Being a dog : following the dog into a world of smell
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 275-303) and index.

Alexandra Horowitz, author of the bestseller Inside of a Dog, explores what dogs know in even greater depth, following their lead to learn about the dog's spectacular nose and how we mere humans can improve our underused sense of smell. Here Horowitz, a leading researcher in dog cognition, continues to unpack the mystery of a dog's nose-view, in order to more fully understand our companions. She follows the dog's nose--exploring not only its abilities but the incredible ways it is being put to use. Because human noses are so inconsiderable in comparison--we have but six million olfactory receptor cells while dogs have hundreds of millions--we have difficulty conceptualizing what dogs can perceive. Every breath is full of information. Dogs, when trained, can identify drugs of every type, underwater cadavers, cancer, illicit cell phones in prison, bedbugs, smuggled shark's fins, dry rot, land mines, termites, invasive knapweed, underground truffles, and dairy cows in estrus. But they also know about the upcoming weather, earthquakes before they happen, how "afternoon" smells, what you had for breakfast, and whether a cat touched your leg yesterday. But the mysteries of the nose are not restricted to the dog alone. For Horowitz also delves into the abilities of expert human sniffers--from perfumers to sommeliers to animal trackers who use smell to search out their quarry. Writing with scientific rigor and her trademark wit, Horowitz changes our perspective on dogs forever.