Your Dog’s Nose Knows

When a dog gives birth, her puppies noses are open, but their eyes and ears are closed. The pup first knows its mom by scent. This is how they find her to get fed. The mom is first and foremost scent and energy.

While we have about 5 million scent receptors in our noses, the average adult dog has about 220 million! Dogs have the ability to sniff out smells that we can't even pick up using high tech equipment. So, a puppy grows up to "see" the world using its nose as its primary sensory organ.

Along with energy and scent, puppies will experience touch as they get close to mom to nurse. They have no concern about what she looks like. Around fifteen days after birth the pups will start to open their eyes. Then around twenty days after birth their ears will start to function. How do we most often try to communicate with our dogs? We talk to them as if they understand us, or by yelling commands at them.

So it goes like this: nose, eyes, ears. I'll say that again: nose, eyes, ears. Memorize this in order. It is the natural order of  their senses. Dogs experience the world very differently than we do, from birth on. For a dog, the calm-assertive energy of the mother permeates everything. Calm-assertive energy is the first energy that puppies experience, and it will be this energy that they associate with balance and harmony for the rest of their lives. From the beginning they learn to follow a calm-assertive leader. They also  learn calm-submission, the natural role of followers in nature. They learn that survival means both competition with their litter mates for food and co-operation with their mother, their first pack leader.

How do dogs greet each other? Yes, they sniff each others rears. This is how they learn information about each other. So the nose is the first sense used to greet another dog.
How do we greet our dog? And how does our dog greet us? There is a right and wrong way to greet a puppy or adult dog, and how they are to greet us.

Contrast the calm-assertive scent and energy emitted by the mother dog with how we normally introduce ourselves to a dog. What do we usually do when we see a cute little dog? We exclaim loudly in a high pitched voice. A voice reserved for babies. By doing this, we are introducing ourselves to the dog using sound first. Usually very excited, emotion charged sound. This is the furthest from calm-assertive energy to your dog. To a dog emotional energy is weak and often negative energy. You are telling the dog right off the bat, that you are not a strong leader. Your dog will find a way to take over that leadership. If that happens, trouble will occur down the road.

How does your dog greet you? Probably with excitement and jumping up on you. This is because your dog is using his eyes and ears first. He has left his nose behind. This is because you reward his excited jumping with affection. A dog must be allowed to sniff you before you touch or talk to him. This will calm him down sooner. When he is calm reward him for his good behavior. Calm energy is essential for greeting any dog. Your dogs nose must work first, sniffing whatever, before you touch them or talk to them. Let him know who you are by smell.

Play hide and seek games in the house or outside. Have a treat with you and reward him when he finds you. He will have to sniff you out. Make a trail of chicken pieces. Let him sniff each one out, then find you, Give him a big hug or some other affection for finding you. Games like these will help your dog build  his sense of smell.

Help your dog to smell the world as they were intended to.