You know my family and friends have never been yes-men: 'Yes you're doing the right thing you're always right.' No they tell me when I'm wrong and that's why I've been able to stay who I am and stay humble.
What they smell isn't the emotion of fear. What dogs can smell is the changes in a person's skin that suggest fear to the dog anxiety the way your skin sweats the amount of uric acid that suddenly pours out of your pores.
