While dogs’ sense of smell is well-known for its role in detection and tracking, its function in decision-making about food quantity has been less studied. In this experiment published in Learning & Behavior, Shayla M. Jackson and colleagues explored whether dogs can rely solely on scent to distinguish between different quantities of food and how factors like distance and ratio affect their choices.
Across three experiments, dogs were presented with varying numbers of hot dog slices hidden in opaque containers to eliminate visual cues. In all trials, dogs consistently chose the container with the larger quantity, demonstrating that they were using olfactory information to make their selection. Remarkably, the dogs’ accuracy remained high regardless of the distance between containers or the numerical ratio of the food items.
The results indicate that dogs possess a refined ability to detect quantitative differences through smell alone. This capacity may play a significant role in natural foraging behavior, where scent-based decisions can determine efficiency and survival. It also reinforces that dogs perceive more through their noses than their eyes, extending their olfactory intelligence beyond simple detection tasks.
By showing that dogs can quantify scent cues, this study adds to the growing understanding of canine cognition and olfactory processing. These findings could have implications for designing enrichment activities, feeding strategies, and even scent-based problem-solving tasks in working and companion dogs.
Source: Jackson, S. M., Martin, G. K., & Roberts, W. (2021). The olfactory capability of dogs to discriminate between different quantities of food. Learning & Behavior, 49, 321–329. Published February 23, 2021.
