Why do we have K9 search and rescue dogs and drug sniffers instead of just having police officers sniffing everyone’s luggage?
The answer from the article is, essentially, because dogs are much better at odor detection than us. It weirdly seems to say because we have the ability to sense odors we are better than we think we are, which implies we think we can’t smell at all or something. But dogs are much much better than us.
The article made a quite different argument than "dogs are much better at odor detection than us" - that is contrary to what the research shows. Humans have much better ability to smell some things than dogs do, but, dogs are (as you noted) capable of smelling some things better than humans.
They make some squinty suppositions from some limited studies that suggest dogs (which can smell cannabis flowers) can’t smell flowers better humans etc. But then they conclude with this statement that sort of refutes the entire premise:
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Besides having more olfactory receptor cells than humans, dogs also boast a specialized snout adapted to methods of breathing that deliver a steadier stream of information-rich scent. Dogs and some other animals even experience scent differently. Their olfactory system allows them to smell liquid phase chemicals that aren't airborne—think of layers of urine and other liquids on your neighborhood fire hydrant—by working like a pump to deliver them to a specialized nasal organ.
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Which is pretty indicative that as everyone knows from daily experience with dogs, dogs are better at smelling things than humans. There may be a range over which that superiority falters at some chemicals but I saw nothing other than headlines and pop science supposition that indicates humans are superior at smelling than dogs.
```For example, Laska notes, the total number of odorants for which dogs have an established, lowest detectable threshold level is 15. Humans actually have a lower threshold for five of those. “Those five odorants are components of fruit or flower odors,” he says. “For a carnivore like a dog those odorants are behaviorally not as relevant, so there was no evolutionary pressure to make a dog's nose extremely sensitive to fruit and flower odors.”```
The answer from the article is, essentially, because dogs are much better at odor detection than us. It weirdly seems to say because we have the ability to sense odors we are better than we think we are, which implies we think we can’t smell at all or something. But dogs are much much better than us.