Himself arrived home from his walk looking very sheepish and hesitatingly asked for my help. Gus had rolled in some smelly fox poo and needed a thorough clean.
I donned wellies, filled the bowl with tepid water, grabbed the doggy shampoo and strode out.
The poo was smeared all over one side of Gus’s shoulder, round his neck, and over the harness and collar. Himself had done a not very good job of trying to wipe some off. The next few minutes were not particularly pleasant for either Gus or I. Himself stood at a distance and busied himself just keeping hold of the lead.
As I trudged back inside the house with the shampoo and bowl, Gus shook all over Himself, which was not appreciated from the howls and yells that resulted. I sniggered as I emptied the dirty water before going out with a towel to try and prevent our house getting the same treatment.
Why do dogs like to roll in smelly things like animal carcasses and poo? No-one is quite sure, but there are a number of theories:
-Dogs might do it to mask their own scent in a throwback to their hunting ancestry; or as a way to bring the scent home to the rest of the pack to allow others to track back to it. Not sure I believe these theories, mainly because dogs are not pack animals and don’t set up organised hunts together.
– Perhaps they like the stench. Dogs are fascinated by things that we consider disgusting, like urine on the lamppost and the nether-regions of other dogs. It’s possible that dogs just like being anointed with the smell of fox poo.
But I wonder if there is a more subtle reason. When dogs roll in stinky stuff, you see them hone in on the stinky smell, then they do a move where they slowly drop their head and neck down sideways towards the pile of poo before rolling – dogs usually roll first to cover they neck and shoulder area.
Pushing the neck and shoulder area into us humans and rubbing against us is a greeting behaviour many dogs do. One theory about that is that they’re placing their scent on us. It’s thought foxes and other mammals leave piles of poo around the edges of their territory to mark it. So perhaps dogs are rolling not to pick up essence-de-fox, but to leave their scent on the poo as a message that they have been in that territory. A bit like leaving a urine mark.
I doubt that’s the whole story though. We may never know. I hope I come back as a dog in future so I’ll find out…
Given how sensitive their sense of smell is you’d think they’d be overwhelmed by the stuff they roll in. But no. Usually they just look pleased with themselves after a really good stinky roll as you gaze on in horror. The worst is still to come – as you drive home in the car with all the windows open but are still suffocated by the pong.
It’s not easy to stop a dog rolling in smelly stuff. If you spot your dog sniffing and he starts to drop his shoulder down, a quick ‘leave it” might do the trick – if you’ve trained it, of course.
Unfortunately most of us won’t be quick enough to interrupt this behaviour. So just keep a towel in the car and a supply of good shampoo at home…
Keep training,
Carol