The dog is out in the wild, away from it's pack. Ever see your dog smell something, or find something it finds interesting? Often, they will rub on it, or roll around in it. They do that so they have a record they can take with them.
When said dog returns to their pack, their body holds these records. Their movements communicate their mood and the entire thing is a tale of the day.
Another example I had happen was my cat.
I would come home and the cat would want to get in the car. Then, if I got up to move, she would put a paw out, like "hold on a moment" and then she would inspect me everywhere, sniffing, looking at me, etc... The cat wanted my story! Where I went, was it the same strange animals and people, or different, when I last ate, and all sorts of stuff.
In the evenings, that same cat would come to me, want to cuddle up in the evening and would be near my face, so I tried the same thing and guess what? It's a damn solid story! I now can smell my cat, watch it's movements and get a good sense of it's activity for the day.
Back to the dogs. Having returned to the pack, the dog could tell the story of animals it encountered, possible food sources, enemies and other things by the scents it carried home to share with the others.
In my view, our biggest struggle understanding animals comes down to both how much they are like us, just in simpler form, and how we fail to see that due to our higher complexity taking us away from basics that make more sense than we know. And with some animals, they are just very different from us, whales, dolphins, octopus and the like.
All that said, I agree with you! Humility and an open mind are key to understanding animals better. Frankly, the same tools help us understand one another better.