Dogs love to smell of people and conspecifics on the buttocks. But why do they do that? To understand this, we have to deal with the sense of smell and the social behavior of dogs.
People and dogs often have different ideas about what is polite and what is not. For dogs, it is a good thing to smell each other on the buttocks, and that’s why they do it with us two-legged. As a person, however, one feels it as unpleasant and is embarrassed when suddenly a cold dog’s nose ends up in the genital area. What is behind this behavior?
Social behavior: why dogs smell each other’s buttocks
Basically, the mutual Poposchnüffeln in dogs can be compared with a greeting. While people give each other a hand or a peck and ask how the other is, dogs just smell the butt. Dogs do not have the opportunity to ask their conspecifics how they feel. They communicate little about sounds, but much about body language and smells. The olfactory sense of our cold-blooded is ten thousand times, if not a hundred thousand times finer than the human nose.
About so-called pheromones, fragrances, which emanate in dogs mainly from the anal glands on the backside, learn the four-legged essential information about their conspecifics. Not only their sensitive nose but also the so-called Jacobson organ or vomeronasal organ helps them. It specializes in perceiving pheromones. Dogs can smell which gender their counterpart has and how it is ordered to mate. In addition, they sniff information about the health and nutrition of the other animal. The mood and the emotional state of the snooped can also be “read” for dogs on the pheromones, which emanates from his bottom.
Why do dogs sniff people on the butt and in the genital area?
Dogs can, to a certain extent, understand and adapt to human communication. But they still remain dogs, with instinctive dog-like behavior. So if they smell people in the buttocks or in the genital area, that means that they would like to get to know this person. So, in these body parts, we smell the most intense. Especially when people emit complex odors, many dogs simply can not resist. Their curiosity, in this case, defeats all the rules of behavior that they have learned as part of their education.
As with four-legged friends, there are also moments in our lives, in which we send more diverse fragrances than usual. For example, if women ovulate or have their menstrual bleeding, it smells very exciting for dogs. Even pregnant women and women shortly after delivery emit a special smell, which the fur noses can perceive. The same applies to people who have recently had sex, or do not take it too seriously with intimate hygiene.
Dog’s nose helps agriculture
Dogs’ ability to mate with pheromones in the intimate areas of mammals helps farmers to mate. American researchers found that dogs can crawl ovum with great reliability. They trained several Australian Shepherds to let them know when the cows are fertile. This makes it easier for farmers to raise cattle.
How to stop your dog from snooping at the step of strangers
Unfortunately, many people still find it unpleasant when dogs sniff their buttocks or their genitals. Therefore, it may be useful to prevent your four-legged friends, at least rudely, to smell strangers in the genital area. If your dog is a passionate pop snoop, you will have no choice but to put him on a leash when visiting, or when you meet strangers on the way.
At the same time, you can improve his obedience with obedience training. When visiting, give your dog the command “seat” or “seat” until your guests arrive. During the walk, you can teach him the command “foot” so that he will not greet strangers without your permission.