# Dogs in cars **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 24, 2013, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-in-cars/664358 "2013-07-24T04:30:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-in-cars/664358/1 "2013-07-24T04:30:37Z")
Dogs seem to love sticking their noses out of car windows when they are going at speed. They often look like they’re really getting off on it. Is this like some sort of psychedelic smell experience for the dog as the air takes thousands of smells past it’s nose in a minute ? Or do they just like air up the nostrils ? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-in-cars/664358/2 "2013-07-24T07:52:13Z")
According to various descriptions I’ve read from time to time, it must be an intense sensory information-gathering experience for a dog. But they are gathering realistic real-life genuine information about everything they can smell, so I wouldn’t describe it as hey-like-wow-man psychedelic. Have you read Dr. Dolittle (Hugh Lofting’s original story)? I think you can find the full text on-line somewhere. There’s a scene where Jip the Dog, on a boat far out at sea, sniffs the wind, and gives a detailed description of things he “sees” on a distant island, including details like “sun beating down on a hot tin roof” ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-in-cars/664358/3 "2013-07-24T08:03:09Z")
Here’s one example of a [description of what dogs smell](http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/articles/dogsenses.htm): > [@](#): > > When dogs smell something they are not just registering a smell, they get an entire story. They can smell pheromone, which is not only found in the urine and fecal, but on the skin and fur. From this they can tell a lot about another dog or human including if they are male or female, what they ate, where they have been, what they have touched, if they are ready to mate, if they have recently given birth, or had a false pregnancy, and what mood they are in. They have even been known to smell cancer on people, alerting them to it and saving their lives. This means when your dog smells another person, tree that another dog has peed on, pant leg that another dog has rubbed up against, or chair that someone has sat in, they are actually reading a story, not just smelling an interesting scent. While a human will smell something like spaghetti sauce as one smell, a dog smells each individual ingredient. Unlike humans, dogs can move their nostrils independently, allowing them to know what direction a smell is coming from. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-in-cars/664358/4 "2013-07-24T09:33:09Z")
They do it because they can. I’d do it myself if I could get away with it. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-in-cars/664358/5 "2013-07-24T10:21:59Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > According to various descriptions I’ve read from time to time, it must be an intense sensory information-gathering experience for a dog. But they are gathering realistic real-life genuine information about everything they can smell, so I wouldn’t describe it as hey-like-wow-man psychedelic. Actually, I suspect it really _is_ more like “Woof man, psychedelic!” When a dog gathers information by smell it does not simply take in a big sniff of air and analyze it within. It actively seeks out sources of smell and studies them. It sniffs around the source of a scent (such as a patch of ground where some other animal has been), moving its nose systematically back and forth over the area, gathering information not only about the smell quality, but of how it varies spatially, which tells the dog not only what was there, but also such things as the direction in which the animal (or whatever) that left the scent was moving. It is an active, exploratory process, as you can readily see if you watch a dog sniffing about. [The Sniff Is Part of the Olfactory Percept.](http://chemse.oxfordjournals.org/content/31/2/181.long) This exploratory sniffing, however, requires the dog to be in control of the movements of its nose. Riding in a car it has no such control, and cannot actively explore. Instead, it is carried passively and rapidly past a succession of sources of smells, getting a very quick succession of different scent qualities coming it it in a more or less meaningless order, and is unable to explore patches of scent and analyze their spatial properties as it normally does. I really do think it is more analogous to a human experiencing a psychedelic lightshow, a meaningless but stimulating series of visual stimuli imposed upon us from without, as opposed to a human experiencing a coherent, meaningful visual scene, which we can view and visually explore at our leisure. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-in-cars/664358/6 "2013-07-24T10:49:13Z")
Our three dogs are in my vehicle pretty much every day, since they go to work with me. I have a Jeep Patriot that comfortably carries one human; me (passenger seat is covered with “stuff” and the dogs have the remainder). I drive with my windows up usually, but as an occasional treat I open the sunroof. One dog likes to stand on the center console and put her head through the opening. She appears almost orgasmic and salivates copiously. It is messy. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Surb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@The\_Surb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Surb)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-in-cars/664358/7 "2013-07-24T13:48:07Z")
I think they are thinking “Goddam, I am so fast! Look how fast I am! And I’m not even tired!” ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-in-cars/664358/8 "2013-07-24T15:13:34Z")
I once read somewhere that a dog sticking its head out the window of a car is akin to a human who has only watched TV on a 30" screen going into an IMAX theater. Sensory overload, although the dog seems able to pick out interesting smells from the fire hose of smells hitting his face. This must be an odd experience for a dog since they haven’t evolved to run 60 miles an hour… ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-in-cars/664358/9 "2013-07-24T15:31:46Z")
