My Friend and I |
I think I need to explain something to
my human friends: Have you ever wonder
how Dogs say hello to one another?
Kisses |
Just seconds after my “D” gets home,
he’s face to face with my wagging Stub (my tail was cut off as a baby, but
that’s another story for another time), wildly excited I just can’t get enough
of him. I used to get so excited I
would pee myself, but I’m a big Girl now and can contain myself. He will then be blitzed by 9 pounds of
motorized hair showering him with kisses. Actually, what he is really being
showered with is my spit (He calls them kisses because it sounds better). But
that’s not the only way I say hello?
Like you, I have five senses: smell,
touch, sight, hearing and taste. Humans use the sense of sight as the primary
sense for recognizing one another. Dogs, however, use smell. Smell is so
important that a dog's sense of smell is thousands of times better than yours.
Therefore, not only can I tell what a person smells like -- as opposed to a cat
-- but I can also tell the difference between members of your human family
based on their individual smells. (Lots of teenage human girls can smell their
younger brothers when they are nearby, but that's because boys hate taking
showers, not because girls possess high level sniffing abilities.)
I think that's poop over there |
Dogs recognize one another by the smell
of their pee and poop. That's why dogs greet each other not eye to eye, but
nose to butt. By taking a quick whiff of my friend's behind, I instantly know
who she's been with. That is also why I smell everything I can during a walk.
By sniffing grass, bushes, trees and signposts, I know which other neighborhood
dogs have been around lately.
Here is one more fact to consider when
you are lounging around petting man's best friend: Dogs are farsighted; that
means they have terrible vision up close. So they are far more likely to
recognize who is nearby by smell rather than by sight.
That
creates some interesting behavior when I am around other dogs. If one leaves the room, even for just a few
seconds, we both smell each other's bottoms when we see each other again. If I
translated that behavior into words, it would go something like this:
Sniffing Butt: Hey, where you been?
Sniffing My Butt: I was in the kitchen getting a drink, but now
I'm back.
Snif: Want to take a nap?
Snif: Sure.
Barkofarts |
So what is the Moral of this story? Next time when I send Barkofarts, just know
it’s only my way of blowing you kisses.
Sooooo, Licks and Barkofarts
Love
Dolly