Is That Popcorn I Smell

      “Is it my imagination or does my dog’s feet actually smell like popcorn?” Not that I am in the habit of sniffing dog paws, but with each dog I have owned I have noticed an odor on their footpads that smells strangely like popcorn. I always thought this odd, but I set the sensation aside and chalked it up to my imagination.

     Recently, I awoke to a strong odor of popcorn. Had I dreamt about popcorn or was someone actually making popcorn this early in the morning? Upon opening my eyes, there laid neighbor dog Stanley, his feet pressed to my face. When I realized the odor was from Stanley’s feet, memories of my past dogs ‘popcorn feet’ flooded back to me.

     With this smell still fresh in my mind, I decided to do some research on this strange phenomenon. I was relieved to discover that this odor is real and not the works of my overactive imagination―scores of people have questioned this same odor. Some, as I have, likened the smell to that of popcorn. Others, likened the smell to that of corn chips. Apparently, corn chip prevails over popcorn because this phenomenon is commonly referred to as ‘Frito Feet’.

     In my quest for an explanation to this odor, I visited several web sites. The sites all basically came to the same conclusion as to the cause of this interesting odor. I have summed up the explanations with quotes from a few of these sites.

     ‘Dogster’ founder Ted Rheingold explains it this way: “The feet of dogs contain many folds and pockets between toes and the spaces between the foot pads. The increased moisture and decreased air circulation in these areas enables the bacteria and yeast to proliferate exuberantly. These micro-organisms give off odors. One such bacteria is famous for smelling like corn tortillas.”

     Yahoo answers, explains it this way: "It’s typically called ‘Frito Feet’. It’s natural, many dogs have it, and it is caused by the unique scent glands that dogs have in their feet. They use these glands for marking their territory."

     en.allexperts.com: “The ‘corn chip’ smell isn’t at all uncommon. Dogs have scent glands in their paws that they use to mark their territory, and while I’m sure we can’t tell the difference between dogs, they can!”

      I found the following of particular interest, simply because it was a fact I did not know about a dogs sweat glands. “All dogs have sweat glands in their feet. It’s one of the few places dogs actually have sweat glands.” The writer further added that, “Their feet smell funny because their sweat smells like that.”

     One site, http://www.seefido.com, has great answers to just about any quirky question you can imagine. It’s a fun site to visit if you seek answers to unusual questions.

     So, don’t be alarmed if you notice a popcorn or corn chip smell on your dog―it’s natural.

     So long, I’ll see you soon!