Study urges canine cognition research to follow the nose

A new study in Animals argues that canine cognition research may be underestimating how dogs solve problems because most standard tests lean heavily on vision, not smell. In the paper, Sylvie Bergquist and Alexandra Horowitz adapted the classic object-choice task, in which a dog chooses between containers based on a human cue, by adding an olfactory version designed to better match dogs’ natural sensory strengths. Across 48 dogs, the researchers found that pet dogs could use odor information in this modified setup, supporting the broader idea that olfaction should be treated as a core part of how dogs perceive and make decisions, not just as a control variable. (mdpi.com)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the study is a reminder that assessments of canine behavior, cognition, stress, and aging may miss clinically relevant information if they rely too much on visual performance alone. That has implications for behavior consults, enrichment planning, welfare assessments, and work with senior dogs or patients whose sensory world may be shifting. The paper also lands amid broader interest in more naturalistic olfaction testing in dogs, including recent work on spontaneous scent-based tasks and reviews calling for better-standardized smell research. (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

What to watch: Expect follow-up work testing whether olfaction-inclusive tasks better detect differences tied to age, breed type, training history, or clinical sensory decline. (mdpi.com)