Why does a dog sniff his owner when he comes home

Many owners have noticed that when they come home, the dogs begin to sniff them thoroughly. Especially if during the absence a person communicated with other animals. Have you noticed this with your pet? Do you wonder why the dog sniffs the owner who has returned home?

Dogs perceive the world differently than we do. If we rely mainly on sight and hearing, then dogs do not always rely on sight, hear well and orient themselves perfectly with the help of smell. It is impossible for us to even imagine how different the world of smells of our dogs is from ours. The sense of smell in dogs, depending on the breed, is developed 10 – 000 times stronger than ours. Just think!

It seems that there is nothing that would be inaccessible to dog noses. We can’t even imagine all the smells our best friends smell.

Furthermore. The dog not only perceives the smell of the object “as a whole”, it is able to “split” it into its components. For example, if we smell a certain dish on the table, dogs are able to identify each of the ingredients.

In addition to the usual odors, dogs, using the vomeronosal organ, can perceive pheromones – chemical signals that are associated with sexual and territorial behavior, as well as parent-child relationships. The vomeronasal organ in dogs is located in the upper palate, so they draw in odor molecules with the help of the tongue.

The nose helps dogs to collect “fresh” information about the surrounding objects, living and non-living. And, of course, they cannot ignore such an important object as their own person!

When you get home and the dog sniffs you, he “scans” the information, determining where you were, what you interacted with and who you communicated with.

In addition, the smell of familiar, pleasant people to the dog, not to mention the smell of the owner, gives the pet pleasure. In the journal Behavioral Processes, a study was published, according to which the smell of the owner is perceived by many dogs as an encouragement. When the dogs involved in the experiment inhaled the smells of familiar people, the part of the brain responsible for pleasure became very active. The smell of familiar people pleased our four-legged friends even more than the smell of familiar relatives.