Meet the dog breeds with the most amazing sense of smell. These superstars of scent are used in medical settings, detecting diseases, search and rescue, bomb and contraband detection, as well as tracking for hunting (man and animal). Here is our countdown to discover what dog has the best sense of smell!
Scent Is a Dog’s Primary Sense
Puppies are born with their eyes and ears closed. This means that for the first weeks of life, dogs must rely only on their sense of smell, to guide them to their mother and her milk. As their primary faculty, the dogs’ remarkable sense of smell continues to astonish scientists. In fact, scientists are currently trying to invent an artificial canine nose, to compete with the real deal, for use in the medical arts and sciences.
Comparing Human and Dog Sense of Smell
Depending on the breed, a dog’s sense of smell is somewhere between 10,000 and 100,000 times more acute than ours. And the area of a dog’s brain that analyzes olfactory information is 40 times larger than that of humans. To give this perspective, we can use the analogy of tossing a ball. Imagine a child that can throw a ball 10 feet; a dog would be able to toss that same ball 100,000 feet or 18.9 miles. That is a huge difference in ability. One wonders what the world smells like to them, something that we will never understand.
How Do Dogs Track Scent?
Dogs can be trained to accurately detect the presence of explosives, drugs, cancer cells, and infectious diseases in patients. Even more amazing, cadaver dogs, using air scent and working in open fields or woods can detect a single drop of blood in an Olympic size swimming pool, as well as something as small as the single tooth of a victim, in an open field.
Dogs know what direction someone or an animal was walking, by discerning how each step in the direction walked is minutely fresher in scent than the previous step. A quick check between two or three steps taken, and they know what direction they need to follow to get to the freshest tracks and find their quarry.
10th Best Dog Nose for Sense of Smell: The Dachshund
The tiny Dachshund is the toughest of all dogs relative to his size. Bred to hunt badgers both above and below ground, these tenacious dogs latch on to the badger in its underground dwelling. Then the hunter pulls the pair out by the dachshund’s tail. Dachshund literally translates from German as “badger dog.” As two sizes began to emerge in the breed, the larger dachshunds became wild boar and badger hunters. In the same manner, the smaller version hunts hares and foxes.
A popular breed in the United States, Dachshunds regularly enjoy top ten status and currently clock in at number six most popular dog breed. Eager and alert, they are ever ready for a hunt. The Dachshund nose contains approximately 125 million scent receptors. Naturally, these little dogs excel at Earth Dog Trails, field trials, obedience and even agility. Their happy personalities make them delightful family pets.
9th Best Dog Breed Sense of Smell: The Golden Retriever
This breed originated in Scotland by crossing Lord Tweedmouth’s “yellow retriever” with the Tweed Water Spaniel. Then breeders added in Irish Setter and Bloodhound. Their offspring were then crossed back to the now extinct Tweed Water Spaniel. The Golden Retriever is one of America’s most beloved dogs and number 3 on the AKC list of most popular dog breeds.
Goldens are regularly used as therapy dogs, guide dogs for the blind, and for search and rescue. As air-scenting dogs, the Goldens, Labs, Malinois, and GSDs can work search and rescue at night. Most Goldens working search and rescue do it for the simple reward of praise, a sense of accomplishment, and a little playtime when their job is done.
More recently they have been trained to identify minute traces of peanuts in foods. These dogs are employed to alert children that are susceptible to violent allergic reactions, to the presence of even the slightest trace of peanut. Renowned for their joyful dispositions and eagerness to please, active Goldens make excellent obedience, agility, and hunting dogs, as well as ideal family pets.
8th Dog Breed with the Best Sense of Smell? Black and Tan Coonhound
The Black and Tan Coonhound works by moonlight, trailing his quarry, and bawling to help hunters locate the dog and his quarry in the darkness. A “cold-nosed” hound, they are able to detect cold, convoluted trails. Trailing dogs differ from tracking dogs in that the tracker follows the exact footsteps of its prey. On the other hand, the trailing dog sweeps across a 10- to 15-foot-wide path, in a zigzag pattern. Once the prey has been treed, he will alert his hunter with a deep-throated baying.
The Black and Tan variety is a bit more biddable and easier to train than the Bluetick. These big athletic dogs make fine house dogs, happy to sprawl with you on the sofa. However they do require regular exercise.
7th What Dog Has the Best Sense of Smell? The Bluetick Coonhound
The Bluetick Coonhound was developed from the English Coonhound, and is used to trail and tree raccoons. A cold nosed trailing dog, the Bluetick works well on old, cold trails. Thish makes him the superior tracker of the Coonhounds. Blueticks are frequent “toungers” when trailing, and they bay a “bawling” bark as they track. As they get closer to their quarry the bay becomes a more rhythmic chop.
Blueticks are good house dogs, as well as eager hunters. But they lack a strong desire to please. This makes them more difficult to train than many of the breeds on this list. Persistence, patience, and treats are your best training aids with this breed. This is a dog that craves affection, and will display deep devotion to those who provide it.
