While dogs seem immune to bad smells, there are plenty of scents that most dogs tend to hate. These smells, like citrus and vinegar, are known for being strong and overpowering. Pungent odors can overwhelm your dog's strong sense of smell, which leads to your dog avoiding areas where the smell is present.
Citrus scents top the list of smells your dog probably hates. The scent of lemons, limes, oranges, and grapefruits is strong and unpleasant for your dog. For this reason, you can use citrus scents as a dog repellant in off-limits parts of the house. Their noses are irritated by the strength of citrus.
The methodology of observing the dogs freely exploring the experimental area allowed us to determine the smells that were the most attractive to them (food, beaver clothing). Our study shows that dogs interacted more frequently with the scents of blueberries, blackberries, mint, rose, lavender, and linalol.
What scents keep dogs away? Dogs dislike the smell of citrus fruits. These include grapefruit, lemons and even oranges. This is one of the reasons why citrus odors are used in sprays to keep dogs from chewing on items.
Dogs exposed to fear smells showed more signs of stress than those exposed to happy or neutral smells. They also had higher heart rates, and sought more reassurance from their owners and made less social contact with strangers.
They can trigger all kinds of behavior, sexual and not. Your dog, with their super-sensing nose, can certainly smell the pheromones your body is giving off, and often, they're game to investigate.
The most common reasons for anxiety in a dog is abandonment, fear of being home alone, loud noises, traveling, and/or being around strange people, children, or other pets. We've also seen the anxiety in dogs that have been abused or neglected. The best way to treat your canine companion is to determine the cause.
Vinegar. Just like citrus, dogs cannot stand the smell of vinegar. It seems that a dog's heightened sense of smell is not keen on acidic smells, vinegar being another very acidic substance. It is worth noting that dogs are more repelled by the smell of vinegar than they are by lemons and oranges.
Studies show that the average dog prefers beef and pork over chicken and lamb. They also like warm, moist food over cold, dry foods. Like humans, these preferences can come from what they ate growing up. Dogs like a variety in their diet, and if they have to eat the same thing every day, they could get sick of it.
Because barking and excessive activity are typically signs of stress in shelter dogs — not to mention being undesirable behaviors in the eyes of many adopters — the study concluded that exposure to the odors of vanilla, coconut, valerian, and ginger has the potential to reduce stress in shelter dogs.
By Dr. Ernie Ward, DVM and founding contributor to IDEXX's Pet Health Network. Our dogs know our smell, and they love it.
Since dogs have a very good sense of smell, the lavender oil should always be diluted, otherwise, it is too potent for any dog to enjoy. Although most dogs seem indifferent to the aromatic smell of lavender, some dogs appear to actually like it a lot even though it is quite rare.
Peppermint is toxic to dogs and understandably so, dogs don't like it.
But for an even better dog repellent, make your own spray using garlic and chili pepper. Mix together chopped onions, chili powder, and garlic with a teaspoon of dishwashing soap and a quart of warm water. Allow the mixture to sit for 24 hours before straining, then pour the liquid into a spray bottle.
You can use vinegar to keep dogs away from your lawn by spraying it around the perimeter of the area you want to be canine-free. Dogs don't like the strong smell of vinegar and thus will be deterred by it.
There are some green ways to keep dogs off the property. Cayenne pepper is highly effective and is also able to get rid of some insect pests. You don't have to have this spread all over the lawn but at the borders. Vinegar spray can be used as an invisible dog deterrent but it should be sprayed on a regular basis.
The dog breeds that are more likely to have this problem are the German Shepherd, Australian Shepherd, Border Collie, Jack Russell Terrier, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Bichon Frise, Toy Poodle, Labrador Retriever, Cocker Spaniel, and German Shorthaired Pointer.
Stress signs to look for include whale eye (when dogs reveal the whites of their eyes), tucked ears, tucked tail, raised hackles, lip-licking, yawning, and panting. Your dog might also avoid eye contact or look away.
Licking is a natural and instinctive behaviour to dogs. For them it's a way of grooming, bonding, and expressing themselves. Your dog may lick you to say they love you, to get your attention, to help soothe themselves if they're stressed, to show empathy or because you taste good to them!
'Sniffing is your dog's way of making sense of the world around them - and it provides lots of mental stimulation, which can help keep their brain healthy as well as their body.
Based on this study, not only can dogs sense depression, but their ability to recognize emotional fluctuations in people and other dogs is natural or intrinsic.
Unwanted Scents
If your house smells strongly of scents that are unpleasant to your dog, the dog may feel uneasy and act aggressively.