What they smell isn't the emotion of fear. What dogs can smell is the changes in a person's skin that suggest fear to the dog, anxiety, the way your skin sweats, the amount of uric acid that suddenly pours out of your pores.

Summary

This quote emphasizes that dogs are not directly sensing the emotion of fear, but rather detecting the physiological changes associated with fear in humans. Dogs have a remarkable ability to smell and pick up on various chemical cues emitted by a person's body when they are anxious or scared. These cues include changes in the scent of the skin, the release of sweat, and the increase in uric acid secretion. Therefore, dogs can use their sense of smell to detect the signs of fear in individuals rather than perceiving the actual emotion itself.

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