why do dogs stick their heads out of car windows?

Question

they all seem to (but hate it if you blow in their faces) weird

Answer 1

Well unlike some other people I wont give you a huge answer but I can tell you I looked it up and this is the run down:
Dogs depend on it to identify other dogs, choose a mate, and smell prey. When dogs scrunch up their faces in the wind, it looks like they're catching flies, but what they're really doing is catching scents.
Hope that helped.

Answer 2

couldn't find any scholarly research to explain the behavior. Here are three theories ...

1. The sensation of a brisk wind against your face carrying with it scents and fast-moving sights is appealing to many humans. So imagine speeding against the wind with the ability to sniff up to a million times better and to perceive movement at a much quicker pace. For a dog, sticking its head out a moving car must be an all-around sense-sensation the magnitude of which we olfactory-challenged humans can only imagine!

2. Everyone wants a better view. Dogs are no different.

3. Dogs sense what every teen instinctively knows: it's inherently cooler to travel on wheels than by foot.

Answer 3

Experts estimate that dogs can catch a whiff of something that's one million times less concentrated than what humans can detect. With so much sniff power, it's hardly surprising that they stick their heads out out car windows. They could care less about the scenery. What they're after are smells. If you're driving through town at 30 miles an hour and your dog has his nose out the window, he knows where the bakery is, where the butcher shop is, which street leads to the local McDonald's, and maybe even what the mayor had for breakfast.

Dogs assume a characteristic expression when they put their faces into the wind: Their upper lips curl, their noses wrinkle, their eyes partly close, and their ears fold back. It looks as though they're experiencing a moment of ecstasy (which they probably are) but mainly they're concentrating. It's as though they're closing down all the rest of their senses to focus on this one.

There's a world of fascinating scents outside the car. This dog loves to hang her head out the window and sample every one of them. All dogs, from huge Great Danes to tiny terriers, have extraordinarily acute senses of smell. Their scenting ability is enhanced when they are moving quickly, which is one reason that they take advantage of open car windows.

Smells are so important to dogs that they have two separate systems for detecting them. One is the nose system. It consists of a huge amount of tissue called olfactory epithelium, which is loaded with scent receptors. This area takes up about 1/2 square inch in humans, but up to 20 square inches in some dog breeds. As air moves over the tissue, odor molecules settle in millions of scent receptors. The more air flow there is, the more scents dogs detect. A Dog's sense of smell is enhanced when they're moving quickly. In the evolutionary scheme of things, this probably made them better hunters because they could load up on scents while chasing prey.

Dogs have a second smelling system that's headquartered in their mouths. Near the upper incisors is a tiny duct that leads to a specialized gland called Jacobson's organ. It's designed to capture and interpret the most primitive types of smells.

Dogs depend on it to identify other dogs, choose a mate, and smell prey. When dogs scrunch up their faces in the wind, it looks like they're catching flies, but what they're really doing is catching scents.

Answer 4

It's the next best thing to flying! Think of it this way, we ride roller coasters for the same reason, the thrill of it!
Also dogs love to smell, and sticking their head out of the window of a moving car, they get a nose full (Of smells)!

Answer 5

There are lots of interesting smells out there, and the dog is in control of sticking its head out of a window, but not in control of you blowing in their faces. :)

Answer 6

Dogs stick their head out of car windows because they need air on their tounge to help cool them off.

Answer 7

For the same reason you like air conditioning but hate it when people blow in YOUR face.

Answer 8

The air ouyside is not the same as your breath. It contains millions of other smells that relay information to the dog about other dogs, their age, sex, and fertility. Your dog finds out everything he needs to know by sniffing the air. So sit back and let him be "nosey".

Answer 9

Dogs sense of smell is so accute, that they can pick out one smell out of the air to concentrate on ... they stick there head out of the window to basically get "fresh" air and to focus on a smell they like.

Answer 10

If it wasn't dangerous, and someone else was driving, wouldn't you stick your head outta car window too? AND would you like it if someone blew in your face? The answers aren't that different than from the ones you'd ask yourself... hm.