Smoking and dogs nose

[campgsp]

Today I was riding with a friend of mine and his dog in the back seat. His dog is not a bird dog just a family pet. We were driving down the road and he lights one up. I told him "hey man the dogs in the car, aren't you worried you'll cause him respiratory problems?" He told me "no I've never had a problem like that with any of my dogs, and Ive smoked around them all"
So we got into a little debate over it.

I am a smoker, bad habit I know. But I never smoke around mydogs in the truck.
I don't know if there have been studies done if smoke hurts a dogs nose but I'm sure it hurts their breathing.
My biggest concern would be ruining the dogs nose. If it can't smell good its not going to make a good bird dog. And I would think smoke would hurt it.

What do you guys think? Do you smoke with your dogs in the car? Do you think smoke can kill a dogs nose.

[birddogger]

First of all, let me say that I am not defending smoking but I have never bought into the second hand smoke thing. The anti smoking crowd and the media [who are almost always happy and willing to use scare tactics] realized that they were never going to be able to advance their agenda without public opinion on their side. IMO, the second hand smoke issue was a ploy used to get support from the general public. It took some time but once they convinced nonsmokers that the evil smokers were making them sick and maybe killing them, they started getting all the support they needed to pass some of the ridiculous laws that are now in place.

I guess I got a little off track but to answer your question...No, I don't believe the smoke is harming the dog or you [nose or respiratory system] unless their is already some sort of respiratory problem. To be considerate, a smoker should not smoke in a vehicle or a closed room with anybody who is bothered by the smoke and even if not bothered by it, a window should be open to allow the smoke to escape. JMO.

Charlie

[DonF]

I quit smoking many years ago. Always smoked around my dog's and didn't seem to bother them a bit.

[Mountaineer]

I suppose it would be difficult to rate effect from smoking on a dog's scenting ability...equally so with harm, as sadly dogs are not with us very long.
Any?
Yes, that would seem likely.....as about anything may affect a dog's nose on a given day and inhalling smoke is not in the body's design.
But degree and longevity of effect would be the kickers.

Best not to, simply put, for many reasons.
Never was a cig smoker but a pipe, yes.
I never smoked around my daughter tho....just made sense.
Stopped for a decade or two, in fact, for her consideration.
Same commonsense applies in any closed or semi-closed environment, with people or dogs.
Open windows, of course, mean little, even with a draft.....just makes the smoker feel a bit better.....smoke and, at times, cigarette stench control is a bit like herding cats.
I think smoking of little practical concern re a birddog, unless the little concerns mean something larger to you on any given day, or at an event.
We all make choices....some try to tell us what those choices should be and some try to tell us to ignore all but our own desires.
Both agendas can be equally annoying.

In general, a warm briar in moderation and the big open will find no appreciable harm to dog or man, w/o some predisposition to disease.
Cigarettes are a poorer roll of the dice, comparably...for the tobacco contents and volume alone.
As a side note, it's interesting that cigarette tobacco is now labeled and sold more often as pipe tobacco and ex-cigarette smokers are moving to the pipe for cost savings and a bit of pretending....while still inhaling the rough stuff deep into their lungs.

[Brazosvalleyvizslas]

I think it's been proven to hurt a humans sense of smell faster than it hurts our respiratory system and since a dog has many more sensors in it's nose I think it could cause damage. It would be difficult to prove though because as the dog ages and Is exposed to the smoke longer he is probably losing sense due to age as well. I will say this, I love to BBQ (real BBQ) and my male Vizsla is deftly afraid of smoke. He hides behind the curtains in the furthest room once I fire up the smoker. He's never had a bad experience so I'm not sure where it came from.

[phermes1]

I think it all depends. If you drive your dog to the field in a smoke-filled car, it stands to reason that his ability to smell may indeed be impaired in the short term. Unless you make a habit of always driving the dog around in a smoke-filled car, then I would not be concerned about long-term damage.

It's all a matter of degree. Some folks seem to think the mere act of lighting up next to a dog will instantly kill it's scenting ability for life. That's just absurd.

[RayGubernat]

My dad smoked and when I was younger I smoked as well. We typically drove an hour or more to the hunting area in a station wagon with the dogs in the back.

The dogs' performance in the field never gave me any occasion to think the smoke interfered with their scenting abiluity.

I also agree with the second hand smoke BS. If second hand smojke was soooo bad, why hasn't the government clamped down on New York City air and Los Angeles air, which contain far, far more pollutants and carcinogens thanare produced by human smokers?

If they ever ran the Ames test on NYC or LA air, it would be labelled as carcinogenic and banned by the FDA. Without a doubt, the air in the Holland or Lincoln tunnels would flunk the test.

THAT is why it was never done and never will be.

RayG

[Brazosvalleyvizslas]

I believe Houston still holds the title of worst air.As for dogs, I don't think dogs live long enough for anyone to be able to see or prove the effects of smoking around them. You could kill off half of their receptors and they would still find birds IMO.

[campgsp]

Thanks for the input guys.

Some good points. Didn't really think about pollution or bbq.
Cigarettes have a ton of bad stuff in them guess that's why I always figured they would be bad for a dogs nose. I mean its bad for my senses why wouldn't it be for them. But on the other had people are probably smoking a lot more then the dog too .

[DougB]

I used to smoke. I had to clean the inside windows of my car every week. The cloth didn't look pretty. After 3 days in a critical care room, my doctor suggested I quit, so I did. I clean the windows every few months now and don't get that neat yellow brown sticky stuff on the cloth anymore. Food tastes better too.

Birds are scarce. I like to give the dog every chance, so why blow smoke in her nose on the way hunting.

[Brazosvalleyvizslas]

Doug, that's a good story and glad you pulled through.

[Francois P vd Walt]

What helps give your dog small piece of fresh garlic healty and opens the nasel passage!

[SD Pheasant Slayer]

Don't know whether smoking would effect the nose's scenting ability, but the boarded veterinary oncologist at Iowa State points to smoking as a risk factor for increased incidence of nasal tumorss. Additionally, its been shown to cause irritation to the air passages, exacerbating conditions such as tracheal collapse and increasing the risk of bronchopneumonia. The data isn't there on dogs, but cats living with smokers are at an increased risk of developing oral squamous cell carcinomas as well.