6th What Dog Has the Best Sense of Smell? The Belgian Malinois
Similar in look to the German Shepherd Dog, the Belgian Malinois is a lighter framed, extremely agile dog. They excel in herding, agility, schutzhund, tracking, sledding, and obedience. Used by both military and police departments across the globe, the Malinois is trained to sniff out bombs and drugs as well as bed bugs and prostate cancer.
This is a very active, intelligent, breed, that needs a job to do, or problems will set in. Generally these alert dogs are reserved with strangers. While not an overly aggressive breed, they are highly protective of family.
5th Best Dog for Tracking or Pointing The Labrador Retriever
America’s favorite dog breed, from 1991 to 2023, is also a fantastic sniffer. Labradors, with their incredible noses, are trained to detect cancer from people’s breath, as well as medically undetectable bladder cancer from patients’ urine.
Hunters have long prized this breed from Newfoundland for their ability to either track or point to their prey, depending on the hunter’s preference.
Intelligent and easily trainable, with an intense desire to please, Labs are employed as guide dogs for the blind. They are valued members of search and rescue teams, as well as K-9 officers for drug and bomb detection. These playful dogs’ gentle, loving nature makes them the ideal family pet or hunting and fishing companion.
4th The Air Scent Tracking German Shepherd Dog
This noble herding breed is the darling of police departments the world over and the fourth most popular dog in America. With approximately 225 million scent receptors, they tie the Beagle for their number of scent-gathering receptors. The GSD practices air-scent tracking, rather than ground, to find its quarry. German Shepherds are used for search and rescue to detect live victims. They are used by military and airport security to detect explosives, as well as drug enforcement agencies to detect drugs, all while adding more than a little fear factor for potential suspects.
An intelligent and versatile breed, German Shepherds excel at personal protection, schutzhund, herding, agility, and obedience. Confident and somewhat aloof, they are not an aggressive breed by nature. However, the GSD will stand his ground and defend himself or master with punishing force. They are considered a “one man breed,” fiercely loyal to their main caretaker. They are good with children, once a relationship has been established.
3rd Best Tracking Dog: The Beagle
The happy-go-lucky Beagle takes third in the list of scent superstars. Bred originally to hunt rabbits, these merry little hounds look like Foxhounds in miniature. Friendly and nonthreatening, beagles are regularly employed by the USDA and US Customs to search for contraband food and other undesirable items at airports.
Wonderful with children and other dogs, they are the ninth most popular breed in America. Beagles should follow all commands given to them cheerfully, and should never display shyness or resentfulness. Beagles are not droolers, and their short coats are typically odor-free. High in drive, these active little dogs need daily exercise, or they may follow their noses into mischief.
2nd Best Tracking Dog: The Basset Hound
Just behind the Bloodhound in tracking ability is the Basset Hound. Like the Bloodhound, the long, low Basset, just 14 inches at the shoulder, has large ears that carry scents up from the ground. Furthermore, a fold under his chin, called the dewlap, traps scents near his nose. Relative to its size, the Basset has the heaviest bone of any breed, and is capable of great endurance over various rough terrains.
These gentle dogs were bred to live in packs and are easy companions to live with. The breed is marked for its friendly demeanor and intense devotion to family.
#1 Dog with the Best Sense of Smell: The Majestic Bloodhound
The Bloodhound is the preeminent tracking dog for hunting, as well as search and rescue. Their large, floppy ears waft scents from the earth up to their noses as they track their quarry. The heavy folds of skin over his neck and shoulders trap scents near his nose. The nostrils of the Bloodhound are large and wide open, in order to absorb the maximum particles possible. The Bloodhound has the most olfactory sensors of any breed, with some 300 million scent receptors. As such, they can be used as both ground and air scent tracking dogs.
The Bloodhound is an especially old breed. Their name is derived from the term “blooded hound” referring to breeder’s early efforts to maintain clean lines. Blooded originally means aristocratic in nature. Moreover, the Bloodhound is a tireless and persistent worker. They can be shy and are sensitive to praise and scolding. That said, as a powerful and tenacious dog, they need to be handled firmly in order to remember who is in charge.
Final Thoughts on Dogs with the Best Sense of Smell
While there is currently a powerful movement against dog breeders, with the “Adopt Don’t Shop” campaign, we can see that preservation breeders are producing dogs that are still highly useful to mankind. Carefully selected in breeding programs over the centuries, for their extraordinary physical abilities, purebred dogs are still invaluable to police departments, customs agents, search and rescue teams, hunters, as well as medical communities.
Each of these breeds combines a variety of skills to make them a necessary partner, in a wide variety of occupations. For example, the German Shepherd Dog and Belgian Malinois, in addition to their tracking skills, provide protection, as well as the power to catch and hold criminals. In fact, most criminals are more frightened of police dogs than police weapons!
Similarly, Goldens and Labs are employed as guide dogs, peanut detectors as well as service dogs detecting imminent seizures. So let’s take a moment to celebrate the remarkable variety and excellence of skills exhibited by these purebred canines and the dedication of their preservation breeders.
