Saturday 22 August 2009

Camera Critters #72 noses and paws


I love dogs' noses. Jenna-the-Labrador was playing with Gentle Dominie yesterday. Dominie really enjoyed it. She can't initiate play now but she's still very much an alert and interested dog. She comes into the kitchen every evening nose a-twitch when I'm preparing supper just in case there are any titbits to be had.

A dog's sense of smell is thought to be 100,000 times better than a human's. Dogs can smell things as diverse as drugs, electricity, underground gas pipelines, insects in woodwork. They can smell week-old human fingerprints. Specially trained Jack Russells are used to detect brown tree snakes in the loading bays of aircraft in Guam. Dogs can even smell illness and can alert their owners to pending heart attacks or epileptic seizures. Their accuracy in detecting some cancers is greater than hospital scanners.

A gentle nudge from a dog's nose is one of the most trusting and loving acts a dog can perform.
I also love dogs' paws. These belong to Jenna - she has amazingly large feet for a relatively small dog. Labradors' feet are slightly webbed making them fast and efficient swimmers. In their original homeland of Newfoundland they were used by the fishermen to haul in their nets from the icy sea. Their thick wiry coats insulated them from the cold. A Labrador's coat can hold an enormous volume of water and onlookers are advised to stand well away when one or more Labradors emerge from deep water unless, of course, they like a cold, usually muddy shower!
Thank you to Misty Dawn for creating this meme and to Misty and Tammy for hosting it.
To see more Critters please click here.

10 comments:

  1. Dogs and cats noses
    are always funny :)
    Its a lovely project
    for our pictures :)
    Also for paws,
    big or little paws are always cute.
    :)

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  2. Anya - it could be a new meme!! ;-)

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  3. Love these photos. Wonderful!
    Thank you for visiting my blog and taking a peek at our sweet girls Summer and Autumn, please feel free to visit again. I don't update as much as I would like, but I try to update when I can.

    Thank you for your support of our Son Jake in Afgahanistan. and yes after the whole Michael Jackson thing I could have just spit feathers.

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  4. Jim and Jami - thank you! Have you heard of 'Help for Heroes'? Here in the UK it is a charity to help our maimed service personnel - I'm sure you have something similar in USA. British Government does little more than trot out cliches. Meanwhile damaged men and women are left to cope as best they can and in years to come we will have countless more folks living on the streets - trained killers with damaged brains - recipe for disaster!

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  5. What a kewl focus of attention for your CC post this week! Luv it ;--)
    Hugs and blessings,

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  6. Thank you storyteller - there's so much about our companion animals that we still have to learn.

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  7. A dog's sense of smell never ceases to amaze me. Even after her hearing had pretty much gone, my JRT could always tell by scent the second anyone came into the house.

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  8. This was fun and different .. love noses and paws.

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  9. I love doggie noses and paws too!

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  10. sweet bay - JRs are such fun aren't they? Big dogs in little dogs' bodies.
    Thank you Snap and Joy - pleased to find I'm in good company :-)

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