Why Do Dogs Roll in Poop?

[DeereBob]

I don't know what it is with my two dogs, but if there is racoon or other varmint crap out in the back yard, they will find it and roll in it. My wife and I scratch our heads and wonder why a reasonably intelligent animal would do this? Any of you guys know why they do this and is there any thing that can be done to prevent them from doing it again? We have a fenced in backyard that I like to let them run in but my wife doesn't want to let them run because they always find the crap to roll in.

[Ken N Tx]

Go out there and try it yourself and see what the big deal is!1 Report back after your shower!! ROF

[Michael]

The reasons dogs roll in the poop or a dead varmint is to hide their scents. It goes all theway back to when dogs were closely related to the wolfs and had to hide their scents in the hunt for food. Dogs are hardwired to do this and just yesterday our Llasha got into something really smelly and I had to give her a bath. The bad part is it was a dead mouse and that also had some spilled motor oil in the same area. A little bit of Dawn dish soap and then after that the regular dog shampoo (Head and Shoulders).

[simple_john]

They do it to mask their own scent. It is instinctive. Some dogs do it while others don't.

[Archdean]

Must be New Age Dogs, not sure who or what they are, therefore they are searching for their real identity, no different then half our present society !!ROF

[Jeff]

Those crazy mutts. All of mine do it as soon as they find it. And it is to mask their scent. So much for grooming, they do it right after they get out of the truck.

[DeereBob]

So it's primevil instincts but for pete's sake, what are they hiding their scent for? To sneak up on an unsuspecting squirrel? My cats bury poop which is the more sensible way to deal with it but my damn dogs have to roll in it. Go figure! :banghead3

[Jeff]

It does stink, but like Michael said, dogs by nature are hunters, and even if your dog will never really hunt, that is what he is bred for. And at least he is smart enough to know that if he smells like coon sh*t, he can sneak up on a live coon.

But, you make a good point, cats are excellent hunters and they clean themselves and bury their turds.

[chipmaker]

My shepherd, and my chow do not do it, but the little miniature dachshunds will do it in a heartbeat....from dead fish to goat manure and anything in betwen. All the miniatures like to eat goat manure as well. I guess they feel they do not stink right and need something to cover it up.

I like putting perfume etc on my dogs nose, it drives them crazy........all it takes is a tiny touch of the stuff..

[sixchows]

My oldest male chow does it, but only with with urine. The pups(4 yrs old now) don't.
It's an attempt to disguise their smell and to smell like like whatever they are hunting.

When Zeus, one of the male pups was about 6 mos old he had been playing in the yard with his mom and sister and rolled into some crap. He was the only one who wouldn't come in when I called him. He would come to me, and then run back to the garden hose and sit there. Finally I figured out what was wrong and that he wanted a bath. He didn't mind that it was about 40* outside.

[USN_ED]

Ken N Tx -

Why would ya want ta take a shower? Hell, that would completely erase the purpose of senting up so that the wife doesn't know whether it's you or one of the dogs sneaking in after a late beer. ROF

I've got four dogs and it's funny as all get out to watch them out in the yard sometimes. The first one will go by a bush and pee on it to leave it's scent. Then the second one goes and pees on the bush and then the third and then the fourth and then the first one starts it all over again. ROF

What really cracks me up is that even if one of them has taken a full pee, they've always got a squirt left for a scent pee. ROF

ED
:dancingpa

[DYT4000]

They do it to mask their own scent. It is instinctive. Some dogs do it while others don't.

I was wondering why I was having to fight the urge.... :banghead3

[HydroHarold]

Now I have not studied this subject at length since my childhood dog rolled in and ate a dead cat, but I make this observation:

Dogs rolling in poo are just like teenagers wearing their pants crotch down by their ankles, they just do it to piss off human adults.

This is one of the many reasons I was drawn to cats. Cats have a much higher self esteem than dogs and don't feel the need to attract attention (or flies). Dogs will do a bunch of stuff that a cat thinks is far too stupid to do. Cats are just far smarter than dogs. Just try and get a cat to swim out in ice cold water and bring back a dead duck! And for a crummy bone at that...

[USN_ED]

Well, if I had a dog and a cat in a duck blind and that dog was busting his butt jumping in the cold water to swim out and get the dead duck and bring it back and the cat wouldn't jump in the cold water to swim out and get the dead duck the cat would be a dead duck.

[Argee]

That's right Ed...dogs want to please their masters....Cats could care less.

[chipmaker]

Cats only care about one thing....Their own self.......a dog is mans best friend for more than one reason.......Dogs aim to please........unlike a cat who could care less

[Artpb]

The difference between a cat and a dog: If you call a dog it answers immediatly, a cat takes a message and gets back to you when it damn well pleases! Cats have there place but a loyal dog is truly a mans best friend, if only they didn't smell bad
and release lethal gases.

[Argee]

My cats earn their keep...They stay in the shop and barn...I feed them every other day (sometimes longer because they haven't eaten anything) and keep fresh water in a dish daily. My rodent population seems to be on the decline.

[HydroHarold]

Now let's see... Seems there are more in favor of "man's best friend" than companions of the feline variety. So do all your friends drool all over when you appear or knock over the coffee table in happiness? Do your friends speak at inappropriate times sending showers of drool onto your antique leather flying jacket?

