Wolves and dogs interacted significantly more often with the wooden logs impregnated with real blood than with any of the other odour stimuli tested. The blood odour component did not elicit behavioural responses in the wolves and dogs as efficiently as the odour of real blood. There was no significant difference in the interaction frequency for any of the four odour stimuli between the wolves and dogs. The wolves and dogs were equally interested in the odour of real blood, suggesting that domestication may have had only a limited, if any, effect on the behavioural responses of domestic dogs to the odour of blood.

This result contrasts with the findings of previous studies that used the same odour stimuli with other carnivore species, where it was found that the blood odour component elicited the same high frequency of response as the odour of real blood. This discrepancy may be due to possible deteioration of the blood odour component during transport/storage or the order in which the stimuli were presented. It could also be the case that a blood odour component other than E2D might serve as the signal for wolves and dogs or that species simply differ in the manner in which they identify a naturally occurring complex odour.

The results of the present study demonstrate that real mammalian blood is a behaviourally relevant odour which is suitable to enrich wolves and dogs’ captive environments. The wooden logs are also suitable for the presentation of a range of odours other than blood.

1. The results of the present study suggest that domestication had little, if any, effect on olfactory behaviour in domesticated dogs
2. Wolves and dogs do not respond in the same way to the blood odour component as four other carnivore species
3. The results also indicate that odour-impregnated wooden logs are a suitable method of olfactory enrichment for captive wolves and domestic dogs