Dog owners everywhere are suddenly fascinated with their dogs’ snouts after dog trainer Victoria took to TikTok to reveal the secret behind dogs’ precise timing instincts – their noses.
Canine fingerprints
She elaborates on the intricate workings of a dog's olfactory system by describing the dark part of a dog’s nose as a unique “leather” similar to human fingerprints.
In the video, which has attracted over 741k views, Victoria explains that a dog’s cold, wet nose acts as a scent trap, efficiently filtering scent molecules through tiny nasal hairs called cilia. With an astounding 220 million to a billion scent receptors, dogs can detect minute traces of odours undetectable to humans.
Victoria compares a dog’s olfactory prowess to the remarkable ability to smell a drop of sweat in an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
Decode time through scent
Astonishingly, dogs can discern the present and anticipate the future through scent. They decode time cues from the air and ground, adapting to the subtle shifts in airflow throughout the day.
Dog owners commenting on Victoria’s video corroborated these observations, recounting instances where their pets exhibited precise timing behaviours, such as anticipating meal times or greeting them at specific moments.
One owner said, “My dog is fed at 6 o’clock every night, at 5:59 he will come and stare at me until I feed him.” Another wrote, “I've always known they can tell time to some degree. As a child, my pitbull would be waiting at the window the moment my bus dropped me off. As an adult, both of my dogs come into my office when I start."
Has your dog got a good sense of time?
