THE DOG NOSE KNOWS


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THE DOG NOSE KNOWS
Black Lab smells something stinky, saves woman's life

DENVER, CO (USA)
September 2, 2006

"It must be wonderful to wake up in the morning and smell the coffee ...in Brazil."
Steve Martin

They say that dogs can detect odors 100 million times fainter than what we can detect. So when a dog sniffs trouble, you'd better get the smell outta there fast.

Last Friday KUSA-TV reported that Pricilla O'Brien, 28, was pulled out of her house by her service dog, "Romeo", who detected a concentration of lethal fumes.

Romeo, an 8-year-old Labrador retriever, has been Ms. O'Brien's companion for six years, helping her overcome the challenges of cerebral palsy. Attached to her wheelchair, Romeo assists her with mobility, balance and opening doors, among many other things.

On the morning of the incident, Romeo began whining and tugging at Ms. O'Brien's wheelchair. He dragged her out of the house and led her to the basement where he began sniffing the hot water heater, refusing to let her go back inside.

The utility company, Xcel Energy, determined that the unit was leaking carbon monoxide (CO), an "odorless" gas which, in concentrations of 1% or more, can cause death within 3 minutes.

I'll take dogbreath over that any day of the week.

Sources:
Bolton, Anastasiya. "Service dog saves owner's life." KUSA-TV. 25 Aug 2006.

Miller, Karen. "Electronic Nose." NASA. 06 Oct 2004.


A NOSE BY ANY OTHER NAME... O Romeo, Romeo, whiff or arf thou, Romeo? (Photo: KUSA-TV)
	THE HILLS ARE ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF MUCUS Romeo takes Pricilla for a breath of fresh air. Sure, that may look like an ordinary nose on the tip of Romeo's snout, but really it's snot. (Photo: KUSA-TV)



For several years NASA has been working on an electronic nose ("ENose") to accompany astronauts in space and alert them of potential atmospheric hazards onboard. "ENose can detect an electronic change of 1 part per million," says Dr. Amy Ryan who heads the project at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Devices such as this have been designed to mimic the olfactory system of dogs. But can these synthetic snouts go nose to nose with a real pooch? Dr. Ryan answers, "In general, a dog's nose is much more sensitive than the ENose, or any other electronic system we can put together." (But on the plus side, the ENose probably won't goose you where the sun don't shine.)

A dog can detect a single drop of blood in 5 quarts of water.

Although a dog's sense of smell is one of the best in nature, it's not the best. That award goes to the silkworm moth who can smell a female moth more than 11km away (giving him plenty of time to clean up the pizza boxes & beer cans).

The area of a dog's brain controlling olfaction (smell) is 15 times larger than that of a human's.

Dogs' noses have between 200 and 300 million scent receptors, whereas we humans have only about 5 million. So the next time you think your dog stinks, just imagine what she thinks of you.

Sources: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles and Alabama A&M (Go bulldogs!)

Black Lab smells something stinky, saves woman's life