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Not sure if I'll find my answer, but I'd like some theories or knowledge on this if you have any.
I've watched Galaxy (my 12 yr old) go from a blazing fireball as a puppy and young adult dog, to a slower version of her younger self. She has health issues, but she is very alert and motivated to continue doing whatever her poor aging body will let her. Her hearing is half gone, eye sight - meh, she's still quick in the nose and actually brings home more critters home than she did when she was young (so she can be very quick when needed).
I watch her on our walks and notice that she is still fast in picking up scents. There isn't one she doesn't miss (that I know of). When she was younger, she would catch a scent, check it out, process it, mark and move on. I see my lab do that now @ 4 yrs old.
Galaxy seems to need a lot more time to process those same scents. She sniffs something. The other 2 join her. They're ready to move on, but it takes Galaxy a good 60 seconds or so to fully finish with the odor. If I let her do this for each and every scent, we'd be hours on our walks.
So what is it, do you think, that takes so long for her to finish. Clearly, she picks up on the odors faster than the other 2. She's still mentally sharp, so I don't think it's taking longer to identify and process the odor. She's not lollygagging on the walks.
Does a dog's sense of smell diminish like hearing and eye sight? Are there deeper multiple sensory perceptions that may dull, even when the remaining surface level ones don't. Does it become more difficult to catalog and process the odor in the brain?
Just wondering.
I've watched Galaxy (my 12 yr old) go from a blazing fireball as a puppy and young adult dog, to a slower version of her younger self. She has health issues, but she is very alert and motivated to continue doing whatever her poor aging body will let her. Her hearing is half gone, eye sight - meh, she's still quick in the nose and actually brings home more critters home than she did when she was young (so she can be very quick when needed).
I watch her on our walks and notice that she is still fast in picking up scents. There isn't one she doesn't miss (that I know of). When she was younger, she would catch a scent, check it out, process it, mark and move on. I see my lab do that now @ 4 yrs old.
Galaxy seems to need a lot more time to process those same scents. She sniffs something. The other 2 join her. They're ready to move on, but it takes Galaxy a good 60 seconds or so to fully finish with the odor. If I let her do this for each and every scent, we'd be hours on our walks.
So what is it, do you think, that takes so long for her to finish. Clearly, she picks up on the odors faster than the other 2. She's still mentally sharp, so I don't think it's taking longer to identify and process the odor. She's not lollygagging on the walks.
Does a dog's sense of smell diminish like hearing and eye sight? Are there deeper multiple sensory perceptions that may dull, even when the remaining surface level ones don't. Does it become more difficult to catalog and process the odor in the brain?
Just wondering.