Poop is a business card
A dog leaves a special signature scent from the anal glands every time they defecate. Dogs can recognise each other from this scent, which they spread by wiping their feet on grass and tail wagging.
By sniffing at each others droppings, dogs know who was there previously. And when they greet other dogs, they like to sniff under the tail to know who they are dealing with. Curiously though male dogs are more likely to sniff each others backend, while bitches smell the muzzles.
As mentioned above, a dogs ability to smell is extremely powerful. This is partly due to the Jacobsen organ, which is located at the back of the mouth. This allows the dog to detect tiny odour molecules that enter through the mouth.
Have you ever seen your dog bite the air for smell? This is because of the Jacobsen organ! Biting the air allows a dog to get very specific data from scents such as identifying fertile partners, or when young puppies are seeking their mother to get to her milk. With their powerful sense of smell, dogs receive information about the age, gender, health and even the mood of the other dog.
And so, a lovely sunset for a human translates into an equally delightful pee sniff for a dog.
Dogs learn about the other dogs in the neighborhood by exchanging these biologically sophisticated (and smelly!) messages.
Not only is the data from P-Mail informative for a dog, but it can also be pleasing. Another way of describing this is as follows: a dog sniffing pee is akin to how you experience watching a beautiful sunset. You witness the vast array of colors -orange melting into pink, pink drifting into purple- and you find yourself stopping in your tracks to take in this magnificent sight.
Unless the client specifies otherwise, we at Paws At Home allow dogs to sniff to their hearts content!
Also, if you are looking for some other tips for keeping your dog busy and happy while working from home, check out this article by our friends at Redfin.
7 reasons why dogs smell other dogs’ poop
“Do dogs love the smell of poop?”
Well, they don’t love it the way we like the scent of freshly baked cookies or brewing coffee.
Canines are only sniffing it because they’re more interested in the information it holds.
What happens is, when dogs poop, they also release a smelly brownish fluid. And this is squeezed from their anal sacs or tiny pouches inside their anus.
Now for us, this liquid only smells awful like a skunk spray. But for canines, it’s more than that.
This is because it contains pheromones.
Those are substances that are unique in every canine.
And they’re used to convey messages to the same species. As well as some info about the owner such as:
So, dogs aren’t sniffing poop just because they want to.
They’re doing it to ‘read’ the business cards or IDs left by other dogs.
Or when you compare it to today’s modern world, it’ll be similar to viewing a Facebook or Twitter profile.
By the way, pheromones aren’t only found in poop. Because they could also be in a dog’s pee, sweat, or saliva.
Interesting fact: How do dogs smell these substances? Well, it’s all thanks to their ‘Jacobson’s organ.’ A study says that it’s responsible for detecting these signals from other Fidos. As it serves as a second nose that processes this kind of information.