Signs Your Dog is Sniffing Out Cancer in Another Dog
Youve likely read about the signs your dog will give you when theyre sniffing out illness or cancer in a person, and unsurprisingly, many of those signs are the same for sniffing out cancer or illness in another dog. One of the biggest signs is your dog will spend an inordinate amount of time, attention, and affection on the dog who they smell the cancer on.
For example, pups are known to nuzzle the area on other dogs where they might be sniffing the cancer due to the distinct scent coming from that area.
Additionally, your dog might start to act strangely attentive, anxious, or protective of the animal with cancer. Your pup might try to get attention to the other dog to let someone – anyone – know what they know. This includes jumping, nudging, howling, barking, and other behavior changes that might occur.
Heres a few of the body language cues you should look out for if you think your dog is trying to alert you to another dogs health:
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Can a dog sense if another dog is sick?
A dog’s sense of smell is 100 times better than ours, and they are able to detect the slightest change around them. It is not so much that they smell the illness itself, but they detect changes that are subtle.
Most research has gone into dogs detecting illness in humans, but it would seem reasonable that if they can detect minute changes in humans, they should also be able to detect those changes in their fellow canines.
Dogs are also able to pick up on visual clues that we may miss. They can tell when a human, or another dog, is feeling bad, whether physically or from depression. They are also experts at reading body language.
With the incredible sense of smell, dogs are able to detect the slightest change. Research continues into trying to figure out exactly what they are smelling, but the fact that they can notice the slightest change is well established.
A dog might smell a change in another dog that turns out to be a tumor. The dog doesn’t know what a tumor is, but they know there is something in a specific area that is different and that is causing the other animal pain or distress. The dog may spend a lot of time sniffing at the specific area where the tumor is or licking that area on another dog. When a dog notices another dog has some kind of change, they will follow that dog around more, or stare at the dog more with a tilted head.
Dogs often lick their own wounds. A dog may also then try to lick another dog’s wounds for the same reasons. This could be a visible wound or just the area where the other dog is hurting.
If you see your dog paying more attention to a specific area on another dog’s body, that could be a sign something is wrong. It is a good idea to talk to your vet about this. Dogs can detect an issue early, and often that can save another dog’s life.
Can dogs tell when another dog is hurt?
Yes, dogs can tell when another dog is hurt. Often it is obvious because the hurt dog is yelping or whining. But they are also able to tell when it is not so obvious. Your dog could have an injury of some kind, and be in pain, and you might not be aware of the dog’s discomfort.
A hurt dog may be more lethargic, lie around more, not be interested in doing normal things. A big change in a dog’s behavior like that is an indication something is wrong. If you have another dog, and the other dog may be able to give you some clues as to what is wrong with the lethargic dog. That information could be invaluable to a veterinarian trying to treat your dog.
Dogs have 300 million olfactory sensors in their noses, while humans have around six million. That is how much greater the sense of smell is for dogs. Further, about 40 percent of a dog’s brain is involved in interpreting those smells. So their ability to smell is nothing short of incredible. What makes it even more remarkable is the amount of brain space they have devoted to what those olfactory receptors are receiving.
There is also a small organ inside a dog’s nose called a vomeronasal organ, that can detect pheromones, which are produced by all species of mammals. These pheromones relate to information about emotions and mating. In theory, at least, dogs can even smell emotions.
When a dog knows another dog is hurting, they will sniff that area, lick it, paw at it, or push on the area with their noses.