Dogs have been slaves to man so long that they don't even have any self respect left, it's all been bred out. Try some of that dog stuff with a real dog ancestor, a timber wolf, and see what happens! I've gone hunting plenty but I never wanted to be accompanied by a smelly wet poop rolling friend. (I never let my brother in law go hunting with me!) Never know what your "buddy" will do next, chase cars? Bark at celestial objects? None of my friends would do that, not even drunk. And my friends don't usually have to "use the restroom" just when the cavalry is coming to relieve the fort and save the girl. How many movies have you missed the crux of to let Fido out, and then have to go looking for him because something is decaying back of the neighbor's house. And when you do get him back you have to whip the poop out of your buddy so he won't want to do that again... If he can remember back that far next time.

Cats consider themselves social equals to man. They ask no more of you than a couple of meals a day or a place to find their own, maybe a nice couch to leave hairballs on or a car with the window left open for the same purpose. How difficult is that to provide, why you'd do the very same for a good human friend wouldn't you?

Dogs, even small ones take up too much room. The smaller they are the more accoustic room they take up, the bigger they are the more they smell... Either way it comes out about even, too much "maintenance". Hundred pound bags of kibble, those nasty pig ears, stinking cow bones from the butcher for which you now have to pay money for... Perfectly good horses give up their lives for "man's best friend". Some day someone will market a brand of horse chow made from dogs (Purina Shepard and Spaniel Entree) and we'll see what happens then!

Well I could run down "canis yapis" all night but I gotta' go scoop out the catbox...

[USN_ED]

Put in a Doggie Door. They can come and go as they please. There's nothing like waking up on a cold snowy or rainy night to your wet dog licking your face to tell ya - "Hey Pop!!! I just went out and pi**ed and took a big dump so I could lay next to ya for the rest of the night without disturbing ya".

Cats don't have an imagination. They just go in a box. Puppies have great imaginations. They go in shoes, on shoes, on rugs, on each other, in the car, and in Aunt Sophie's suitcase when she's visiting. This is Maggie. She is six months old and she has one hell of an imagination.
http://img292.echo.cx/img292/1931/dogmaggie26km.jpg
As a matter of fact, whenever she takes a poop she comes and barks at ya until ya get up and go see her latest creation. She's one proud pup!!

Dogs make great burglar alarms and who the hell needs a car alarm when your bud's in the car slobbering up your windows and seats. I could leave my window down, my keys in my truck and a hundred dollar bill on the dash board and the truck, keys, and money would be there when I came back to the truck - no sweat!!

We've all got our preferences. Doesn't matter whether it's a cat or a dog - if they make ya feel good - that's what counts.

[CatDaddy]

We've all got our preferences. Doesn't matter whether it's a cat or a dog - if they make ya feel good - that's what counts.
That's why I have both! :D

[HydroHarold]

"...and the truck, keys, and money would be there when I came back to the truck - no sweat!!"

That is... unless a CAT strolled by! And, not only would the truck, hundred dollars and the dog be gone... You'd have to pay to bail Rex out of the pound and get a taxi home! :)

"Doesn't matter whether it's a cat or a dog - if they make ya feel good - that's what counts."

Ed, no one could say it any better than that! There is something about a close relationship with a special animal that enhances the human spirit.

[Archdean]

"There is something about a close relationship with a special animal that enhances the human spirit."


Now that is one of the best things I have read in one hell of a long time!!!:hatsoff:

Having said that one of mine will decide to crap on the floor tonight just to get my attention!!!:banghead3

[USN_ED]

"Having said that one of mine will decide to crap on the floor tonight just to get my attention!!!"


Yeah, but when ya have to get out of bed on a cold night to take a pee and ya step in a warm pile of crap, it makes ya mad as hell but at least it warms your foot for a couple of seconds. ROF :dogrun:

[Archdean]

"Having said that one of mine will decide to crap on the floor tonight just to get my attention!!!"


Yeah, but when ya have to get out of bed on a cold night to take a pee and ya step in a warm pile of crap, it makes ya mad as hell but at least it warms your foot for a couple of seconds. ROF :dogrun:

Your so encouraging ED!! 3 of them are sitting here with me reading this and all 3 have that knowing grin and of course there the bigger ones!!ROF

[USN_ED]

"Your so encouraging ED!! 3 of them are sitting here with me reading this and all 3 have that knowing grin and of course there the bigger ones!!"

Glad to be of assistance. Please feel free to call on me any time. :fing32: ROF

[gnawbone]

HydroHarold,

2 things:

I don't own an antique leather flying jacket - so, I'm good on that one!
and
My dog doesn't walk around on the kitchen counters "hunting", getting in the sink, the breadbox ... etc.

Our 15 year old cat died about 2 months ago and I no longer have to put up with that "climber".

On the other hand, the dog stinks. I get tired of washing the dog and cleaning the furniture. My dog is my buddy, our deceased cat was "the face of evil".

[HydroHarold]

Gnawbone, possibly if you had tried more fully to "understand" your cat he could have displaced that acrid "buddy" of yours. One thing is sure, all humans are smarter than all dogs. Not at all true with cats.

After my dog ate a very long dead cat he lost "buddy" status around our house and became more of a "humorous aquaintance" until he passed, after which I went petless until I was discovered by cats. In thirty five years I have never seen one cat eat a dead dog.

True, an incessantly barking rottweiler can stave off most burglers (just ask my neighbor). Cats will only defend against birds, sandwiches, insects and rodents. A cat realizes the human satisfaction of downing a burglar with a .40 S&W and doesn't get involved. :D