We report the effect of the fabric of the surface microstructure on the CO gas sensing properties of $SnO_2$ thin films deposited on self-assembled Au nanodots ($SnO_2$/Au) that were formed on $SiO_2/Si$ substrates. We characterized structural and morphological properties, comparing them to those of $SnO_2$ thin films deposited directly onto $SiO_2/Si$ substrates. We observed a significant enhancement of CO gas sensing properties in the $SnO_2$/Au gas sensors, specifically exhibiting a high maximum response at $200^{circ}C$ and quite a low detection limit of 1 ppm level in dry air. In particular, the response of the $SnO_2/Au$ gas sensor was found to reach the maximum value of 32.5 at $200^{circ}C$, which is roughly 27 times higher than the response (~1.2) of the $SnO_2$ gas sensor obtained at the same operating temperature of $200^{circ}C$. Furthermore, the $SnO_2/Au$ gas sensors displayed very fast response and recovery behaviors. The observed enhancement in the CO gas sensing properties of the $SnO_2/Au$ sensors is mainly ascribed to the formation of a nanostructured morphology in the active $SnO_2$ layer having a high specific surface-reaction area by the insertion of a nanodot form of Au nucleation layer.