Video zone
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.
Tasks
Do the preparation task first. Then watch the video and do the exercises. You can also read
the transcript.
Preparation task
Match the definitions (a–h) with the vocabulary (1–8).
Vocabulary Definition
1. …… a receptor a. a pleasant, natural smell
2. …… to decipher b. when an animal is in a state of sexual excitement and ready to
3. …… to drool breed
4. …… an odour c. the two openings in the nose through which air moves when you
breathe
5. …… a scent
d. a quick breath in through the nose to smell something
6. …… nostrils
e. a part of the body that sends messages to the central nervous
7. …… in heat
system
8. …… a sniff
f. to allow saliva to flow out of your mouth
g. to discover the meaning of something which contains a hidden
message
h. a smell, often an unpleasant one
© British Council 2020 www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish
Task 1
Are the sentences true or false?
Answer
1. Humans usually concentrate on what they can smell, whereas dogs focus True False
on what they can see.
2. Dogs use their sense of smell to understand the world around them. True False
3. Dog breeds which were traditionally hunters can easily recognise the True False
smell of blood.
4. A dog breathes in through its mouth and out through its nose. True False
5. A dog also uses its tongue and mouth for smelling. True False
6. Pet dogs in Paris usually have the opportunity to be together with the True False
dogs that they are attracted to.
Task 2
Complete the sentences with the words in the box.
six million 300 million trillion first
two single second Forty
1. Humans have just …………………………………… smell receptors.
2. A dog’s nose contains …………………………………… smell receptors.
3. …………………………………… times more of a dog’s brain than ours is used to interpret smells.
4. Some dogs can identify the smell of a …………………………………… chemical found in blood.
5. A dog’s nose uses a ……………………………………-way movement of air to collect scent.
6. A male dog can smell a female in heat at concentrations of one part in
a …………………………………… .
7. When a dog licks its nose, its tongue takes the scent to a …………………………………… smell organ
in the mouth.
8. When dogs are immediately attracted to each other’s scent, it’s love at ……………………………………
sniff.
Discussion
Have you ever had a pet?
© British Council 2020 www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish
Transcript
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.
© British Council 2020 www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish
Answers
Preparation task
1. e
2. g
3. f
4. h
5. a
6. c
7. b
8. d
Task 1
1. False
2. True
3. True
4. False
5. True
6. False
Task 2
1. six million
2. 300 million
3. Forty
4. single
5. two
6. trillion
7. second
8. first
© British Council 2020 www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish
