Dog Nose
The Dog's Sense of Smell
While the human brain is dominated by a large visual cortex, the dog brain is dominated by an olfactory (or smell) cortex. The olfactory bulb in dogs is about forty times bigger than humans, relative to total brain size, with the dog's 125 to 220 million smell-sensitive receptors. The bloodhound's smell sense is beyond this standard with nearly 300 million receptors. Dogs can discern odors at concentrations nearly 100 million times lower than humans can. A dog's wet nose is essential for determining the direction of the air current containing the smell. Cold receptors in the nose skin are sensitive to the cooling of the skin by evaporation of the moisture by air currents.
Simple Wet Dog Nose Experiment (try at your sit spot)
A little experiment to try at your sit spot would be to try wetting your own nose with water (just like dogs wet their noses) at your sit spot and see if that can enhance your sense of smell or not! Journal about your "wet nose" experience. Just take a damp wash cloth of water and dab you nose with it and see if you notice anything different. Try to dab your nose a bit on the inside of your nostrils and see if that helps any.
While the human brain is dominated by a large visual cortex, the dog brain is dominated by an olfactory (or smell) cortex. The olfactory bulb in dogs is about forty times bigger than humans, relative to total brain size, with the dog's 125 to 220 million smell-sensitive receptors. The bloodhound's smell sense is beyond this standard with nearly 300 million receptors. Dogs can discern odors at concentrations nearly 100 million times lower than humans can. A dog's wet nose is essential for determining the direction of the air current containing the smell. Cold receptors in the nose skin are sensitive to the cooling of the skin by evaporation of the moisture by air currents.
Simple Wet Dog Nose Experiment (try at your sit spot)
A little experiment to try at your sit spot would be to try wetting your own nose with water (just like dogs wet their noses) at your sit spot and see if that can enhance your sense of smell or not! Journal about your "wet nose" experience. Just take a damp wash cloth of water and dab you nose with it and see if you notice anything different. Try to dab your nose a bit on the inside of your nostrils and see if that helps any.
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