Why does my dog sniff at other peoples crotches, pinch my pants, and roll around in sheep pooh?

Crotch sniffing

Billy Connolly once famously remarked that no book on dog behaviour ever taught him how he could stop his dog from sniffing other people crotches. My reply to this Billy is next time buy a dog with shorter legs.  Dogs live in a scented world. Just as we are surrounded by words that communicate things to us, the smells surrounding dogs are stuffed with important doggy information.  Dogs naturally sniff around each others bottom area since this is where scent is more concentrated and thus, if they can reach, tend to sniff humans there as well. It may be embarrassing to a human since we tend to greet unfamiliar others at the other end of an outstretched arm, as far from the smelly area as possible. For a dog however, it gets all the information it needs right there in one big sniff to the crotch.  If you have to stop your dog from pressing its nose against Auntie Flo’s plaid skirt use a more interesting item to distract the dog. If you make it an issue and punish your dog every time Auntie Flo arrives for tea, your dog may do more than just sniff at her next time around.  

Pant pinching

You may wonder why your dog spends a great deal of time and effort waiting for a chance to grab hold of your pants and run off with them. They are usually not your best pants and it can get quite embarrassing when they are taken out into the garden and displayed in full view of the neighbours. It doesn’t have to be pants; it may be socks, bras, tee-shirts or shoes. It is usually something that you wear intimately that happens to be a handy size that fits readily into the mouth. Vets all over the world spend a great deal of their time retrieving bits of cloth from the inner reaches of a dog’s intestine.  So why do they pinch items of smelly clothing? As usual it could be for a number of reasons. It may be that they get comfort from being close to the strong scent of their owners. For others they may like the taste. For some it may be a great way of getting their owners attention and to make them chase them around the garden. It may seem to your dog that since you have taken great pains to rub your scent all over this item it must be of great importance to you, so they want it.  Therefore, in the future do not leave your dirty laundry lying around on the floor and don’t chase your dog around the garden when it has a pair of your big salmon coloured knickers hanging from the corner of its mouth. Instead turn your back and busy yourself with a bag of nice doggy treats. Since these are now of number one importance your dog will probably drop your knickers and want the treats instead.  Inconspicuously pick up the soggy item of clothing and put it out of reach. You can then give your dog something more appropriate to do after it has sat and waited for it.   

Rolling and eating sheep pooh.

To most owners watching their dog consume vast quantities of sheep pooh and then rolling in it simply turns their stomachs. Of course it doesn’t have to belong to a sheep, it may be deer, horse or even a cow pat. Dogs seem to gravitate towards pooh and devour it like it’s been prepared by Gordon Ramsey and wear it like a Channel suit. It isn’t very nice for us but for some reason dogs like it. There are many theories to why;

It helps their digestive system     

It increases their scent     

It disguises their scent

It helps the dog hunt since it carries the scent of the prey with it.       

It helps them to be sick.

If you do not want your dog to roll in sheep pooh then keep away from fields containing sheep. If you live on a sheep farm try and distract your dog with something more interesting instead. Or just let them get on with it in small doses and be prepared with gloves and a hose.