Published in Animals, this study by A. Kokocińska, M. Woszczyło, and colleagues examines how dogs respond to a wide range of odors, addressing a gap in scientific knowledge regarding canine smell preferences. Despite dogs’ highly sensitive olfactory abilities, many commercial products—such as repellents and cosmetics—are fragranced primarily for human appeal. This mismatch raises important welfare questions about whether such scents are pleasant, neutral, or aversive to dogs.
The experiment involved 14 adult dogs (10 females, 4 males) representing different breeds, ages (1–14 years), and body sizes. Each dog was exposed to 33 odor samples: one neutral control (pure dipropylene glycol) and 32 samples combining dipropylene glycol with various fragrance oils. Dogs entered an experimental area, were unleashed, and allowed 30 seconds of free exploration while their behaviors were continuously recorded.
This naturalistic approach enabled researchers to observe spontaneous orientation, sniffing, and interaction behaviors that indicate olfactory attraction. Among the tested scents, dogs consistently showed greater interest in the odors of blueberries, blackberries, mint, rose, lavender, and linalool. These scents elicited longer sniffing durations and more repeated interactions compared to other fragrances.
Interestingly, dogs also showed strong motivation toward food-related and animal-derived scents when present, consistent with their natural preferences for intense, biologically relevant odors—preferences that differ significantly from typical human-oriented cosmetic fragrances. This reinforces the importance of distinguishing between canine and human olfactory preferences when developing products intended for dogs.
Overall, the findings highlight that dogs do indeed have distinct scent preferences and that certain berry, mint, and floral scents may serve as enriching, non-aversive stimuli. The results have meaningful applications for designing dog-friendly cosmetics, enrichment items, training aids, and welfare-centered environments that respect dogs’ sensory experiences rather than human fragrance biases.
Source: Kokocińska, A., Woszczyło, M., et al. (2022). Canine Smell Preferences—Do Dogs Have Their Favorite Scents? Animals. Published June 1, 2022.
