Why do dogs use their nose and mouth to explore dead animals?
Since a dog’s sense of smell is so much more acute and sensitive than a human’s, it is arguably the most critical of the five senses in a dog’s life. Dogs use their sense of smell as a means to explore the world around them. They are also curious animals and tend to use their mouths to explore objects, including dead animals, that they find in nature.
“So-called ‘bad’ and ‘good’ smells are products of our culture. As young children we are ambivalent toward smells like poo and stinky feet: we have to be taught that these are ‘bad,” Alexandra Horowitz, author Inside of a Dog and Being a Dog, explains. “Dogs, by contrast, are in but not of our culture. They do not inherit our value system (unless we explicitly train them in its rules) and so are left with their own canine tendencies…For dogs, there seem not to be good nor bad (with a few exceptions) smells; smells are just the way the world looks. Smells are just information.”
Has your cat or dog bestowed upon you a special gift in the form of a bat or rat? Try not to panic! How to react to a pet who brings home a dead animal simply requires a calm, cool head.
Coming face to face with a dead baby bunny or robin as you retrieve your morning newspaper may cause you to gasp. Alas, as gross as it seems, finding this type of “present” on the patio or your doorstep is rather normal for pet owners. Indeed, its natural for cats and dogs to bring home a dead animal or two, even though it may be an unpleasant surprise. Not only do household pets kill rodents and birds, but dogs love to roll in a deceased creatures scent on the ground.
The next step is to consider why your cat brought home a dead animal. Along with a natural prey drive found in cats and dogs, a pet is also showing love to their owners by bringing gifts that they killed in nature. And if your cat or dog caught a mouse in the house (and in this case, he kind of did you a favor), he may also present this special offering at your feet.
Though cats may have been domesticated for thousands of years, they still have a wild side that makes catching live prey very attractive. While bird watchers and those who want to protect wildlife in general may object, theres nothing inherently wrong with a dog or cat pursuing what they think of as prey, so try not to become alarmed. Still, the responsible action to take in order to protect birds in your area is to keep your cat inside or on a leash when hes outside. Or you might dress your feline in a brightly colored collar with a bell, which signals to songbirds that danger is at hand.
Once youve collected yourself, make sure that the animal is in fact dead. Some creatures are known to play dead or may just be stunned after being roughly handled by a dog or cat, so check to see that the animal is actually deceased.
Because your dog wants to show off and get attention
Dogs are show-offs. You only need to see how they roll around in nasty stuff like horse poop and then act like it’s the most amazing thing ever to realize this!
The final theory offered was that by bringing you a dead bird it could mean your dog just wants to show off and get attention from you.
Often dogs will exhibit behavior to get a reaction from their owners. You see that with dogs that are destructive in the home due to something lacking their life such as love, exercise, and attention.
Alternatively, they might just think that by bringing a dead bird home to you, you’re going to think how clever and awesome they are!
Why Do Dogs Dive Onto Dead Animals?
If your dog is prone to picking up random objects on walks, chances are she will come across a dead animal and want to pick it up. When it comes to gross-and-also-potentially-dangerous behaviors, eating dead things has to be near the top of the list. Here’s what you need to do if your dog eats a dead animal and what you need to know about why she does it to begin with.