1

Credit to Cesar Milan for this insight about dogs. When dogs are calm and balanced they perceive their environment nose-ears-eyes. That is in order of how important each sensory input is to their attention: smell, then sound, then vision.

When they go into an excited state the order is reversed: eyes-ears-nose. As an extreme example, when canines are pursuing a prey animal they are relying on vision to see the prey, their pack, and obstacles in the environment.

When a pack of canines is resting, playing, or exploring, their eye movement is more relaxed, their noses are active along the ground and waving in the air, and muscles controlling their ears are relaxed and twitching towards sounds.

I wonder how this logic holds up for birds and reptiles. It seems like one could reason that generally the nose is the slower, calmer mode of sensing, vision is an excited mode, and sound is in-between.

2

Touch/feel sense is more direct: what is happening internally and at the edge of your body; how’s your balance, movement, how is your contact with the ground. Touch can jump to the top of your sensory stack in a physical confrontation like a predator-prey fight. But it is not a communication pathway in a group setting like the other senses are.

3

As an exercise I like to hike, walk, or run and focus on a sense order of nose-ears-eyes. It’s natural for a dog but humans it takes some concentration. But it’s interesting how it alters what you’re paying attention to. I think it effects my breathing and heart rate.

If you work with dogs it’s good to remember that the balance tips heavily towards smell when they are relaxed and balanced. The easy path for directing a dog’s attention is to have treats that smell good.