Can dogs tell gender by smell?

We went for a walk round Dereham in Norfolk yesterday and I waited outside a bookshop with the dogs whilst Jamie went in to browse.

When he came back out Izzy was having a cuddle from a lady. Her boyfriend had gone to touch her and I said no, please don't as she is nervous of strange men and I said he could fuss Parker instead.

Anyway, to get to the point, Jamie said to me afterwards that I shouldn't have let Izzy have a fuss from this lady as she was wearing trousers and a hood that covered her face so Izzy may have thought she was male.

Is this right? I thought she would be able to tell by smell what sex someone was or am I talking baloney!

I need to know so I can vet people over to check they look feminine enough to touch Izzy otherwise! Obviously I do look at her body language before letting people touch her anyway because she does have issues about nervousness because she was kicked by her previous owner and I have only had her 3 months so am still getting to know her and working with her about her issues with men.

Yes. I`m sure they can - and a lot more besides.

I'm certain they can.

A few years ago I helped rehabilitate a young dog who'd been abused by her male owner. She was quite happy to be around women but would try to bite any man who came near her.

I'm convinced it's all about smell .... I have one neighbour who's rather too fond of his tipple .. or six ... Chloe and M'boi have known him since they were puppies. When he's sober they'll run to the gate to greet him .... when he's had one too many they won't go near him but will stand outside the front door and bark.

Absolutely they can.

Thanks-do you mean if the person is carrying food?!!

Your dogs are very sensible.

Thanks Gnasher.

I'm pretty sure dogs know a human's gender from smell, voice and body language a damn sigh more reliably than a human can tell a dog's gender by sight.

I doubt a dog would be fooled by a woman in trousers - or a man in a kilt for that matter.

without doubt they can, smell is the strongest sense on a dog. I have heard stories about dogs who have also smelt and detected when a person is pregnant sometimes even before the person knows. They sense/smell a chemical change in the body which they know comes from an expecant mother. Its something we cannot detect, but many animals can. Elephants especially apparently.

Yes-we're always getting people thinking Parker is a female-just because he has a pink bobble tying his hair back!

Oh that's interesting thank you.

yes they can - anecdotal evidence suggests they can tell if \ woman is pregnant and they certainly can tell if she is menstruating. I'm pretty sure that to an animal whose primary sense is smell men and women smell quite different.

My old boy Hal was a nightmare if we were in the vicinity of a menstruating female - he could detect her from many yards away, probably as many as 20 or 30, and would make a beeline for the appropriate part of her body! It was extremely embarrassing when it happened, and funny in hindsight but not at the time! That dog could smell a tiny pinprick of blood from feet away, he had a greater sense of smell than the bloodhound we had when I was a child.