Whenever you think of a dog in a car, traveling to some unknown destination, you picture him with his nose hanging out the window, catching some wonderful air. It's true that most dogs love going on a car ride while feeling the wind in their hair. We know the feeling! But there may be more to it than that…
There doesn't appear to be a lot of research about why so many dogs enjoy car rides, but many dog owners have witnessed the glee firsthand. Experts surmise it may have to do with things like the smorgasbord of smells or simply who's in the car with them.
Stanley Coren, dog behaviorist and professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, points out that dogs have 225 million olfactory receptacles in their noses, compared with the mere 50 million we have.
“If you crack the window,” Coren tells the Globe and Mail, “a dog gets a kaleidoscopic view of the world through his nose, as the scents are changing all the time. We [humans] are visual animals… A dog lives through his nose.”
Imagine the smells he's picking up as you zip out of your neighborhood, past parks and restaurants, schools and businesses, and places where lots and lots of other dogs have been.“I’m not sure they’re getting a high, per se,” Dr. Melissa Bain, a veterinarian at the University of California, Davis, tells Car and Driver. “But they are getting a lot of input at higher speed.”
Plus, it may just feel good.
Other experts think it makes a dog feel like they are on a hunt. Think of those days in canine past, to their ancient ancestors, the wolves and wild dogs that roamed the woods and hunted in packs.
And remember that you and your family are now your dog’s pack. Can you imagine where his instincts are taking him?
To learn more go to Mother Nature Network.
