6 surprising things dogs smell that humans can't smell

Dogs can smell much better than humans, in fact a million times better. Dogs have many more olfactory cells and are therefore extremely good sniffers. They can pick up an enormous amount of scents and do this also to form a good picture of their surroundings. Are you curious about what dogs can smell and people cannot?

1. Emotions

Dogs can smell emotions because emotions cause hormonal changes. We cannot notice the smell of hormonal changes, but dogs can. For example, when we are stressed more of the hormone cortisol is released. If we are happy then more of the hormone oxytocin is released. These scents of hormones spread through our breath and through our sweat and therefore dogs can smell our emotions.

2. Cancer

Perhaps you've heard before that dogs can smell cancer and have questioned it. A study has actually found that dogs can detect cancer through their sense of smell. A 2019 study through BioScentDx found that dogs could detect cancer through blood samples with an accuracy ratio of 97%. Especially for early detection of cancer, dogs could be suitable.

3. Drugs

This will come as no surprise to you. Dogs have long been used as tracking dogs to detect drugs. This allows them to notice the smallest changes in odors that humans cannot smell.

4. Pregnancy

Dogs know people's scents, but they can also smell hormones very well. During pregnancy, hormones are coursing through a woman's body. Dogs can sense this. However, no scientific evidence has yet been found that dogs can actually smell pregnancy, but there are stories of dog owners who have noticed that their dogs have smelled pregnancy.

5. Weapons and explosives

Dogs can smell weapons and explosives if they are trained to do so. For this reason, dogs are also used to detect terrorism. Especially in America, dogs are used to detect weapons since there is a lot of gun ownership there.

6. Bed Bugs

Those little nasty bugs that can be found in your bed and live off the blood of humans or animals. We would rather not find them in our bed, but there is good news! Dogs can smell bedbugs. Some pest control companies have even used dogs to actually detect the bedbugs. The next time you think you have bedbugs, you'll know what help to call for. That of a sweet four-legged friend, that is!

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