Bacon, Bacon, BACON!!!

BACON, BACON, BACON!!!

Hello!

Bacon, bacon, baaaacon!!! That's what a Golden Retriever is shouting in a commerical for a popular dog treat. It seems that pork and bacon in particular are making a resurrgence in the American diet in all sorts of forms~ from hor' derves during the holiday season, wrapped around hamburgers or a nice cut of steak, crumbled over salads...on and on. Why shouldn't dogs get into the fun?

I have a deep soul-searching question for you. Have you noticed that your dog has his own lovely scent? I don't mean when he is funky and needs a bath! I mean when he is clean and you snuggle into his neck and breathe in the scent of your dog...Jet had the smell of carmels. To this day, I can't see something carmel without thinking of how sweet and tender Jet smelled. That was his scent to me. I know he knew my own particular scent...when I was healthy and when the seizures were about to hit. I would have loved to ask him what he smelled, if it compared to anything....

Frax of course predicts seizures too, but just like people interpret scents, likely he smells my scent differently. Again, it would be great to know what it is, but that we will never know for certain...and what, pray tell, does Frax smell like? Well, he smells like bacon. Bacon, bacon, bacon! I mentioned this to Bill, and he looked at me like I had lost my mind. It was several days after a recent bath. “Go ahead, smell him” I urged. So he did. (Don't I have a great husband?) lol!

Bill looked at me in amazement. “He really does smell like bacon!” He exclaimed. We cogitated on this for several minutes. “Obviously each dog smells differently” I mused. “Obviously.” Bill replied solumbly. “We can't just go around smelling dogs though.” opined Bill. “Obviously!” I said. Then I determined to research it online. There must be something about it. Some woman recently found out that her dog's feet smelled like popcorn, and that it was very common, according to her vet~ a smell that came from sweat released through the pads of the feet, and bacteria that grew in it. Sort of like doggie BO, only from their feet! (I had to wonder why in the first place the woman was smelling her dog's feet!) Of course, I had to try it. Yup, she's right, Frax's feet occasionally smell like popcorn.

I do note a trend here however...It seems dogs smell like nice reassuring comfort foods. I like that. I can imagine in heaven that dogs get to pick what they will smell like...it must be a difficult pick~ I suppose God made it somewhat easier by making their feet smell like popcorn.

After some research, I found that yes, some intrepid scientists have learned that humans can, indeed pick out their dog by their scent! Humans were correct about 88% of the time! And, they were blindfolded in the study! The researchers found that humans scenting ability was at least as good as dogs, but that we just don't really pay attention to scent as much as our canines. As everyone knows, canines can recognize people by their scents, that's what makes them such great trackers and helpers.

So, tonight when you snuggle up to Rover, take time to take in the scent of your dog. What is it like? Is it pleasant? In the studies, the humans couldn't discribe a particular scent, they just knew which one was their dog. Enjoy, sniff....hmmmm?

Later...

LV, JT & FX

http://www.canidae.com/blog/2015/04/could-you-identify-your-dog-by-scent-alone.html

http://www.bioedonline.org/news/nature-news/does-everyone-smell-different/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1540110/Scientists-learn-what-every-dog-knows-that-we-all-have-a-unique-smell.html

http://www.nature.com/news/2006/061211/full/news061211-18.html

http://www.livescience.com/13305-facts-dog-breeds-genetics-pets.html

#dogscent #smellofdog #bacon #carmel