While Passover reminds us to remember our history and to dream of the future (to look around), it is always good and crucial to see what is right before your nose.
Noses obviously make me think about the sense of smell. I am reading Inside of a Dog by Alexandra Horowitz. It is fascinating how much a dog learns from his incredible sensitive smell sense. Bill and I smell differently to Atlantic. The fact that Bill treats pancreatic disease and I don't is irrelevant to Atlantic. That is really a very basic difference between us but irrelevant to Atlantic. Horowitz writes that we usually notice smell when we smell something good or bad- rarely just a source of info as it is for a dog. "Imagine if each detail of our visual world were matched by a corresponding smell. . . . the dog can smell this process of decay and aging.
I have always been fascinated by what a dog or a cat, for that matter, knows as a result of their information gathering senses. I once had a cat who knew, once a person entered my apartment, if that person would accept the cat in their lap or if the cat should run and disappear. As for dogs, I usually hold out my hand, palm down, to a strange (to me) animal to see how they react. Does Ms. Horowitz reach any conclusions as to what the sense of smell tells the dog? I guess the smell of my hand reflects where it has been and what it has touched, but can the animal jump to any other conclusions about me - like the degree of friendliness, or that I too like to bark?
Carl - I hope to be able to have more of a sense of the answers when I finish reading the book. Horowitz talks about a dog leaving your side and walking off the path to investigate the bushes. It is only off the path to you; your dog is following the smell in the bushes which is worthy of investigation.
As I recall from my childhood dog, the temperature of a dogs nose is indicative of it's well being.I always thought that was interesting. My family dog loved to snuff his nose into you when snuggling. I've never been happy about dogs who go in for sniffing ones crotch in an annoying, persistent way. It makes me feel like I haven't bathed, although I think in the book you are reading, Gail, there is probably another explaination.
Some of us clearly have more than others in front of our noses.
ReplyDeleteNoses obviously make me think about the sense of smell. I am reading Inside of a Dog by Alexandra Horowitz. It is fascinating how much a dog learns from his incredible sensitive smell sense. Bill and I smell differently to Atlantic. The fact that Bill treats pancreatic disease and I don't is irrelevant to Atlantic. That is really a very basic difference between us but irrelevant to Atlantic.
ReplyDeleteHorowitz writes that we usually notice smell when we smell something good or bad- rarely just a source of info as it is for a dog. "Imagine if each detail of our visual world were matched by a corresponding smell. . . . the dog can smell this process of decay and aging.
I have always been fascinated by what a dog or a cat, for that matter, knows as a result of their information gathering senses. I once had a cat who knew, once a person entered my apartment, if that person would accept the cat in their lap or if the cat should run and disappear. As for dogs, I usually hold out my hand, palm down, to a strange (to me) animal to see how they react. Does Ms. Horowitz reach any conclusions as to what the sense of smell tells the dog? I guess the smell of my hand reflects where it has been and what it has touched, but can the animal jump to any other conclusions about me - like the degree of friendliness, or that I too like to bark?
ReplyDeleteCarl - I hope to be able to have more of a sense of the answers when I finish reading the book. Horowitz talks about a dog leaving your side and walking off the path to investigate the bushes. It is only off the path to you; your dog is following the smell in the bushes which is worthy of investigation.
ReplyDeleteAs I recall from my childhood dog, the temperature of a dogs nose is indicative of it's well being.I always thought that was interesting. My family dog loved to snuff his nose into you when snuggling. I've never been happy about dogs who go in for sniffing ones crotch in an annoying, persistent way. It makes me feel like I haven't bathed, although I think in the book you are reading, Gail, there is probably another explaination.
ReplyDelete