Smells That Dogs Hate

Dog breeds may vary in terms of appearance and physical attributes, but what all dogs do have in common is their sense of smell which is where they truly shine.

Most dogs are able to smell something from miles away or even more, hence dogs such as German Shepherd, Bloodhound or English Springer Spaniel are renowned for their ability to smell something from far away.

But having an advanced sense of smell can also come with its fair share of disadvantages, which often come in the form of smells that are immensely terrible for dogs. The smell will even cause dogs physical distress. This article will be dealing with some of the smells that dogs hate, keep reading below to know more!

What Smells do Dogs Hate? (Some You May Not Know!)

As dogs have a sense of smell that is more than 40 times to that of us humans due to them having 300 million olfactory receptors (may vary with breed). Smells that may seem pleasant to us humans may inversely be horrible for a dog, some of the 10 smells that dogs hate are:

Citrus

Believe it or not, but dogs are not so fond of the smell of citrus, while it can be a pleasant smell for humans, dogs tend to be repelled away by the smell of citrus and will absolutely refuse to eat an orange due to such a smell.

In essence, Citrus is one of the primary smells that dogs hate. To put icing on the cake, one can use the odor of citrus to actually put them on objects that they don’t desire for the dog to touch. The smell of citrus will essentially act as a repellent to the dog who might have been trying to play with the object before.

Chili Peppers

This is the one thing that dogs and humans may have in common in some sense, peppers such as Jalapenos or ghost pepper (Bhut Jolokia) will act as a surefire deterrent for a dog if an owner even hold its up near a dog.

One thing that a person should be careful about is using chili pepper powder as it may cause irritation to the dog’s eyes and cause them distress.

Alcohol

Alcohol is another smell that dogs hate, a higher concentration of alcohol can be enough for even humans to be repelled away. Therefore, it can be no wonder that a dog will avoid going near alcoholic drinks or near those who have drunk alcohol in high amounts.

Get more: Dog names inspired by alcohol

Cleaning Products

Are you the type of person to use chlorine products such as bleach or ammonia-based ones for cleaning your house floors?  Then you may notice your dog being rather uncomfortable.

Dogs are normally averse to the smell of chlorine or ammonia based products and it may also affect them physically as they may inhale unhealthy amounts of chlorine to cause respiratory issues.

Vinegar

Vinegar is a smell that dogs hate for absolute certainty, hence they may be driven away by the very acrid smell of vinegar. While it is essential for cooking food along with plant care purposes, the strong smell will make your dog scrunch their face up.

Nail Polish

Many nail polish products can contain chemical agents such as isopropyl alcohol and formaldehyde along with acetone. These chemical products can cause a heavy and pungent smell to emanate which will make a dog both whimper away from the smell and potentially cause them health issues as large amounts of the fumes may enter their respiratory tract.

Essential Oils

Like it or not, the usage of essential oils will have an adverse effect on dogs as the smell of essential oils such as Eucalpytus Oil which is known to effectively drive them away.

In short, expect your dog to go back the moment you spray any essential oil on an object.

Perfumes

Using colognes or perfumes may cause your dog to change their behavior around you due to their superior sense of smell inhaling the strong scent of the perfumes you are using. If you see a behavior change in your dog after putting on perfume, that is likely due to the perfume you might be using.

Mothballs

Mothballs generally are not objects that smell too good for even humans, therefore as dogs have many times the greater sense of smell than humans, they will also be repelled away by the smell of a single mothball.

Citronella Candles

Citronella candles have a smell that is close to citrus, hence it can irritate a dog’s sense of smell and may also cause them harm due to poisonous fumes as they are mainly use to keep bugs away. These are some of the smells that dogs hate.

Conclusion:

In simple terms, the smells listed above are considered to be those that are hated by dogs and may even cause them sickness depending on how much they inhale the smell of objects such as Citronella Candles, Cleaning agents with ammonia in them or Makeup kits such as Nail Polish.

If your dog has accidentally smelled the listed above and are acting in a sickly way, then it is important for you to act immediately and call an animal vet or take your dog to one as soon as possible.

This article should clear up all your doubts about the smells that dogs hate and whether you should keep objects with such smell near your dog. If you have any questions, do not forget to comment about it!