Can Dogs Smell Through Vacuum Sealed Bags

Dogs are truly men and women’s best friends. However, to weed lovers, the canine, with its super smell, can also be their worst enemy.

Can dogs smell through vacuum seal bags? Despite what you might have heard, dogs cannot smell through things. However, that doesn’t mean they cannot smell illicit substances that have been packed into vacuum sealed bags. In fact, drug dogs often detect odors that have been packed into vacuum seal bags.

The History of Dogs Smelling Airtight Containers

Can Dogs Smell Through Vacuum Sealed Bags

As mans best friend, humans have worked with dogs over thousands of years to take advantage of their natural toolkit.

For instance, bomb-sniffing and detection dogs first made their appearance in the 1940s to help detect German mines in North Africa. Not even 30 years later, our pups were being used to detect other illegal substances like explosives, marijuana, heroin, and even currency. Dogs have been helping law enforcement agencies for years, and in turn have helped protect us, signaling to their handler when they find something interesting.

Dogs have also been trained to detect pests and agricultural products so they do not cross the border into the United States. We have also seen dogs being used to help with pest control and management. Pests like bed bugs are among some of the pests dogs have been trained to detect by using their incredible noses. At this point, our pooches just keep getting better and better!

Signs Dogs Can (or Cannot) Smell into Airtight Containers

Although mans best friend tends to have a pretty incredible ability to sniff things out, dogs cannot smell though airtight, vacuum sealed containers. Pups can smell under things, around things, into things and even things underwater. However, airtight containers are vacuum sealed, keeping any air from escaping. If no air can escape, neither can any odor.

Whether your pup can smell through a container also depends on the material the container is made out of. For instance, an airtight, plastic container is still a porous container, unlike glass. This means that odors will eventually seep through the material through tiny microscopic holes, allowing your pooch to catch a scent. But containers made from metal or glass are non-porous and will keep all odors inside when vacuum sealed.

However, it is important to remember that we leave behind scents on the outside of containers that are left over from our hands. So, your pooch may be able to pick up on scents that way.

Here are some cues your pup might be giving you if they are picking up a scent:

  • Alert
  • Sniffing
  • Raise Ears
  • Body Freezing
  • Head Turning
  • Tense Jaw
  • Back Hair On Edge
  • Head Bobbing
  • Ears Up
  • Here are some other cues your pup might be giving you. Make sure you check your dog out for these body language hints to get a better idea of what they are smelling:

  • Obsessive Sniffing
  • Licking The Jar
  • Nose To The Ground, Following A Scent
  • Asking For Your Attention
  • Refusing To Move Away From The Jar
  • Do Not Bet Your Freedom On a Drug Detection Dog, Smell Proof Bag

    This information was gathered from High Times, one of the most reputable and respected cannabis magazines and websites on the Internet. So, it is not from either an odor-proof bag company that is trying to sell you their product. I.E. Skunk Bag. Neither is the information from drug rehab or law enforcement agency that wants to scare you from trying cannabis.

    Hight Times’ conclusion was that a smell-proof bag is essentially non-existent. The reason being is that almost all commonly used air-tight containers contain small holes where the marijuana odor can escape.

    The only question is how long it will take for the weed smell to leak and not when will it happen. The smell escape occurs with all plastic containers (I.E., Freezer bag, Mylar bag, vacuum bag, and even the mason jar)

    FAQ

    Can drug dogs smell through a smell proof bag?

    The Problem with Odor Proof Bags

    Getting back to the bags, the bottom line is odds of contamination are pretty good, and arguing in court that there is no way a dog could have smelled through the odor proof bags will not likely be successful because the prosecutor will have a counter argument.

    Can drug dogs smell through mylar bags?

    There are many products on the market that claim to be smell-proof and even dog-proof but you will find that these products are made of a standard plastic film which whilst less expensive than mylar, does not have anywhere near the oxygen / gas barrier properties of mylar.

    Can dogs smell through sealed jars?

    Dogs are able to smell through glass. However, if a glass container is airtight, such as a mason jar, a vacuum has been created and no air is able to escape. Therefore, no odor can escape and a dog is not able to detect a scent.

    Does vacuum sealing preserve smell?

    By vacuum sealing your fish beforehand, you’ll prevent smells from wafting into the house while simultaneously preserving the catch for longer.