The Nose of the pointing dog.

The nose and ears are the most discussed body parts. The Hawk nose and the forefront, all different kinds of noses were discussed.

But we wanted to have it about the nose of our four-footed friend, de dog and generally the hunting dog and especially about the pointing dog. How does the nose work from this dog, and what say investigators about that and why smells the one pointing dog better or further then another pointing dog breed??

More then hundred years ago made our first pedagogue "The Schoolmaster"  a poem about the nose of the dog.

 "His nose usually round,
Stands normally in the front and as long as it is wet and fresh,
Is this the proof that mister is as healthy as a fish"

As we talk about the nose of the dog we also have to talk about getting smells and what is smell. Smell is gas, so a flighty subject, molecules who floating throw the air and/or be blown by the wind in a direction. The smells which be carried by the wind throw the air will be spread are continuously fleeting in proportion as they been further removed from the origin.

Gasses will be measured by PBT (parts by thousands) thousands of part per m3. 

Static Smells and dynamic smells.

De dog brigade of the Rotterdam's Police having the first achieved success smells to isolate from objects and well then with a sort test supplementary proof to bring.

The method they developed is even to the European standard elevated. These are static smells.

Following the footprint of a suspect, whereupon wind and overlapping of other persuaders are possible, are dynamic smells. The smells were we have to pass through with the hunting dogs are always dynamic smells. We always have to deal with wind, covering from vegetation and wild that flow out etc. De dog avail oneself the wind; trace for the wild towards the wind. De dog first gets the windswept of the smell given from the wild, thitherto he is at the wild. With the lost fetch (dead piece of wild whereof the hunter doesn't know were it is) the expert dog gets the wind to find it. We could here more or less talk about static and dynamic smells. The dog looks with his nose, he is capable more smells at the same time to smell and to interpret. A spectrum of smells, elementary smells which with each other give another smell then a single gas. Think for example on grilled meat that smells different as raw meat. The appending of spice and fatten and the chemical reversal by heat it gives this a total other smell. We will smell a spectrum of smells, but we will smell meat in fact.

The can do this a hundred times better then we can, this because the nose of the dog also is much bigger. It contains thousands of more scent cells and slim cells as we have. Besides comes yet that we are blunt, fuse smelling is not needed anymore. Well gas, if we forgotten to light up or if it is whiffed out, that's why the power company dispense a very smelling scent on the gas.

Smelling if our food is spoiled is something we doing less, because of the invention of the century: the last consumption date. We will smell that our food burn in cooking, but then it is mostly too late.

Scientists assert the nose of the wolf many times better is then our house dogs, because the house dog isn't relying for gather of food from his nose; he will be feeded by his owner. It isn't me known that the wolf points, the hunt in flock, they put up the prey and that goes on eyesight. Greyhounds hunt this way too, but for our pointing dogs will this be a big fault if they hunt that way.

It is only which kind of dog they used for this kind of investigations. So far as I know there is never been a scientific investigation to the pointing and how this dogs use their nose. The hunting qualities like the wolf has are very unwished by the pointing dog. The wolf jumps directly on his prey and gets this.

The quality that our pointing dog had generated is just not to jump in direct but, be in two minds to jump in. Comparable is, what a home cat does, always trying to get closer by the prey and then attack. The pointing dog has to be in doubt and not attack. What he surely has to do is come so near to the wild that it notice risk (itself press), but not that it flow out. Those call we wild binding. Walks the dog, well in tightly behaviour, step by step forward, then it isn't pointing. We say then, the dog put on but can not bind the wild, the wild remains walking and shall also after course of time jump. Then the dog had pushed out the wild.

Hunting with floating dogs is a fore form of hunting. With the attendance of the falconry came the pointing dogs, and after the gun will be handled did the hunting with the pointing dogs gets a new impulse. It shall not be proceed that Fred Vuursteen with his neighbour Bennie go hunting and that Bennie said to Fred: "He Fred, Dino stands still. Yes I see it Bennie, for what will Dino stand still? Oooohhh, I see it already, Dino points on a partridge." Although, if you are relying of hunting with a arrow and bow or wit a javelin, a pointing dog shall be very apropos.

Floating dogs who are pointing weren't good hunting dogs in that time. What do floating dogs, they took a spoor from wild and follow that spoor all barked and float this so to the hunter, who then gets the wild within gunshot and can shoot the wild.

This hunting method only can do with hair wild, birds go on the wing. Following a trace will be done by these dogs with the nose on the ground, with a very low head position. Pointing dogs that has the nose on the ground to work out a trace will never get on point on wild. The head position from a pointing dog must be high, above the vegetation, the nose holes has to go open and shut, the head has to turn right and left to catch the direction of the windswept. Does the dog has this windswept in his nose and has he bind the wild, then you see the expert dogs "chewing" they taste the smell from the wild.

There are since a few years' bottles with wild smells in the trade, pheasant, rabbit, fox, from the most kinds there is something. I really didn't see a dog on point on the smell from a bottle or pheasant partridge. How does that come, because this is a pretending smell. It is made from the excreta from the regarding wild kind. And no dog stands on point on an excrement.

Imitation smells will be used everywhere, the baker who has a aerosol with bakery smell, the second hand car bandit who his old seventh hand car let smell as new.

The pine smell, the sea smell and the flower smell whereat no flower has been used.

The pheasant in a cage is a station what has to pass. For the young or inexperienced dog, to learn the smell of a pheasant or whatever it works for a while. It must not be repeated always. The dog runs then to the cage and "here boss, I found them again." This works detrimentally for the will of searching and the point. A dog has to know that when he set off in the field that he can expect wild, what he has to find. Smells from a bottle worked only as statistic smell, the dummy provide from these smell and making a blood track with it, that will worked for sure with retrievers, dogs who has a very short nose. The pointing dog you not make believe this with his superior nose and the excellent fineness. With Retrievers you can go on with that, these very short nose dogs want to go on retrieving, they are also more arranged for using their eyes instead of their nose.

That's why men these putter methods not to maintain long. Go into the fields and bring your dog for natural wild, that's more interesting for the dog and owner. Field circumstances are always different, through what the smells of the dog (so not his smell ability!) will be influence. The weather has a big impact on the achievement of the dog; with a light wind and dry vegetation are the circumstances optimal. With a storm comes the windswept very thin and in flares with big speed beyond; this are bad circumstances for the dog. The wetness rank works on it too, in the morning when the dew still is on the beets field and the sun breaks through there arise water vapour, The dog sniffs this water vapour up, the nose hairs and smell cells are surrounded by water vapour then, and take over the place from the smells of wild and windswept.

How will it come that a Pointer points on will on +/- 50 meter, a shorthair on 40-35 meter and a Drentsche Patrijs or Weimaraner on 30-25 meter?

The dogs are about the same proportions, the nose have the same size.

Only the nose line from the stop till the nose point differences a little, by the Pointer is the line rather well straight or mounts up.

By German Pointers the line is from the nose point a little bend over or is almost straight.

By the old breeds like the Weimaraner is the bend over something bigger and range a little bit stronger down. The nose points to the ground, through what the nose less far goes into the area.

The Pointer has with a very thin windswept enough information to become on point, the amount of PBT is lesser then a shorthair needed and a Shorthair has afresh lesser needed then the Weimaraner does. The smell cells will be the same by all of them. There can only be one difference: it is between there ears. That will say that with a good guidance and training the using of the nose will come at the foreground.

From a tracking hanger making a optimal field dog will never work out, but with a young dog the interest on to stimulate wild windswept is not a easy but well a stimulance task.

Bron: Leo van Gogh