The dog I spent my youth with didn’t behave like that. He preferred to lie on the floor by the front seat passenger’s feet, but sometimes he would jump up and start sniffing through the side window like he couldn’t get enough of it. This always happened when we turned off the main road into a side road leading to either a) our house or b) our summer house and no other places. As I don’t think he was psychic I can only interpret this as he was following the changing smells all through the journey from his position on the floor and suddenly realised that “Yes! I’m HOME again!”. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-in-cars/664358/10 "2013-07-24T18:51:50Z")
As an aside, one element of a dog’s perception of scent that often surprises humans is that dogs perceive a scent not just in terms of content, direction, and strength but _time_. The classic fire hydrant has layers of scent marking from passing dogs, and dogs can probably tell who was there first, and in roughly if not exactly what order. They can definitely identify which direction a scent trail goes by whcih direction is marginally stronger, even though the difference (and thus intensity) between two points on that trail might be only a few moments of travel. When we look at a room, we only see what’s currently present; dogs are aware of what/who was there at various times in the past, and probably what moods were present, and at least some of what went on there. A lot of their mental hardware is devoted to processing this sense. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-in-cars/664358/11 "2013-07-24T21:32:17Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > When we look at a room, we only see what’s currently present; dogs are aware of what/who was there at various times in the past, and probably what moods were present, and at least some of what went on there. The adventures of Sherlock Dog! Your description (which I’ve read about before) sounds just like those scenes from Sherlock Holmes where he “deduces” an entire chain of events from, for example, noticing a smudge of pool-cue chalk on Watson’s hand. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-in-cars/664358/12 "2013-07-24T21:59:50Z")
The same reason we all did it as kids. It feels neat. Of course, our parents tell us to pull our heads back in. Dogs are luckier. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-in-cars/664358/13 "2013-07-24T22:00:39Z")
I asked Blackjack. He said it’s because other dogs will think he’s driving. ---
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-in-cars/664358/14 "2013-07-24T22:22:21Z")
> [@](#): > > According to various descriptions I’ve read from time to time, it must be an intense sensory information-gathering experience for a dog. But they are gathering realistic real-life genuine information about everything they can smell, so I wouldn’t describe it as hey-like-wow-man psychedelic. Like the other guy I disagree - it’s got to be like watching twenty different movies all at once at fast forward for el perro. > [@](#): > > One dog likes to stand on the center console and put her head through the opening. She appears almost orgasmic and salivates copiously. Aha, my observation is supported. ---
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-in-cars/664358/15 "2013-07-24T22:25:57Z")
> [@](#): > > When we look at a room, we only see what’s currently present; dogs are aware of what/who was there at various times in the past, and probably what moods were present, and at least some of what went on there. How much can dogs smell pheremones ? > [@](#): > > I think they are thinking “Goddam, I am so fast! Look how fast I am! And I’m not even tired!” Lol ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-in-cars/664358/16 "2013-07-25T18:02:35Z")
> [@MrQwertyasd](#): > > How much can dogs smell pheremones ? Well, they have a [vomeronasal organ](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vomeronasal_organ). ---
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-in-cars/664358/17 "2013-08-17T10:59:57Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Well, they have a [vomeronasal organ](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vomeronasal_organ). My dog’s got no vomeronasal organ How does he smell ? Terrible. Ho ho. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-in-cars/664358/18 "2013-08-17T15:25:57Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Actually, I suspect it really _is_ more like “Woof man, psychedelic!” When a dog gathers information by smell it does not simply take in a big sniff of air and analyze it within. It actively seeks out sources of smell and studies them. It sniffs around the source of a scent (such as a patch of ground where some other animal has been), moving its nose systematically back and forth over the area, gathering information not only about the smell quality, but of how it varies spatially, which tells the dog not only what was there, but also such things as the direction in which the animal (or whatever) that left the scent was moving. It is an active, exploratory process, as you can readily see if you watch a dog sniffing about. [The Sniff Is Part of the Olfactory Percept.](http://chemse.oxfordjournals.org/content/31/2/181.long) > > This exploratory sniffing, however, requires the dog to be in control of the movements of its nose. Riding in a car it has no such control, and cannot actively explore. Instead, it is carried passively and rapidly past a succession of sources of smells, getting a very quick succession of different scent qualities coming it it in a more or less meaningless order, and is unable to explore patches of scent and analyze their spatial properties as it normally does. I really do think it is more analogous to a human experiencing a psychedelic lightshow, a meaningless but stimulating series of visual stimuli imposed upon us from without, as opposed to a human experiencing a coherent, meaningful visual scene, which we can view and visually explore at our leisure. Good post. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-in-cars/664358/19 "2013-08-18T01:00:16Z")
When dogs stick their heads out the windows of cars, they’re all thinking the same thing… I’M THE KING OF THE WORLD!!!