animals Review Canine Olfaction: Physiology, Behavior, and Possibilities for Practical Applications Agata Kokoci ´nska-Kusiak 1, Martyna Woszczyło 2, Mikołaj Zybala 3 , Julia Maciocha 1 , Katarzyna Barłowska 4 and Michał Dzi˛ecioł 2,* 1 Institute of Animal Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, ul. Ciszewskiego 8, 02-786 Warszawa, Poland;
[email protected] (A.K.-K.);
[email protected] (J.M.) 2 Department of Reproduction and Clinic of Farm Animals, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Plac Grunwaldzki 49, 50-366 Wrocław, Poland;
[email protected] 3 Institute of Biological Sciences, Doctoral School, Siedlce University of Natural Sciences and Humanities, ul. Konarskiego 2, 08-110 Siedlce, Poland;
[email protected] 4 Department of Biotechnology and Nutrigenomics, Institute of Genetics and Animal Biotechnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Jastrz˛ebiec,05-552 Magdalenka, Poland;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected] Simple Summary: Dogs have an extraordinary olfactory capability, which far exceeds that of humans. Dogs’ sense of smell seems to be the main sense, allowing them to not only gather both current and historical information about their surrounding environment, but also to find the source of the smell, which is crucial for locating food, danger, or partners for reproduction. Dogs can be trained by humans to use their olfactory abilities in a variety of fields, with a detection limit often much lower than that of sophisticated laboratory instruments. The specific anatomical and physiological Citation: Kokoci´nska-Kusiak,A.; features of dog olfaction allow humans to achieve outstanding results in the detection of drugs, Woszczyło, M.; Zybala, M.; Maciocha, explosives, and different illnesses, such as cancer, diabetes, or infectious disease.