Dogs and humans have worked side by side for thousands of years and over the millennia we've
come to depend upon our pooches as hunters protectors and faithful companions. But when it
comes to the extraordinary quality of man's best friend which we rely on most the winner is
clear - by a nose. In Secrets of the Snout Frank Rosell blends storytelling and science as he
sniffs out the myriad ways in which dogs have been trained to employe their incredible
olfactory skills from sussing out cancer and narcotics to locating endangered and invasive
species as well as missing persons (and golf balls). With 300 million receptors to our mere 5
million a dog's nose is estimated to be between 100 000 and 100 million times more sensitive
than a human's. No wonder then that our nasally inferior species has sought to unleash the
prodigious power of canine shnozzes. Rosell here takes us for a walk with a pack of superhero
sniffers including Tutta a dog with a fine nose for fine wine the pet-finder pooch AJ
search-and-rescue dog Barry the hunting dog Balder the police dogs Rasko and Trixxi the
warfare dog Lisa the cancer detection dog Jack Tucker who scents floating killer whale feces
and even Elvis who can smell when you're ovulating. With each dog Rosell turns his nose to
the evolution of the unique olfactory systems involved which odors dogs detect and how they
do it. A celebration of how the canine sense for scents works - and works for us - Secrets of
the Snout will have dog lovers trainers and researchers alike all howling with delight.
Exploring this most pointed of canine wonders Rosell reveals the often surprising ways in
which dogs are bettering our world one nose at a time.
