It's one skill that's not to be sniffed at

Ellena Swift explores the value of different breeds' scenting ability and how to ensure you get the most from your dog's nose

- Ellena Swift

As most of you will know, our dogs' sense of smell is the most powerful sense they have. Scientists report that a dog's nose is anything from 10,000 to 100,000 times more acute than a human's. For every one smell receptor a human has, a dog has at least 50. While all dogs have a more acute sense of smell, not all dogs are created equal. Some breeds are renowned for having excellent senses of smell while others not so much.

The brachycephalic breeds those with flattened faces such as pugs - have been found to have much less sensitive noses. The breed with the most impressive nose is, unsurprisingly, the bloodhound, with approximately 300 million scent receptors. The labrador retriever, German shepherd and various other breeds follow closely behind. But it is not just the breed but also the age of the dog that can affect their scenting ability. As a dog gets older, researchers have found their sense of smell slowly decreases.

One truly amazing ability the dog has is a phenomenon called 'sniffing lateralisation'. It allows a dog to sniff separately with each nostril, depending on the scents detected. Food and threats, for example, trigger different responses; this is all linked to processing pathways in the brain.

Obviously it is easy to see that breed is important if we want a talented dog with a fantastic nose. However, the ability within a breed can vary massively. Some dogs seem to have the ability to smell anything from a mile off, whereas others can stand over the item they are looking for and still be none the wiser. But why the huge variation?

I have worked with dogs of varying abilities. Within our gundog breeds you have the different scenting methods of ground and air scenters. Golden retrievers, for example, are air scenters and so work differently to a labrador retriever. There are certainly pros and cons to both methods.

Individual ability