We might share treats with our dogs, but their taste system works quite differently from ours — even though they enjoy many of the same flavour categories. While humans have around 9,000 taste buds, dogs have roughly 1,700. Their sense of taste is simpler.

Here’s what dogs are tasting:

Meat Matters
Dogs are naturally drawn to savoury flavours. Their taste buds are tuned to detect amino acids — the building blocks of protein — which explains their love of anything meaty.

Salt Isn’t a Big Deal
Just like humans, dogs need salt for their bodies to function properly, but unlike humans, they don’t crave it. Their ancestors got all the sodium they needed from eating meat, so salty flavours aren’t what make food appealing to them.

Sweet Sensitivity
Dogs can detect sweetness too, which is why many enjoy small pieces of fruit as treats, but are unable to differentiate between many subtle sweet flavours like a human can.

“Nope!” to Bitter
Bitter flavours are quickly rejected — a built-in warning system against spoiled or toxic food.

Smell Does the Heavy Lifting
With fewer taste buds than humans, dogs rely heavily on their incredible noses to decide what’s pleasant, interesting, or definitely not food.

Next time your dog sniffs and snubs something you think smells tasty, remember… It’s not being fussy, it’s biology!