There\u2019s a great article at National Geographic online about military working dogs and their handlers here:
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What makes this book unique is how Crais devotes a few chapters to detailing events and perceptions from the dog\u2019s perspective. If you\u2019ve ever wondered how dogs are able to detect and differentiate between so many different smells, you\u2019ll learn by reading Suspect.<\/p>\n
I once wrote a piece for American Thinker where I referenced dogs riding in autos and pickups with their muzzles turned eagerly into the wind with their ears flapping and their tongues lolling happily as they enjoyed the ride far more than their drivers. An editor at AT spiked that piece telling me that his big-city vet said allowing dogs to ride face into the wind was harmful. I responded that I had lived much of my life in Oklahoma, West Texas, New Mexico as well as fifteen years in the Deep South, where dogs riding with their muzzles in the wind were a common sight, and never once had I heard of any adverse effects. <\/p>\n
The AT editor refused to relent, so I didn\u2019t get the piece published; but I did check with my own vet who was raised on a large ranch and whose practice is primarily rural. She, too, said that in her many years as a ranch vet, she\u2019d never seen a single instance of a dog harmed by riding in vehicles except for the occasional mutt who got too carried away with all the fun it was having and fell overboard. She explained that due to a dog\u2019s expansive and hypersensitive olfactory system, a ride with its nose in the wind was the canine equivalent of an LSD trip due to the swarms of scents they were passing through, which explains their exuberant behavior. I reported that to the intransigent editor but he remained unyielding, trusting the expertise of his urban practitioner to that of my ol\u2019 rancher vet.<\/p>\n