After attending the fantastically informative expert panel of Dog Days: A Scientific Look at Man’s Best Friend at Barnard last night, it’s safe to say I’ve got dogs on the brain (though, of course, when do I not?). Did you know that dogs come in the greatest range of shapes and sizes of any vertebrate that ever lived? Or that dogs have an extra nasal organ for sniffing out and processing certain scents? In fact, dogs “see” with their noses, as their eyesight ain’t so hot. Alexandra Horowitz, one of the panelists and a prof at Barnard, explains that’s why dogs like to roll in…ah…smelly stuff. To them, it’s not foul and disgusting–it’s just a richer smell! Does this also explain why dogs eat such strange stuff? It’s not a dirty sock! It’s a tasty scent-filled treat!
