A dog's sense of smell.

I imagine at least some of the time they're overwhelmed, particularly if they stroll by a bakery or even a gym.

I like to think of them as dividing the world into things that smell good and things that smell bad. And good and bad are not just whether something is edible but also value judgments. So the kind veterinarian has a good smell even if the vet's office is scary (and maybe smells 'bad'), and the nasty puppy mill has a bad smell. Of course I don't know; that's just how I think of them.

Col that's a very good q, one I had often wondered, and Jes' response excellent. We do have some smart folk hereabout

I often wish I could claim the quality. It took me 18 years to realize that when I misspelled with a gap, eg, 'ha ve,' I don't first hafta paint the gap

Pity the Software Ed. Mavens are even dumber, can't recognize it as a misspelling. Guys, when there's a gap or an extra apostrophe (that's " ' ") and I paint the whole word, you oughta check the spelling then too


My apolos to all the TAT's accidentally reading this, working up a rage....

I was reading about drug sniffing dogs and the sense of small they have. They compare a dogs olfactory to our vision. When we look at stew for example, we see carrots, potatoes, beef, gravy, etc. But when we smell it, we smell stew. Dogs can smell each individual ingredient. They smell carrots and beef and salt and corn starch, etc.

For example, they would use small bits of marijuana in a plastic bag and when the dog signaled it smelling it the dog would be rewarded. They would also use just plastic bags and when the dog signaled, it would not be rewarded.

They too some dope, wrapped in cellophane put in a baggy, wrapped in foil and cellophane again and then duct tapped it. The dog was able to smell each thing and the ones that had dope in it the dog found.

Dogs olfactory sense really is amazing.

Col that's a very good q, one I had often wondered, and Jes' response excellent. We do have some smart folk hereabout

Now when they come across a scent marker, forget anything else; that's the most important thing in the world at the time. They must get a world of information from that little bit of urine.

Yea Col, and this all leaves one q'ing, too, how much of it is pure instinct. We have a delightful new pup called Nathan who when he's being fed in the kitchen but doesn't like the morsel, circles it pushing the plate with his nose; doesn't realize he's trying to bury it for later

There is a sort of gating mechanism. Everything except what they're concentrating on at the time is blocked out. I've walked up on armadillos with their big ears and probably good sense of smell zeroing in on a grub worm or something under the ground, completely oblivious to anything else around them. Eventually they realize you're there and jump about a foot off the ground and take off running. It's like a kid eating his macaroni and cheese; nothing else in
the world exists for him. I suppose that's why so many armadillos get run over. When they realize a cars coming they jump up a foot in the air and get hit.

Col thanks again

By the way I'm not having much luck asking The Crew what to do about my software problems but I'd like to fwd this thread to my No. 2 Son, but can't 'cause my "Mail' link has disdappeared. That's the one you get by sliding down or over to the left; it's a color photo of something with a little black dot to its left. I hit a wrong key or something and it has disappeared so now I can't get into or outa Mail

Pleasure Col chattin'w/you