Dogs have a great sense of smell, and they can sniff just about everything. It’s also why they make the perfect companions for police searching for many things. However, it begs the question of to what extent they can smell. Can they even smell something such as THC Oil? Thus, it begs the question:
Can dogs smell THC oil? The short answer is yes. Dogs can smell THC oil, and they can sense it through a few sniffs. Since they have a great sense of smell than us, they can detect such items even at a distance. It makes them perfect companions for police in search of similar items.
THC stands for tetrahydrocannabinol, and it’s the chemical responsible for most of marijuana’s psychological effects. It acts like the cannabinoid chemicals made by the body. THC Oil works just like CBD, but it doesn’t have psychoactive effects.
In this article, we’ll tackle everything you need to know about THC and how dogs can sense it.
Without further ado, let’s get into it!
Contents
Do drug dogs smell THC oil?
Drug dogs can smell THC oil, and it’s something they can get trained on as a task. Since police trains drug dogs to detect drugs, it’s no surprise that they can accomplish the task with ease.
If the THC oil is in vapes, it is easy to detect by drug dogs. The oil has a concentrated scent, just like all other typical oil. It would be possible to do so with a dog’s smelling power.
The Transport Security Administration (TSA) has drug dogs sniffing around to check such. While it’s not something to worry about in checking, it would be best not to bring such.
Related: Can Dogs Smell CBD Oil?
Can police dogs smell THC oil in your system?
Unlike drug dogs, police dogs usually get trained to smell bombs and not drugs. Thus, it’s not likely that they’ll detect THC oil in you.
According to police dog handlers and customs officials, drug dogs get trained to detect two to five different substances.
Thus, if police or customs dog gets trained to smell cannabis or THC, they can smell it even in a vape’s juice cartridge.
Thus, it’s also likely that the dogs would detect THC oil in your system.
Likewise, customs dogs trained to detect nicotine can smell vape pens with nicotine juice. Thus, it’s common in customs or borders where smuggling tobacco gets checked.
Another thing to note is that THC in liquid form and mixed with vape juice is still detectable. Drug dogs can sniff different odors.
For instance, we smell mixed substance as a new substance. For dogs, they can smell the individual components combined into it.
How far away can a drug dog smell THC oil?
Dogs have more smell receptors than humans. Thus, their smelling power is so much more than ours.
In general, a dog can smell 10,000 to 100,000 times better than us. Since dogs have that strong smell, they can smell as scents as far as we can. Moreover, they can detect certain odors through intense training methods.
Now, how far they can smell depends on many factors. Among these factors are their breed, training, and even the conditions they smell.
For instance, Bloodhounds have at least 300 million scent receptors in their noses. German Shepherds or Beagles have about 225 million. Still, despite the breed, most dogs can recognize illicit compounds.
Since THC oil has a strong scent, dogs can likely pick it up even from a few sniffs.
In general, they have more chances to pick up smells if more air passes through their nose. Under perfect conditions, they can smell objects or people as far as 20km away.
What do dogs do when they smell THC oil?
As I said earlier, dogs can smell things tens or hundreds of thousands of times better than us. Thus, they can smell things from afar.
Since this capacity often gets used by the authorities, they trained them to create some signals to inform officers.
While the drug-detecting abilities can depend on the dog breed, any dog reacts quite the same.
Among the things dogs do when they smell things are the following. Thus, if dogs smell THC oil, they may also do the same things.
Body Language
Some dogs express body language when they detect a particular scent. Among these are:
- Growling
- Staring
- Alert
- Barking
- Whining
- Jumping up
- Sniffing
- Paw raised
- Ears up
Other signs
Aside from the body language, dogs can also do some other signs. They do these signs to indicate they picked up something.
- Pawing at the object or location
- Standing in front of the object
- Digging
- Touching their nose to the location
Also Read: Can Dogs Get High From Blowing Smoke in Ear?
Summary
In general, dogs have a great sense of smell, and it can be thousands of times better than ours. For this reason, they are great companions to officers seeking drugs and even bombs.
On the other hand, THC oil, whatever the purpose, has a strong scent that is easy to detect by drug dogs. Even if mixed with different scents, dogs can still sense it.
It would be best not to bring such in areas where its use is restricted for whatever purpose. Its effects on dogs won’t do much if it only smells to detect and not in large amounts.
Resources
Image credits – Canva
