Why Dogs Smell Each Other

If you have a dog or are simply a good observer, you already know that when these animals meet they smell each other, especially in the anal area. But while from a human perspective this attitude may seem a bit disgusting to us, there is a reason they do it. Find out why dogs smell each other.

Dogs sniff each other’s butts to properly socialize with each other

A first fact to be taken into account is that the sense of smell of these furry is very developed: between 10 thousand and 100 thousand times more than ours.

So when dogs sniff each other’s butts, what they’re actually doing is gathering a lot of information about their fellow dogs. For example:

• Gender.
• Physical state and mood.

• What have you eaten recently.

In this way, furry ones are able to socialize in a correct way since, by sniffing each other, they obtain adequate information about their peers.

Dogs establish chemical communication through the secretion of their anal sacs.

So when dogs sniff each other, they are establishing what is called “chemical communication.”

In fact, the aroma that the anal glands give off offers a whole range of information. These sacs are located one on each side of the anus and produce the secretions that the dogs’ powerful sense of smell can decode very well.

George Preti, a chemist at the “Monell Chemical Senses Center” in Philadelphia, United States, carried out a study in 1975 on the secretions of these glands and determined the main chemical components that made them up: a compound of trimethylamine and various fatty acids.

What is certain is that each furry gives off a specific aroma, since each animal has a specific diet and a distinct emotional and immune system.

How dogs decode the chemical information they get by smelling each other

But, how do our four-legged friends manage to decode this chemical information they receive when sniffing the butts of other dogs?

This subject has a lot to do with the Jacobson organ or vomeronasal, which we could define as an auxiliary olfactory system and which can detect different chemical compounds, in general pheromones, and transmit this information directly to the brain.

Located between the nose and mouth of dogs and other vertebrates, specifically in the vomer bone, this organ is what allows the furry to “communicate” correctly, by decoding their physical and emotional state.

Although in humans this organ is considered vestigial, in recent times many studies have been carried out to try to determine if there is any function and if this is comparable to what it has in other species.

More information about dogs’ sense of smell

In addition to smell being a highly developed sense in dogs, it should also be noted that these animals have a great olfactory memory. This enables them to remember, for example, the scent of other dogs and recognize them after years of being apart from each other.

But the dogs’ great sense of smell, which allows them to perceive in rich detail the aroma of all the particles that hover in the air, transcends the normal communication between their brethren, other animals and their surroundings, and has been enjoyed by man since time immemorial.

This is how they were trained to detect, among other things:

• Bodies drowned in the sea, even if there are many meters.
• Disaster survivors trapped under rubble.

• Drugs camouflaged by criminals.
• Explosives.
• Different types of cancer in people.
• Hypoglycemia situations in diabetic patients.