Ball or stuffed toy -- Do dogs 'know' what they're smelling?

Ball or stuffed toy -- Do dogs 'know' what they're smelling? Dogs' excellent sense of smell is well-known, whether it is in the context of searching for people or for contraband substances. However, the question of how dogs understand what they perceive with their sense of smell has largely been unexplored. Scientists have now found evidence that dogs create a 'mental representation' of the target when they track a scent trail. http://ift.tt/eA8V8J