All about Sniffing

A short dive into the dogs nose.

‘Did you know the average dog has around 220 million scent receptors in their nose, whereas we only have 5 million’

Looking into the dog’s brain

What is the olfactory bulb, well it’s one of the major components of the olfactory system which also consists of the nasal cavity, olfactory epithelium and receptors and the vomeronasal organ.

‘The dog’s olfactory bulb is 40x larger than ours.’

 The olfactory bulb is the part of the brain that processes scent and detects smells and functions primarily as a relay station helping to communicate with the brain and to filter sensory input, it is located in the dog’s forebrain and is connected to the limbic system which is the part of the brain involved in the emotional and behavioural responses of the dog and it’s directly connected to the amygdala which is the part of the brain involved in the formation of memories of emotional experiences.

So it’s important especially in regards to training dogs, because their sense of smell is directly linked to memory and emotion so using the smell of a treat or the smell of their favorite toy can bypass the usual decision-making process in the brain, which is why reward-based training is so effective.

Because smell is linked to memory if a dog smells something that they associate with a previous bad experience they had, it sticks and it’s probably the main reason that dogs hate going to the vets it’s not the people it’s the smell of the veterinary surgery reminding them of a bad experience, its the same for groomers if a dog doesn't like being brushed at home their not going to like it at the groomers which means they probably also wont like being de knotted or de matted, so they remember that experience no matter how nice the people are and even if the next six times they come they don't have any knots and there coat is in pristine condition they will still remember, just like us bad memories stick more than good ones.

We can use their sense of smell to help dogs overcome fears or phobias, as we can recreate positive associations where previously there was a negative one.

'Did you know puppies are born with their sense of smell but the rest of their senses are still developing, the learn the smell of their mother’s saliva and use it to find her milk pumps for feeding (nipples)'

Ever heard of Jaak Panksepp Core Emotions?

Jaak Panksepp(1943-2017) was a Neuroscientist and psychobiologist who coined the term ‘Affective Neuroscience’ the name for the field that studies the neural mechanisms of emotions. In his work he identified the seven core emotional systems.

Rage – Fear- Grief – Seeking – Play – Care – Lust

‘Each have their own neuro chemistry’

How can Sniffing change your dog behaviour

watch this video

So, how can sniffing help your dog when trying to change behaviour.

Sniffing activates what is, considered to be the dogs main primary processing emotional system, the seeking system is one of the seven core emotions,  but is intertwined with all the emotional systems which is why its considered to be the main primary processing emotional system. Its intertwined because what ever behaviour or attitude that is initiated by the other core emotions, it’s the seeking system that drives dogs to act, for example when a dog is fearful they seek safety when they are playful they seek things or someone to play with, and with lust they seek a mate.

Activation of the seeking system is what motivates dogs to search and obtain resources such as food, which is where sniffing comes in, this system is about motivation and learning and activation of the seeking system can modify the information and in what manner it is processed by the brain.

‘dopamine is at the hart of the seeking system’

We can use the seeking system to change things like fear responses, but not by teaching the dog to do an alternative behaviour to the one we don’t want but by changing how the dog feels about the stimulus they are fearful of, which naturally changes their behaviour around that stimulus.

So what is seeking, its searching sniffing out food

If you watched the video you will see the difference between the clips, in the first clip the dog is fearful and moving away from the traffic and cowering, but in the second clip the dog is more relaxed and is happier to sniff out the food that’s been sprinkled on the floor and is not bothered by the traffic passing. There was no training involved just simply getting the dog to sniff, which activates the seeking system, but like mentioned in the video and it is quite important we started at some distance away from the road and before the dog was fearful and as the dog sniffs to find the food the dog naturally wonders closer to road, it’s all on the dogs terms.

If the dog was already in flight mode and the fear system is activated, which is another one of the core emotional systems, getting the dog to sniff wouldn’t have much effectiveness because the point of the core emotions is they are tools for survival a dog that is already in a state of fear would natural seek safety. Which is why to change how a dog feels about a particular stimulus, sniffing and activating the seeking system needs to happen before the traffic comes or before that dog walks past, before the postman comes, so we are putting the dog in a emotional state where learning can take place to change how they feel about the stimulus which in tail changes their behaviour.

The seeking system is so much more then sniffing and searching for food and it can be utilized in many ways, to find the best way to help your dog if your having problems is to seek a behaviorists advice.

The seeking system is why clicker training works so well and why ease of learning and retention typically is seen more in clicker trained dogs, because there’s a larger dopamine response using clickers then when just giving food alone to the dog.

Sniffing is great for mental stimulation and dogs that don't get enough mental stimulation will seek some kind of stimulation on their own, which is when we tend to see destructive behaviors like chewing shoes or furniture or hyperactivity and zoomies.

A great way add some mental stimulation to your walks is free sniffing either off lead or on a long line to let them sniff freely. You can sprinkle some food on the floor for them to sniff out or play hide and seek with one of their toys, but remember for it to be mentally stimulating they need to sniff it out, so playing fetch will not provide the stimulation we are looking for due to arousal and excitement levels being to high, arousal refers to increased levels of emotional and physiological responsiveness, but in short playing fetch puts the dog into an emotional state where learning and retention can not take place.

A dog that is a both their arousal threshold will be more impulsive and harder to control, ever wondered why even after a long walk with your dog they wont settle down after or as your walk goes on their recall gets worse or they pull on the lead more or just become more naughty or vocal, barking at random things even becoming jumpy.

Their arousal levels are too high for them to handle and the only way to calm them is sleep but if your dog wont settle they wont be able to sleep, so doing activities like sniffing can help bring them down to a level where they can sleep. With out proper sleep after a highly arousing activity can affect the days that come after, sometimes the dog is not just being naughty they are either not getting enough out of their day to day life or they just need to learn how to how to settle down.

"Its amazing to thing that your dog can remember things through smell"

Victoria Stilwell

References

illis.se/en/seeking pawsiteam.fihe-basic-emotional-circuits-of-mammalian-brains-1.pdf pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7219919