Today On the Dogwatch we have the rare opportunity to talk with Nathan Hall, head of the Canine Olfaction Lab at Texas Tech. Nathan is not only a dog owner, but is also someone who studies dog behavior, has a vast knowledge of the canine literature, and does research on their behavior and olfactory abilities in the lab.

In our conversation, we discuss how a dog’s nose is structured and how it works, the myths and misperceptions about how a dog’s nose functions and compares to the human nose, and the ways that we as humans train dogs to use their noses to detect substances such as explosives. We also consider the ways in which dogs can detect and mitigate human stress, and also the biases that we have on which dogs have the best noses–attention pug owners! Ultimately, we get perspective from a leader in canine research who helps us think about the noses of our dogs and their behavior.