Why do dogs roll in smelly stuff?
If there's a list of rules about walking a dog, then near the top will be this one: Whatever your dog rolls in, you do not want in the house.
For some deeply instinctive reason, dogs love rolling in smelly stuff, the smellier the better. (Warning: if you're of a delicate disposition, you might want to skip the next couple of paragraphs.)
At the top of a dog's priority list of things to roll in is anything dead; below that ranks anything organic that's in a process of decay, preferably very late in the process; then comes anything that any animal has expelled from its body; last comes a small range of human-sourced stuff such as pitch-marking paint.
Let's be slightly plain, the place that dogs most want to roll in is the place where some creature has pooed. These places are plentiful, especially in parks. My dogs sniff these sites out, digging their snouts in and then backstroking vigorously. If one dog is rolling in something, the other dog runs to investigate and share in the stink.
When is the rolling at its most energetic and determined? Why, when the dog has been recently washed. Not for them the perfumes that we humans love around us. Not for them the lavenders and pines of dog shampoo. Those pink scents of the bathroom are to be rubbed off, replaced by the brown smells of the ground.
Why do dogs roll in foul stuff? One theory is that the dog is trying to cover the smelly stuff with its own odours - the way cats rub against our legs and furniture to leave a hint of their scent there.
Another theory is that dogs are re-enacting their forebears' way of telling pack-mates where they've been and what they've been up to.
I love this "stink tells a story" theory. Imagine if we humans did it: Spouse one comes home from work and asks "How's your day been, hon?" Spouse two replies not by saying "Had coffee with Mel," but by standing upwind and wafting the Mel-smell towards Spouse one.
A more convincing theory is that the urge to scent-roll recalls when the dog's ancestors needed to mask their own scent so they could stay hidden from prey. Wolves are said to do this when hunting.
Stanley Coren, one of my favourite dog-behaviour writers, offers another idea. He wonders if it's a case of dogs asserting the sense that dominates its way of understanding the world - the sense of smell.
"Dogs, like people, enjoy sensory stimulation and may well be prone to seeking such stimulation to an excessive degree," says Coren. "Therefore, I believe that the real reason that canines roll in obnoxious-smelling organic manner is simply an expression of the same misbegotten sense of aesthetics that causes human beings to wear overly loud and colourful Hawaiian shirts."
Well, wherever the impulse comes from, it's one of those things that makes a dog a dog. We humans can try to be alert for nasty stuff while walking the dog, but the dog's nose is always going to work better than our eyes. A good, strong "stop" command can abbreviate the rolling’s, but the smell will still be there.
Looks like we're stuck with the smells - at least till the hose and tub can be used. What does your pooch like to roll in? Let us know in the comments below.
Written by Nick Barnett. First appeared on Stuff.co.nz. Join Four Legs Good on Facebook.
Related links:
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9 foods you should NEVER feed your pet