Why dogs stick their heads out of car windows

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Why dogs stick their heads out of car windows

Have you ever wondered why dogs put their heads out of car windows? Watch this video and learn more about this common behaviour.

Do the preparation task first. Then watch the video and do the exercises. Remember you can read the transcript at any time.

For dogs too, getting out and about excites their wild senses. And for such intelligent animals, you can’t beat a road trip. While we are obsessed with visual landmarks, they focus only on scents. We have a measly six million smell receptors, but a dog’s nose contains 300 million.

They use it to unravel stories about the world around them. Predictably, most are about food.

Forty times more of their brain than ours is devoted to deciphering smells.

They home in on those with special significance. A single chemical aldehyde found in blood makes this one-time hunter drool.

There is a way to bring their smelly world to life. Schlieren photography visualises the air currents that carry odours and shows the remarkable workings of a dog’s nose. Dogs breathe out through the side slits in their nostrils. As the expelled air rotates, it helps draw more scent into the nose. This two-way current helps a dog gather scent almost continuously. But that’s not all.

A male can smell a female in heat at concentrations of one part in a trillion.

Licking helps capture more of her alluring scent. His tongue takes the odour to a second smell organ in the mouth, hardwired to the brain and tuned to these sexual pheromones. It’s love at first sniff.

For dogs, being a passenger rivals any wild experience, but it can be tinged with disappointment too.

The streets of Paris may be full of romantic promise, but pet dogs are seldom in control of their destiny.

Love may be in the air, but it’s so rarely fulfilled.

Why dogs stick their heads out of car windows

You are here

Why dogs stick their heads out of car windows

Have you ever wondered why dogs put their heads out of car windows? Watch this video and learn more about this common behaviour.

Do the preparation task first. Then watch the video and do the exercises. Remember you can read the transcript at any time.

For dogs too, getting out and about excites their wild senses. And for such intelligent animals, you can’t beat a road trip. While we are obsessed with visual landmarks, they focus only on scents. We have a measly six million smell receptors, but a dog’s nose contains 300 million.

They use it to unravel stories about the world around them. Predictably, most are about food.

Forty times more of their brain than ours is devoted to deciphering smells.

They home in on those with special significance. A single chemical aldehyde found in blood makes this one-time hunter drool.

There is a way to bring their smelly world to life. Schlieren photography visualises the air currents that carry odours and shows the remarkable workings of a dog’s nose. Dogs breathe out through the side slits in their nostrils. As the expelled air rotates, it helps draw more scent into the nose. This two-way current helps a dog gather scent almost continuously. But that’s not all.

A male can smell a female in heat at concentrations of one part in a trillion.

Licking helps capture more of her alluring scent. His tongue takes the odour to a second smell organ in the mouth, hardwired to the brain and tuned to these sexual pheromones. It’s love at first sniff.

For dogs, being a passenger rivals any wild experience, but it can be tinged with disappointment too.

The streets of Paris may be full of romantic promise, but pet dogs are seldom in control of their destiny.

Love may be in the air, but it’s so rarely fulfilled.

Why dogs stick their heads out of car windows

You are here

Why dogs stick their heads out of car windows

Have you ever wondered why dogs put their heads out of car windows? Watch this video and learn more about this common behaviour.

Do the preparation task first. Then watch the video and do the exercises. Remember you can read the transcript at any time.

For dogs too, getting out and about excites their wild senses. And for such intelligent animals, you can’t beat a road trip. While we are obsessed with visual landmarks, they focus only on scents. We have a measly six million smell receptors, but a dog’s nose contains 300 million.

They use it to unravel stories about the world around them. Predictably, most are about food.

Forty times more of their brain than ours is devoted to deciphering smells.

They home in on those with special significance. A single chemical aldehyde found in blood makes this one-time hunter drool.

There is a way to bring their smelly world to life. Schlieren photography visualises the air currents that carry odours and shows the remarkable workings of a dog’s nose. Dogs breathe out through the side slits in their nostrils. As the expelled air rotates, it helps draw more scent into the nose. This two-way current helps a dog gather scent almost continuously. But that’s not all.

A male can smell a female in heat at concentrations of one part in a trillion.

Licking helps capture more of her alluring scent. His tongue takes the odour to a second smell organ in the mouth, hardwired to the brain and tuned to these sexual pheromones. It’s love at first sniff.

For dogs, being a passenger rivals any wild experience, but it can be tinged with disappointment too.

The streets of Paris may be full of romantic promise, but pet dogs are seldom in control of their destiny.

Love may be in the air, but it’s so rarely fulfilled.

Safety Tips for Dogs & Open Car Windows

Dogs and open car windows seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly. But why do dogs stick their heads out of car windows, anyway? And as much as they love doing it, should you let them? Here’s what you should know as a pet parent.

Why Do Dogs Stick Their Heads Out of Car Windows?

The Smells

The primary reason dogs love hanging out of car windows has to do with their sense of smell. Mental Floss points out that a large dog has over 225 million olfactory receptors, compared to some 5 million in the human nose. Smelling is the main way dogs are able to sense the world around them. As air rushes by while you drive down the highway, it carries and intensifies scents that tell your pooch where they are and where they’re going.

Sensory Stimulation

Dogs likely enjoy the full combination of smells, sights, sounds and feelings that they experience when they hang their heads out of car windows, says The Dodo. Just as people crave sensory stimulation, dogs get a thrill out of all of the different sensations that sticking their heads out of windows brings: The wind and sun on their fur, the sounds of air and cars whooshing by, other people and pets in their cars, there’s so much to experience!

