STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Dogs possess a sense of smell that is many times more sensitive than the most advanced man-made instruments, powerful enough to detect substances at concentrations of one part per trillion.
With training, dogs can sniff out bombs and drugs, pursue suspects, and find missing persons and the food you’re making before it has been made. And more and more, dogs are being used experimentally to detect human disease—cancer, diabetes, tuberculosis, and now, malaria —using smell alone. They can sense seizures before they happen and notify those around them.
It’s easy to pull them away, thinking they are wasting precious exercise time, but that’s purely because we do not have anything close to a dog’s sense of smell. We don’t understand how fabulous our dog’s nose is — or that this incredible ability means that, unlike us, they see the world through their sense of smell. Give them some time to absorb it all. They will be grateful…