One thing that I have learned is the importance of Charley sniffing and then peeing on a bush. Somebody walking by happened to ask me, “Oh, is your dog checking her pee-mail?” I had to laugh and thought that was pretty witty, and it’s actually a true thing.

Dogs communicate in different ways, of course, than humans. What I have observed, which is quite endearing, is there are times when we leave the house that Charley is dead set on one particular bush. Not always the same one every time, but she beelines to whatever she has focused on and then performs the ritual of sniffing the bush up and down. After a few she will then pee right on top of the spot. Her mouth would quiver from her taking in the smell. I’ve read that it is a travesty if a dog is denied the bush smell ordeal. According to PETMD, their nose has up to “300 million olfactory receptors in their noses, versus only about 6 million for us. And the part of their brain dedicated to interpreting these is about 40 times larger than ours,” says Dr. Nappier. They can smell 100,000 times better than us.

” They also can smell the passage of time. They can tell who was there because of odor molecules that occur over short periods of time. This allows tracking dogs to quickly determine which direction a person or animal has gone in by sniffing the ground.” That’s why, I think, she will stop and concentrate on a particular bush. Some dog buddy was probably telling her hi and they’ll be back around tomorrow or they are gone for the weekend. Thank goodness humans have better means of communicating with each other.

So I after reading all this information on the sniffing sensation with dogs I now don’t get frustrated when she goes out to check her pee-mail.

Speaking of that we are going to go check it one last time tonight before the fireworks start this 4th of July. There’s nothing like a spooked Charley.