Pies: A dog's sense of smell is so powerful that they can detect changes in a person's emotional state

Evidence: 52 • authority: 92

Not just avoidance: dogs show subtle individual differences in reacting to human fear chemosignals.. Recent olfactory studies suggest that human emotional chemosignals can alter dog behavior. However, their methods impeded a firm conclusion on whether dogs reacted to the scent directly or to the present human's unconscious response to the intraspecific stimulus. Moreover, whether these reactions differ between dogs has not yet been explored. Therefore, we investigated dogs' reactions to human fear or neutral chemosignals while shielding the present human from the smells. Dogs were first trained to approach a single empty target on command, before they were given the choice between two targe…

Evidence: 60 • authority: 72

The dog (Canis familiaris or Canis lupus familiaris) is a domesticated descendant of wolves. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. Dogs and the modern gray wolf share a common ancestor. Dogs were the first species to be domesticated over 14,000 years ago, before the development of agriculture, though genetic studies suggest the domestication process may have begun over 25,000 years ago. Due to their long association with humans, dogs have gained the ability to thrive on a starch-rich diet that would be inadequate for other canids. Dogs have been bred for specific behaviors, sensory abilities, and physical traits. Dog breeds va…

Evidence: 52 • authority: 92

Predicting missed alerts in detection dogs.. Detection dogs are widely used in tasks ranging from explosives detection to medical diagnostics. Yet even well-trained dogs occasionally fail to indicate target odors. Such missed alerts can have severe operational consequences. Here we show that missed alerts are preceded by measurable changes in the dog's behavioral and physiological state. Using a controlled olfacto-treadmill system with precisely timed odor presentation, we analyzed movement dynamics and physiological signals during the seconds preceding each trial. A machine learning model trained on pre-odor movement patterns predicted subsequent missed indications with above-chance accura…

Evidence: 43 • authority: 80

Brand Sense: How to Build Powerful Brands Through Touch, Taste, Smell, Sight and Sound

Evidence: 43 • authority: 80

Smell proves powerful sense for birds. New studies highlight underappreciated role of avian olfaction

Evidence: 43 • authority: 80

AI is acquiring a sense of smell that can detect illnesses in human breath

Evidence: 43 • authority: 72

Dog intelligence or dog cognition is the process in dogs of acquiring information and conceptual skills, and storing them in memory, retrieving, combining and comparing them, and using them in new situations. Studies have shown that dogs display many behaviors associated with intelligence. They have advanced memory skills, and are able to read and react appropriately to human body language such as gesturing and pointing, and to understand human voice commands. Dogs demonstrate a theory of mind by engaging in deception, and self-awareness by detecting their own smell during the "sniff test", a proposed olfactory equivalent to the mirror test.

Evidence: — • authority: 38