The Scent of Success

The superpower scent of dogs is extraordinary. It’s dog-gone re-bark-able! Dogs devote an immense capacity of their brain power to interpreting smells. They have more than 100 million sensory receptors in their nasal cavity compared to the six million people possess. The area of the canine brain that analyzes scent is also 40 times larger than ours. It is estimated that our canine companions can smell up to 10,000 times more than we do.

With a single sniff, their doggie noses can interpret an entire story without words. Their use of amines and acids is the basis for a dog’s chemical communication. A dog can determine if someone is happy, fearful, aggressive, healthy, or ill simply by smelling. They also retain their scent memory for years. Because they can move their nostrils independently their sense of smell is like a compass. All of these scent capabilities can make it far less difficult for a dog to adapt to the loss of their sight compared to a human.

Every human has a unique innate scent that enables dogs to tell one person from another. Although dogs are keen to watch and take heed of our body language, the combination of their higher sensitivities equips them with a wide range of capabilities that serves humanity. Consider this for a moment. Their sensitives make them both super powerful and highly successful in contributing to the lives of humans.

Dogs can scent detect diseases like cancer. A recent review of several studies indicate that dogs may be able to identify lung, bladder, breast, prostate, skin, and ovarian cancers. They also detect changes in blood sugars for diabetics. Dogs detect oncoming migraines and seizures for people. While more research is needed, there is evidence to support that dogs can sniff out Parkinson’s Disease and Covid-19. Last year it was reported that several research studies were conducted and found that trained dogs were detecting Covid-19 with 92% accuracy.

The scent of success in trained dogs is a remarkable matter. Many service dogs or trained disease detection dogs are taught to communicate through a variety of behaviors. They retrieve medications, water, and other needed items. Dogs touch, lick, or poke their nose at certain body parts to alert humans. They provide balance and assist or even pull wheelchairs. Dogs also alert humans if they sense their blood sugar is too low or high. Service dogs are trained in numerous ways such as nudging their owners away from danger. They also keep alert to smoke and fire alarms, phones ringing, door knocking, sirens screeching, or when their human’s name is being called.

Dogs can sense happiness as well as our stress through scent. Science proved dogs notice changes as they can smell the fluctuations of our feel-good hormones of oxytocin, serotonin, and dopamine. Their wet noses can also sense the physiological changes of increasing heart rates and blood pressure. The love of dogs is inspiring. Reflect to acknowledge all the remarkable traits and interests you possess. Choose to share these to fill your life with purpose and success. As scientists continue to study the amazing sense of smell dogs possess and find new ways to utilize their superpowers to serve humanity, I look forward to what lies ahead. The extraordinary service they contribute to our human-dog relationship is meaningful. I also look forward to being of service to support your leadership in life and at work.

Promoting Brilliance recently published a daily reader and planner to support what’s meaningful for your life. These books are titled, The Dog God Has Spoken and The Dog God Has Spoken Tracker. Both books are available online at Barnes & Noble.

The Dog God Has Spoken 
Barnes & Noble weblink:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-dog-god-has-spoken-beth-wellesley/1144504143?ean=9798989223909

The Dog God Has Spoken Tracker
Barnes & Noble weblink:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-dog-god-has-spoken-tracker-beth-wellesley/1144504078?ean=9798989223947

One caveat with this first addition, the shipping process is not quite as speedy as some online services. However, the quality of the book is far superior to most print editions.