As we so often do, my wife and I took an evening stroll up to the bridge after dinner at Brautarlækur. We scouted the pool beneath the bridge and saw five salmon lying in the lower part—three of them quite large. Further up in the current lay another three. Our dog, Lappi, was with us. He immediately dashed down to the river and positioned himself on the bank in a direct line from the salmon.
It was fascinating to observe his behavior; it was clear he knew the salmon were there. He tensed up, as he does when something catches his attention, and sniffed toward the pool where the fish lay. Then he waded toward them as far as he dared. Fortunately, he had the sense not to go too far, or he would have tumbled down the river.
Like a well-behaved dog, he sprinted back to us when called. However, he didn’t stay long, as he was soon exploring the other bank. The conditions there are trickier, with rocks jutting right into the river. Lappi was pushing his luck, and for a moment we were afraid his excitement would get the better of him and he’d go off the edge into the water.
Now I wonder what caused this behavior. Do dogs truly smell fish in a river, or was it just a coincidence that he lined himself up perfectly on the bank? Did he perhaps see the fish from the bridge? Or could it be that our dog has such keen intuition that he read our body language as we were scouting the pool? My wife and I lean toward the first theory: that Lappi simply smelled the salmon.
A dog’s sense of smell is at least 10,000 times more sensitive than a human’s, and it has been proven that dogs can scent things in water. Lappi never once looked at the pool from the bridge, and besides, his eyesight is far inferior to ours. Therefore, it isn’t so far-fetched to assume he simply caught the scent. Now I see a golden opportunity: I’ll stop trying to scout the pools myself. I’ll just take Lappi along and let him sniff the fish out!”