Sorry to disagree but I have to respond when comments are made that aren't so. Dogs can detect emotions, but can they truly determine which is which simply by smell, I say no. Body posture/movements are just as telling. As far as them thinking children as part of their group, no. Please read the articles posted. Any secure dog will be fine around children however, I'd *never* allow any child unsupervised around any dog. Not because I don't truat the dog, I wouldn't trust the child. Kids are loud, unpredictable and often don't understand that their movements and noises can be confusing and scary to a dog. A passive dog will ignore all of it, a nervous and anxious dog may bite out of fear or run and hide and aggressive dog will protect itself with aggression. Dogs are fight or flight.
Experts who have studied dogs and their sense of smell have concluded that dogs can't necessarilysmell the emotion that is fear. They can, however, detect smells and see movements and body postures that may help them sense when a person is nervous, anxious, or afraid.Anyone who has spent much time around dogs knows they have an incredible sense of smell. Bloodhounds, for example, have a heightenedsense of smell that is at least 1,000 times stronger than a human's.
When we get scared, we tend to sweat more. Our bodies also produce moreadrenaline and release certain chemicals, such as stress-related hormones. Given dogs' impressive sense of smell, there's no doubt that can detect the scents of sweat and these other chemicals.
However, smelling sweat doesn't necessarily mean the same thing as smelling the emotion of fear. Experts believe that sensing fear may involve more than smells. Movements and actions, such as stiffening up or staring straight at dogs, can be seen and interpreted by dogs to lead to a conclusion that a particular person is afraid and therefore may present a threat.
Rather than smelling fear, it's probably more accurate to say that dogs cansense fear. And sensing fear is probably a mixture of smelling sweat and other chemicals combined with interpreting body language and other movements.
Like dogs, humans can also interpret body language and sense emotions in others. But can they smell things like dogs can? Maybe! Recent research has indicated that human sweat from anxiety smells different than sweat from exercise…and humans can smell the difference! Researchers believe that humans may be able to detect certain smells associated with anxiety and react with empathy as a result.
