A friend yesterday made a throwaway remark to me; that dogs had a really good sense of smell, but no sense of taste, which is why they were happy to eat poo and other disgusting things. Well, that didn't quite add up to me, because, surely, if the sense of smell is that good, something that tastes disgusting would probably also smell disgusting. Some dogs just like eating poo. See this article for more details Anyhow, I decided to have a little read up on a dog's sense of taste, and it turns out that dogs do have a sense of taste, which isn't very surprising. The interesting thing is that, whilst it is overall very inferior to ours (a dog has around 1700 taste buds compared to our 9000), on the other hand it's far more complex, with special tastebuds for more specific tastes, such as meat and water. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/canine-corner/201104/how-good-is-your-dogs-sense-taste
Interesting article but if cats have even less taste buds than dogs how come they are so fussy about their food, don't eat poo or rotting bodies?
Very interesting! I often wonder whether it is possible for Pongo to taste anything at all, since food seems to be syphoned straight from bowl to stomach.
Their sense of smell is unquestionable, but I have often wondered about their sense of taste as food goes down without touching the sides. Is it really worth upping the treats when training? 'Cos one gulp and they are gone. Funnily enough the only thing Molly doesn't like is her worming tablets, and I have to indulge in subterfuge to get them into her. Even them sometimes the treat, usually cheese is sometime licked off and the tablet ejected. Possibly it is her illiteracy that causes the problem, the packet assures us that it is a pleasant flavour in a bone shaped tablet. I have shown Molly this but she seems totally unimpressed. Smart girl, never believe adverts!
There is absolutely no doubt that Charlie knows whether he is working for kibble, or salmon mousse....
I'm sure they appreciate different textures, too. They really seem to like the crunch of mini breadsticks, even though they're obviously pretty bland smelling and tasting. If snow gets in my treat pouch and makes them go soggy, the dogs are far less enthusiastic about them.
It was worming day last week (bone shaped ones) and normally Hattie & Charlie remove the tablet from whatever scrummy treat I have wrapped them in, so this time I opened two tins of sardines cut them down the centre poked the tablets in the middle then squashed the sardines together to disguise the tablet, poured the oil over them - GULP and GONE in about 20 seconds! result!
Wow I just take Juno's wormer out of the foil and she's sitting waiting for it. It's a huge treat for her and gone in a flash
cats will eat bodies they just have to be really really hungry. Sometimes if someone dies at home and theres no one to feed the cats they...................
In extremity so would dogs, or even you to maintain life. My cats won't even touch meat that has been in their bowl for more than 20 minutes as it's "not fresh", they also prefer water from Juno's bowl, again because it's frequently changed.
I've heard that pineapple may work (all anecdotal, and I've heard people saying it doesn't), but the pertinent thing is that it's pineapple in the poop that's being eaten. So, if your dog is eating his own poo, then adding pineapple might sort that (or might not), but if he's eating poo from any other animal, it wouldn't make any difference. Unless you go around feeding all the local livestock pineapple cubes By the way, welcome to the forum! Why don't you pop over to Introductions and tell us a little bit about you and your dog(s).
I guess their sense of smell is so exciting! Benson was drooling over a smell the other day...tasting frantically both with nose and mouth. His lower jaw actually started juddering he was that excited!...I have never seen that before on a dog. I do think it is interesting that dogs can scent both with nose and mouth..an ability also shared by snakes...using their jacobson's organ.
