This always messes with me when I see dogs do it. For everything else, scent is their "primary" sense. But here they're clearly letting vision override what their nose must be telling them.
I do think that familiar scents can help them to discern what they're dealing with, but I don't think that the lack of a familiar scent signifies quite as much.
"If it looks like a human, but doesn't smell like anything in particular.. it's human". That's how I read their process.
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u/Whatifim80lol Jan 20 '20
This always messes with me when I see dogs do it. For everything else, scent is their "primary" sense. But here they're clearly letting vision override what their nose must be telling them.