From the March 2016 issue
Alabama, this author?s husky, will jump into a truck bed before the tailgate is even down. Another staffer?s Newfie dances around as if her paws were in a frying pan and runs in circles when she hears the word ?ride.? Only dogs seem to love cars as much as humans. There?s little (or no) science investigating why, so we invited the experts to speculate.
Dogs experience the world more through scent than sight. Where a human?s nose has up to 5 million olfactory receptors, a dog?s can have up to 300 million. No wonder they like to stick their snoots out the window and into the wind. ?I?m not sure they?re getting a high, per se,? says Dr. Melissa Bain, a veterinarian at the University of California, Davis, who researches animal behavior and welfare. ?But they are getting a lot of input at higher speed.? Dr. Brian Hare, associate professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University and the founder of the Duke Canine Cognition Center, says the wind blast may be a sort of sensory overload. ?It?s the equivalent of watching an incredible movie or reading the latest issue of Car and Driver,? he says (with a little coaching). ?There?s so much information they?re taking in, it?s just ?Whoa.? Then again, the simpler explanation could be that it just feels good. And it could also be both.?

PET SMART

Not all dogs love riding in cars, and UC Davis?s Dr. Bain advises not forcing rides on them. During long trips, she suggests considering an anti-nausea drug ...