The Nose Knows
One way our dogs learn our routine
How do dogs know we’re on our way home?
We have always been fascinated by how dogs know when we’re on our way home, I remember my husband telling me how antsy my dog gets within the hour of me coming home from work. Dog’s don’t use clocks…we think…so how do they know?
One way a dog can tell when we’re home is the obvious noise factor. For example, if your dog knows that you typically come home after the sound of the mailman's delivery or the noise of the garage door opening, they may start to associate these sounds with your return.
But the most facinating is the how they SMELL us coming and going. Dogs have an incredible sense of smell that they use to navigate the world around them. Their noses are so sensitive that they can detect scents that are undetectable to humans. One way that dogs use their sense of smell is to know when their owners will be home during the day.
When we leave our homes, we leave behind a unique scent trail that our dogs can follow. Our scent is on our clothing, our furniture, and even on the air we exhale. As we move around throughout the day, our scent dissipates, but it doesn't disappear entirely. Our dogs use their powerful noses to detect and track our scent, even after we've left the house.
Dogs are able to pick up on the slightest changes in our scent, which can give them clues as to when we'll be returning home. For example, if we have a set routine where we come home at the same time every day, our dogs may start to recognize the change in the home’s scent as that time approaches.
In a book by Alexandra Horowitz, Being a Dog, she states that dogs can basically smell time. A dogs amazing nose knows that over the hours you are gone, your home begins to smell less of you. Once they sense a certain point, (and if that’s around the time you come home,) they associate it with your return.
On the flip side, our scent does eventually dissipate to a point where our dogs can no longer detect it. This is why dogs may become confused or anxious if we're away from home for longer than usual. Once our scent has dissipated to a certain point, our dogs may no longer be able to track us, and they may start to feel unsure of when we'll be returning.
This makes us love our pups even more knowing how smart they are and how adaptable they become to a routine, which is super important in their lives!