Dogs Can Hear and Smell Even Further Than You Think

Image: Getty Images
We know and learn about the world around us through our senses. The senses of smell and hearing in dogs mean they experience a different world to us.

Dogs have many more smell receptors than humans – a receptor is a part of the nose that recognises each unique smell particle.
Dogs also have a lot more surface area in their noses and are better at moving air through their noses than us. Watch a dog sniffing and you can see this for yourself. If more air passes through their nose they have more chance to pick up smells.

Dogs have a much better sense of smell than us.
Flickr/Redfishingboat (Mick O), CC BY-NC
How far dogs can smell depends on many things, such as the wind and the type of scent. Under perfect conditions, they have been reported to smell objects or people as far as 20km away.
You might be interested to know dogs are not the only great smellers. The scientific family dogs belong to is Carnivora. This includes cats, bears and skunks.
These animals have incredible senses of smell as well. Bears have some of the best senses of smell in the family. Polar bears can smell seals, which they hunt, from more than 30km away.

What’s that I can smell? Polar bears can detect a seal from 30km away.
Incredible Arctic/Shutterstock
How would it feel if you knew just by smell when your best friend was in the next room, even if you couldn’t see them? Wouldn’t you love to know where you
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