A dog's nose is a truly high-performance organ. Not only can dogs use it to detect missing people, they can even recognize illnesses such as cancer, sugar shock or corona. However, in order to work optimally, the nose must not be too dry.
Dogs can smell much better than humans. There are several reasons for this. The first can be discovered by anyone who owns a dog. Take a close look at the nostrils. You can see not only two nostrils, but also slits on the sides. Air enters the lungs through the nostrils and exits through the side slits. A complex process takes place during inhalation: This begins with the air entering the lungs and supplying them with oxygen.
In addition, the dog can now perceive odors. While we have around 5 million olfactory receptors for this, dogs have up to 300 million. But that's not all: dogs have a significantly higher breathing rate. A sniffer dog breathes 250 to 300 times per minute during an intensive search. Each breath provides new information to the brain. Here, ten percent of the brain's activity is concerned with evaluation, whereas in humans this value is significantly lower at one percent. So it's no wonder that dogs can smell many times better than humans.
It is not only the number of olfactory cells, the high respiratory rate and the brain's performance potential that are responsible for the extraordinary ability of the dog's nose. In addition, dogs can smell stereoscopically. While we only notice that it smells like pizza in the house, dogs can determine the exact direction from which the smell is coming. And they can do this long before we smell it. This is made possible by the olfactory mucosa, which covers an area of up to 200 square centimetres, depending on the breed of dog, while the human olfactory mucosa covers just five square centimetres. However, not all dogs smell equally well due to the different shape and size of their noses and snouts. A German shepherd, for example, smells much better than a dachshund.
As if the performance of the nose wasn't already high enough, dogs also have an additional sense of smell: they possess the so-called Jacobson's organ. This is located behind the incisors, near the palate. The palate and nose are connected via a small opening. This enables the dog to conduct substances absorbed via the tongue to the olfactory cells. In principle, it can therefore also taste an odor. And that's not all: the Jacobson's organ also helps with the perception of tiny pheromones. In combination with the nose, this explains the top performances that search dogs are capable of.
Every owner of a search dog knows this, which is why he regularly offers him water. This is because the increased breathing frequency can cause a dry nose. You should therefore provide your dog with sufficient fluids. If the dry noseoccurs in conjunction with a fever , you should consult a vet immediately.
Dogs have been a great help to us for centuries with their excellent noses. They still prove this today in many special situations, for example as drug dogs, rescue dogs and search dogs. But they can do even more: they can smell diseases! Researchers have discovered that they can detect whether a person is suffering from cancer from blood samples. Some dogs have a hit rate of over 90 percent. They show similarly good results when used as diabetic or epilepsy alert dogs.
So it's no wonder that they are also being used in research in connection with the coronavirus. Initial results show that after a few weeks of training, they have an excellent hit rate here too. This is why they are already being used at airports in Dubai, Helsinki, Beirut and Miami. In Germany, the University of Veterinary Medicine Hanover has carried out successful tests with concertgoers. Further deployments in retirement homes are planned. There is no doubt that their excellent capabilities will be invaluable here too.