Being a Dog Quotes

“Dogs smell time. The past is underfoot; the odors of yesterday have come to rest on the ground.”
― Alexandra Horowitz, Being a Dog: Following the Dog Into a World of Smell

“Dogs are losing their noses. Other research has supported the odd and disturbing result that companion dogs are not only not using their smelling abilities to their capacity; they are forgetting how to be sniffers. In a human-defined, visual world, it seems that it does not pay to notice all the smells around the house, to sort their way through the world by smell. Instead, the typical owned dog gets a mound of food in a bowl once or twice a day whether he sniffs it out or not. He may be discouraged from sniffing the sidewalk, the lamppost, and even other dogs' rear ends as his owner walks with him—out of the person's disinterest, press for time, or horror. We talk to the dog in words and point at him with hands, but rarely give him smells to learn and live by. The sad result has been that pet dogs are letting their noses go dormant.”
― Alexandra Horowitz, Being a Dog: Following the Dog Into a World of Smell

“Wasser’s (conservation detection) dogs are young mixed-breeds from shelters because that's where dogs with excessive energy and borderline-obsessive personalities wind up. A dog with what he calls, gently, "fixation with the ball," a strong play drive, and high energy is that classically motivated dog that all programs love.”
― Alexandra Horowitz, Being a Dog: Following the Dog Into a World of Smell

“There is no such thing as "fresh air" to a dog. Air is rich: an olfactory tangle that the dog's nose will diligently unknot.”
― Alexandra Horowitz, Being a Dog: Following the Dog Into a World of Smell

“Over the hours that we are gone, our home begins to smell less of us. We could test this, I suggested, by bringing in a “fresh” smell of the owner. If the dog then assumes that the owner has just left, he will be surprised if the owner then returns.”
― Alexandra Horowitz, Being a Dog: Following the Dog Into a World of Smell

“Dogs are unrepentant scent-rollers”
― Alexandra Horowitz, Being a Dog: Following the Dog Into a World of Smell

“We are on the second floor of 227 hiding HRD. This turns out to be one of those initialisms that is lovelier in brief form than in long form. Human Remains Detection. In the jar are a few pieces of human remains, bits of knee from a cadaver. The supply catalog for these folks must be fantastic.”
― Alexandra Horowitz, Being a Dog: Following the Dog Into a World of Smell

“So, how can your pup know when you are returning from work, given that the sun sets at a different time each day? Well, it might be that the odors that we leave around the house when we leave lessen in a consistent amount each day.”
― Alexandra Horowitz, Being a Dog: Following the Dog Into a World of Smell