Why Dog Likes To Sniff Other Dog Butts – While dogs and humans have many things in common, this signature dog maneuver is where we separate. However, what we are ashamed of is not just proper etiquette for dogs, it is truly a wonderful form of chemical communication.
When your dog sniffs another’s behind, he’s not sniffing poo, he’s reading his life history and catching up on the news through his smell. “Dogs secrete pheromones, which are aerosol hormones, through specialized glands located on their backs and near their ears,” says Andrea Y. Tu, DVM and medical director of Behavior Vets in New York. Unfamiliar dogs inherently know not to sniff near each other’s ears, so you wouldn’t directly approach a canine stranger who is perceived as aggressive and biting. So sniffing a partner’s bottom is, says dr. Tu, “the polite, non-confrontational way for dogs to get to know each other.”
Why Dog Likes To Sniff Other Dog Butts
The buttocks transmit a series of particularly fascinating information through two small anal glands, or pouches, located inside the rectum. Each sac contains oil and sweat glands and emits a strong-smelling compound. This compound is as characteristic to each dog as a fingerprint, so when a dog sniffs this area, it gets a lot of fascinating information.
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“Uliar” is actually an inappropriate word for a dog’s olfactory superpowers. Compared to ours, the dogs sense of smell is thousands of times more acute. While humans have about five million olfactory receptors in their noses, dogs are said to have about 300 million. Although their brain is smaller than ours, a much larger part of it is used to process smell. Their noses also have what is called Jacobson’s organ. Called the “second nose”, it is located in the nasal cavity near the mouth and is connected to a different part of a dog’s brain than the rest of the nose. This amazing organ plays a role in smell. This allows dogs to detect and interpret specific compounds, including compounds from another dog’s anal sacs.
So when your dog sniffs a butt, it can learn about another dog’s identity, sex, health, mood, diet, whether it’s been met before, and more.
Of course, if you want your dog to focus on something else while you’re sniffing another dog’s butt, you need to work on recall and other exercises that ensure your dog pays attention to you when needed. But in and of itself, butt sniffing is a natural and healthy behavior, and unless your dog is aggressive towards another dog when in greeting mode, he should be allowed to communicate in this way. You can turn up your nose when you sniff your butt, but that’s another amazing ability dogs have, so let your pup sniff. In fact, if people could tell this much about each other with a quick swipe, we’d all get along a little better.
A new way to feed your pet. The Farmer’s Dog delivers fresh, pre-portioned and ready-to-serve pet food straight to your door. Better for them, easier for you. Start today at The Farmer’s Dog. We might laugh when we see dogs sniffing each other’s behinds, but there’s a good reason why dogs poke their noses in private places. This allows them to discover all sorts of things about each other to help them get along and survive. Butt sniffing for dogs is like a handshake for humans.
Ask Shelley …why Don’t Humans Sniff Each Other’s Butts Like Dogs?
Dogs’ amazing sense of smell is 10,000 to 100,000 times better than humans. They also have a special part of their nose called Jacobson’s organ that allows them to ignore the smell of poop when they smell another dog’s rear end. Instead, the organ detects something more important. On the sides of a dog’s anus (AY-nuss), the place where poop comes out, there are special glands that release chemicals that tell the body how to grow and function properly. This is what dogs are most interested in each other’s parts.
Chemicals tell dogs a lot about each other. They help a dog know if another dog is male or female, how old it is, what it’s eating, how healthy it is, and even what kind of mood it’s in. The chemicals also help him to know if other dogs are around. strangers or if they have met before. All of this helps dogs decide how to behave. This is how dogs meet each other for the first time! You may have heard a lot about how dogs have an incredibly keen sense of smell, and it’s true. The average dog’s nose is 10,000 to 100,000 times more sensitive than yours. So how can dogs, with their super sense of smell, become so interested in the backsides of their canine compatriots? Well folks, the answer is more complex and interesting than you think.
When a dog sniffs another dog’s bottom, it actually picks up a lot of information about the other dog: its diet, its gender, its emotional state, and so on. Think of it like talking to chemicals. In fact, this butt-sniffing action is just one of many examples of chemical communication in the animal kingdom.
But what chemicals are packed into Fido’s back, and where do they come from? We spoke with Dr. George Preti of the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. Dr. Preti is currently studying the complexity of human body odors and pheromones. But in 1975 he was at the forefront of dog science. He and his team of researchers investigated the anal secretions of wild dogs and coyotes.
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So on either side of Sparky’s back door is a little smelly pouch called an anal pouch. The glands in this pouch secrete the chemicals that dogs use to recognize each other. The apocrine gland is most responsible for that dog smell, but the sebaceous glands also play a role.
Preti discovered that the primary chemical compounds that produce a dog’s scent are trimethylamine and a series of short-chain acids. As you might expect, anal sac erections have a very strong, strong odor due to the acids inside. But a dog’s genetics, diet and the current state of its immune system can affect this smell through chemical changes in secretions.
You’d think the smell of dog poo would overwhelm the Rover’s sensitive snout. Dogs have a second olfactory system in their hypersensitive nose called Jacobson’s organ. This organ is specifically designed for chemical communication and has its own set of nerves leading directly to the brain, so there is absolutely no interference from other smells. The same organ is used when you see a dog sniffing a fire hydrant or any other place where there is dog pee. When people meet, we shake hands, make eye contact and ask questions to get to know each other. This greeting usually gives us enough information to make some safe guesses about a person’s approximate age, health, and current state of mind. Dogs do the same thing, but in a much cruder way: they get their information by sniffing your butt.
If you have a puppy, you know how unappealing it can be to watch. Fortunately, evolution is on your side! Although dogs can smell 10,000 to 100,000 times better than us mere humans, they have a special super organ, called Jacobson’s organ, in their nasal cavity that prevents the smell of poop and enhances the smell of everything else.
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Okay, so why is a dog’s butt so special? Fair warning: I’m going to do some anatomy on you. Every dog has two anal glands that secrete secretions that, although the puppy’s feces are masked to the human nose, tell a whole story to the dogs that smell it. With a few sniffs, any dog can tell whether another dog is an old acquaintance or a new one, whether it is male or female, and whether it is aggressive or passive.
The next time you see your dog coming for a sniff, make it happen, because cutting it short can leave a dog confused and crazy with curiosity. But (!), keep that dog “hello” for no longer than 3 seconds, because any longer can be a sign of dominant dog behavior and no one wants a playground bully. If you’re not sure how long it should be, think about the length of a handshake. Handshake or back sniffing… aren’t you grateful to be human? Follow these 17 tips to stay on top of pet safety and care.
Also, check out our tips on how to clean your carpet after your pet has had an accident in the video below.
I help people tell stories, whether it’s about themselves, their company or their product. Every project I take on has one priority: to make sure the audience connects with the content. I’ve honed this skill over the past decade creating content for audiences from C-suites to new hires at organizations large and small. I started my career as a generational keynote speaker (think debunking myths about Millennials/Xers/Boomers) and worked my way up to become a director of a consulting firm and a published author.
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