Does Yours Do THIS? Okay, I'm going to try to explain this the best I can because I don't have a video recorder to actually get it on camera to show you. I think this is a dog thing and not a Yorkie thing, too, because my other dog does it. Every once in a while, when outside, either one of them will put their nose to the ground really intently. And then all of the sudden, start to rub their cheek on that spot on the ground (butt still in the air). They will either rub from one cheek to the next or slide from cheek all the way to the ground and then turn over on their back and wallow/roll side to side on their back. I recently saw a video of Guinness doing this on his facebook page (ahem, Alisha). That's exactly the kind of act I'm trying to describe if you see this and want to attach that video here for me :D Anyway, I've often wondered what that was all about and why they did that. Then, the other night, I think I figured it out (kind of). It's a smell or a bug that just gets them going. How do I know this? Well, in my living room (remember we live in Alabama), I see a HUGE flying roach (you know the tree ones) crawling across my living room floor in front of the tv. Both of my dogs go over to it and start to paw at it. Then, Mandie starts doing that cheek/wallow on the bug thing. I was so grossed out. She was just rubbing her face all over that stupid roach. ICK! But..interesting still. lol Just thought I would share my discovery...apparently they like to wallow on bugs. LOL |
Hehe, sounds cute:) Mine don't do that but when Joel is really into a smell his jaw shakes,lol Oh and ewww to the roach:eek:haha |
Ella does this. I've seen her roll on a bug.. Yuck! I think they "like" the way it smells? |
Hmm don't think it is a bug thing because if Guinness sees a spider or bugs he freaks out and barks nonstop till you come kill it for him.... But that yard he was in his cats always making short cuts. |
Thats interesting. I wonder why they do this? |
Susie does this a lot especially over duck poo and she has been known to do it over fox poo which believe me is rancid!!!! I couldn't wait to get back to bathe her. Weird behaviour, why would they want to smell like that urrrgh. |
Oh, they love to smell where other animals have been. There could be a dead bug or some cat could have eaten a mouse on the spot. Some dog or other animal could have gone potty there. The more it smells the more they love it! Try not to let your dog roll in it or you could end up with one stinky baby. |
1 Attachment(s) Sophie does this, too. There are no other animals in our fenced yard except for birds and squirrels so I figured she was wallowing in their scent so she could sneak up on them and they would think she's one of them ;) |
Rosie does this all the time...especially after a group of wild turkeys have been in the yard...I learned the yucky way how much Rosie LOVES turkey poo! |
I've always thought it was a vestigial pack-related behavior left over from earlier, wilder, wolf days when the scout, hunter wolf would roll in the dead critter he'd killed or happened upon after he'd run off the birds of prey, coyote, etc., eaten and then gone back to his pack to share the find with the pack. They would all follow him because of that scent, remove the other birds or critters re-gathered there eating and get to eat themselves, maybe for the first time in days. Momma wolves could then go back and feed weaning or weaned babies from a portion of it in her stomach or nurse infants once she's fortified a bit. I get that impression from things I've read and observed about dogs that they are born wanting to share experiences and information and, as almost the first thing they do when meeting another dog is sniff them, usually in the areas where a lot of scent gathers, they seem to be finding out a lot of good info about that other dog, they do it so intensely and for so long. Experts always say that the perianal area carries scents that contain real information about that dog's life situation - health, sex, psyche - whether he's a leader or follower, etc. So they use scent to "talk" to each other. So I guess if you want to tell the pack you've found a dead moose, the quickest way to more safely do it, besides carrying a piece of meat in your mouth that might get you attacked by anther predator like a bear or something for that food, is to roll in that scent and then meet up with your pack after you are full as a tick. The "me-first" attitude still reigns with canines and apparently always has! So much of what our doggies seem to do doesn't makes a lot of sense to us but they sure keep us guessing where and why that behavior started. But I've read a lot of books about dogs and that seems to be the prevailing theory about why they roll in other critter's body's scent or feces - is to try to share the food or knowledge that there is food or other critters in the area - as the feces reveals. That poop hanging off the coat can tell the other pack members that another potential meal could be "on the hoof"(so-to-speak) quite near. Or, perhaps it's sharing the info that another pack member or even a dangerous predator like a bear is around. When they roll in the cat feces in their own backyard and then run happily to us, seems the so-called experts say they are saying "Hey, mom, there's a cat critter around here - shall we find it NOW??? Huh? Huh? Huh?" But there are some other interesting theories, too. But personally I believe rolling in scent is an attempt to share what they consider to be vital information about who and what is around and important in their world. Some dogs still will roll in their food at times but I don't think our human prepared raw meat and processed dog food has the same wild lure to it that the dead carcass of another critter does, so mostly it doesn't really spark that old genetically-coded behavior in the same way. Anyway, that's my 2 cents. |
Bailey does this too. It has to be from another animal's scent of some kind. |
Huey does this, too. Any dead bug pieces on the ground, face plant and spin. What makes me wonder is that he does the same thing to my pillow after I get up. I don't stink, I know. Is he trying to get my smell on himself or his smell onto me??:eek: |
Yup I believe what ever they are smelling they want on them. Sometimes the smells are not so pleasant. |
In that next to the last paragraph I should have said: "......that another potential pack member or even a dangerous........". Left out the word "potential"! |
I've seen Columbo do it occasionally and like you, don't know what was there he was rubbing on. Also, when my beloved golden retriever died on cancer in our home, the vet came out to help him over the edge when he was dying. His body stayed on the rug for a few minutes before being moved and during that time, he emptied his bladder, which I cleaned up as best I could after. Well, after that the cat walked in. She never really liked the dog (he loved her) and happily walked around the room (we're all crying). She went over to the spot that had been peed on and rolled and rubbed all over it. I never understood why, but I think she new he was gone and was somehow either marking her scent over the pee, or expressing joy that he was gone. She died of old age 6 months later and I envision her getting to heaven and the golden retriever running happily to greet her while she saw him and said "oh crap, they've sent me to hell".... |
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