Why Dogs and Open Car Windows Shouldn’t Mix

As much as your dog might love it, the fact is that it’s not safe to let your dog stick their head out of your car window. Pet Health Network points out the potential for serious and even fatal injury should something like a rock or insect strike your dog at high speed. If an object hits your dog’s eye, it could injure their cornea and cause permanent blindness. Foreign objects can also end up in a dog’s nose or ears, causing breathing or hearing problems. What’s more, Trips With Pets adds that your dog’s ears flapping in the wind and against their head can cause their ears to swell and, over time, could cause lasting damage.

But even if you’re just driving around the neighborhood at a low speed, it’s still not safe to let your dog hang their head out of the car window. There’s a chance they could fall or jump out. And, if your dog isn’t safely secured, they’re far more likely to get injured if you get into an accident or if you have to brake suddenly.

How to Keep Your Dog Safe While Driving

The safest way to drive with your dog is to secure them in a crate in the backseat. If this isn’t possible, buckle them into a doggy car seat or a seat belt harness made for dogs. If you drive an SUV or a minivan, use a pet barrier to keep them secured in the back. Never allow your dog to ride in the bed of a pickup truck, where they’re not contained at all.

Keeping your dog secured when you drive with them is the safest choice for everyone. They won’t run the risk of getting injured by a flying object, and they’re less likely to distract you while you’re driving. Plus, your pooch will still enjoy the ride — keeping a car window cracked will still allow plenty of smells in for them to enjoy.

Keep your pooch buckled up on car rides so that they can savor sights, smells and sounds for years to come and enjoy all the fun that awaits them.

Contributor Bio

Jean Marie Bauhaus

Jean Marie Bauhaus is a pet parent, pet blogger and novelist from Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she usually writes under the supervision of a lapful of furbabies.

The Dangers of Dogs Riding with Their Heads Out of the Window

Daredevil Evel Knievel famously said, “I love the feeling of the fresh air on my face and the wind blowing through my hair.” Dogs agree. While few dogs will attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon on a rocket propelled motorcycle like Knievel did in 1974, most dogs would jump at a car ride with wide open windows and the chance to stick its head out and let the wind whip by. Unfortunately, allowing your dog to do this is very dangerous.

Why Dogs Stick Their Head Out the Window

Interestingly, the reason most dogs like doing this has little to do with enjoying the scenery or feeling the wind. The reason that dogs like to stick their heads outside cars while driving is because the wind smells so good. Dogs have an incredible sense of smell with about 300 million olfactory receptors in their cute noses. In comparison, human noses have six million, which means the dogs ability to smell and process smells is between 10,000 to 100,000 times greater than humans. So, during a drive, a dog sticks its head out the window to enjoy the infinite number of new and interesting smells zipping by. Moreover, get a whiff of this fact: the way dogs exhale is remarkably different from humans and allows dogs to continue smelling new odors as they exhale. 1 That’s nothing to sneeze at.

Risks of Letting Your Dog Ride in the Car

Despite the joy and often comical look on a dog’s face when its head is sticking out a car window, it is very dangerous. First, if unrestrained, there is the risk of the dog jumping out of the car, accidentally falling out of the car, or getting hit by another car or object. Second, and perhaps less obvious, is the fact that the wind also carries foreign objects that could harm your dog. Something as harmless as a leaf or insect could cause serious damage to your dog’s eye, particularly if you are driving at a high speed. Also, pebbles, rocks, or other projectiles could strike your dog. In other words, a lot of bad things can happen to your dog, you and your passengers, and other drivers.

Precautions When Driving with Your Pet

Besides keeping the windows closed, there are many precautions you should take when traveling with your dog in a car. Generally, dogs should not be unrestrained while traveling in cars, regardless of the dog’s size. The best protection for your dog is to drive with your pet in a travel crate that is safely secured on the floor or back seat. Also, never allow your dog to travel in the front seat, even if your dog calls “shotgun.” Dogs in cars can unfortunately, cause a distraction to the driver, which puts you and your dog at risk of serious injury. Moreover, if an accident does occur, serious injury to your dog can occur if the airbags are deployed since they are not designed to protect animals.

We often think of our pets as our fur babies, so it’s good common sense that we take the same precautions when driving with our pets as we do with human cargo. Travel crates, like child car seats, are often designed to work with seat belts and will ensure your pet’s safety on the road. If you drive a truck, never allow your dog to ride in the back of an open truck. Also, make sure your dog is wearing a collar with contact information in the event your pet gets lost on a road trip. For long drives, make sure you take frequent brakes and provide plenty of water. Most importantly, never leave your dog unattended in a vehicle under any circumstances.

Laws Against Driving with Pets

While there is currently only one state that has a law against driving with a dog in your lap or unrestrained, several states allow for citations and fines if your dog causes a distraction while you are driving. In Hawaii, driving with your dog in your lap or unrestrained could result in a fine. Additionally, in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, a driver can be ticketed and fined for laws related to distracted driving and animal anti-cruelty laws. 2

Traveling with your dog can be tremendously enjoyable and allow you to create long-lasting memories. Dogs also enjoy the opportunity to explore new places and find new smells. Even though your dog may enjoy sticking its head outside the window, and the sight of your dog’s face as the wind creates goofy looks is sure to make you laugh; it really should be avoided. Instead, you could leave a window slightly cracked to let the wind circulate throughout the car. That way, you can also enjoy the different scents along the way, although your dog will enjoy it 10,000 times more.