Why Do Dogs Roll in Poop Anyway?

                             Bad Mikey Looks Pleased with Himself

Dear George,

The other day I took Duffy and Mike for a walk in Burnet Woods.  Once in the forest I let them off the leash.  As we climbed the flight of stone stairs, I looked behind me, and only Duffy was there.  Mike was nowhere to be seen.  I ran back down the stairs, shouting Mike’s name.  A quarter of the way down, Mike suddenly appeared from around a bend, and he ambled up the steps to join us.

When I got home, I spent some time de-burring the dogs.  When I got to Mike’s right ear, I pulled off what I took to be a burr, but it squished between my fingers.  I sniffed it, and it had a foul odor.  Mike’s ear had several other smidges of bad-smelling stuff.  It suddenly dawned on me where he’d been when he disappeared.  I didn’t know if this was deer poop or raccoon poop or something else, but Mike clearly had rolled around in it.  I tried getting it off with toilet paper, but with limited success.  Katja took over and washed his ear with soap and water, then clipped off the messiest parts of his hair.  He still smelled awful twenty-four hours later.

Thanks to the wonders of Google, I consulted with veterinarian experts, Drs. Foster and Smith, to learn about dogs’ tendencies to roll in bad-smelling stuff.  It seems there is no single definitive answer, but rather several speculative theories.  (1) The most popular idea is that the behavior derives from dogs’ ancestral ties to wolves who roll in feces to mask their own scent and allow them to sneak up on their prey.  (2)  A second idea is that dogs like to roll in smelly stuff to get rid of dog shampoo whose odor they don’t like.   (3) A third theory is that dogs are “advertising” to the pack the excellent delicacies they have found.  (4) Finally, dogs just really like the smell and want to wear it like perfume because it makes them smell so good.

I don’t buy the evolutionary theory because Mike and Duffy, given their temperaments, appear to descend more from sheep than from wolves (otherwise why would they be called “sheep-dogs”?).  The dog shampoo theory doesn’t apply to Mike because he doesn’t use dog shampoo.  Advertising one’s find to the pack is an interesting possibility, though Mike didn’t seek out Duffy, nor did Duffy show any interest in Mike’s new scent.  So I conclude theory four is right.  Our dogs like poops more than just about anything; they will spend limitless time sniffing them; and, when given the chance, they delight in rolling in them as well so they can make the fragrant odor a part of themselves.  This may not seem like an attractive activity to us humans, but it certainly reminds us of the truth of the old maxim, different strokes for different folks.

Love,

Dave

G-Mail Comments:

Linda C (12-8): Our dog got out once and rolled in what was left of a deer,we had to smell it forever even after many baths , it was hard to even like the dog for about a month . Why , no idea but I go for wolf background .

JML (12-7): and what about the dogs that like to eat poop? any good theories on that one?

David L (12-7):  Even Drs. Foster & Smith don’t mention that – can’t be any dog that we know.