are better at reading our body language than we think.

We are really smelly to dogs and they can tell the difference in whether we’re sweaty from exercise or fear.  They can smell that we’ve touched a particular doorknob simply from skin we shed.  But I wouldn’t be surprised if even without their acute sense of smell they could still tell when we’re happy, fearful or otherwise.

With the capacity to smell some diseases and detect when we are poorly or sad, dogs regularly choose to stay nearby an owner during their hour of need.

 

Leah & Angela OMeara

Hound Dog Day Care (Specialists in Dog Minding & Dog Boarding, Pet Sitting Brisbane & Doggy Day Care Brisbane)