What is the Flehmen response?

What is the Flehmen response?

• A. Flehmen Response
• B. Barking Aggressively
• C. Wagging Tail
• D. Licking Lips

Answer: (A)

The Flehmen response is a scent-detection behavior where a dog curls back the upper lip and inhales, drawing odor molecules toward the vomeronasal (Jacobson’s) organ to analyze chemical signals such as pheromones or strong scents. You’ll see it when a dog encounters potent smells like urine marks or mating cues. It’s a quiet, brief facial expression used for olfactory investigation, not a vocalization or a social gesture like wagging the tail or lip licking. Recognizing this helps you understand that the dog is gathering information from chemical cues rather than communicating emotion through sound or movement.

The Flehmen response is a scent-detection behavior where a dog curls back the upper lip and inhales, drawing odor molecules toward the vomeronasal (Jacobson’s) organ to analyze chemical signals such as pheromones or strong scents. You’ll see it when a dog encounters potent smells like urine marks or mating cues. It’s a quiet, brief facial expression used for olfactory investigation, not a vocalization or a social gesture like wagging the tail or lip licking. Recognizing this helps you understand that the dog is gathering information from chemical cues rather than communicating emotion through sound or movement.