Thursday, May 11, 2017

Eau de Stinky Stuff

Boy was Dad mad!  We were all out for a nice long walk.  We sometimes walk in a very old cemetery because there are no cars and I can walk off leash.   As I said, we were having a very nice walk when all of a sudden Dad started running toward me yelling “No, no, no”.

Geeezzzzz.  You would have thought the world was coming to an end when all I was doing was rolling in some nice fresh poop that I found.  I know that Mom and Dad, like most humans, think poop is yucky but it isn’t to us dogs.  Humans forget that a dog’s nose can smell a zillion times better than a human’s nose.   A human only smells one thing at a time while we smell lots of different things.  And a single pile of poop or rotting something has lots and lots of different smell and we can tell what each one is.

Dogs have been rolling in poop and other stinky stuff since forever ago.  Some humans say it is because our smelling is so good we can tell that some of the yucky stuff was actually food at one time.   That would be very useful for our ancestors to know if there was some kind of food nearby.

The smelling food theory is one that humans thought up to explain why we like to smell yucky stuff but that doesn’t tell them why we roll in it.  Maybe it is because dogs don’t have cell phones so we can’t call our friends and tell them where we have been.  We can’t take photos to share on Facebook either.  Rolling in stinky stuff tells my friends and animals I meet along the way where I have been.  Rolling in the stinky stuff also puts my own scent down and lets anyone who comes along later know I was there too.

If I were hunting for food, rolling in poop or other yucky stuff would mask my real scent so my prey wouldn’t know that I was sneaking up on them.  They would just think it was the yucky stuff they had been smelling all along.  If I were the one being hunted, covering myself with another scent would help me hide better.

DixieLee and I don’t have to take baths like some dogs.  When we’ve been at the groomer to get out nails clipped, I’ve smelled dogs who have just had a bath.  To tell you the truth, I think they are too stinky and I much prefer rotting vegetables to bath stuff.

Humans are always trying to figure out “why” we do things.  Want to know a secret?  Sometimes we do stuff just because it’s fun.

Your stinky friend,
Zeva

P.S.  Blatant self-promotion.  For the bestest pet gift baskets in the universe check out pawpalsboutique.com


3 comments:

  1. Wonderful, Zeva. Jasper hates when I give him a bath. He tries to get the good smell out right after by rolling on the ground. Thank goodness he can't roll in poop....I won't let him do that. I understand more why he wants to. He's on a new shampoo which has helped a bit with his itching. Bet you get a bath after rolling around in that poop. LOL!

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  2. Hee, hee, hee. I don't get a full bath just a scrubbing down with a sponge and lots of water. Since I am mostly white, Mom can see where all the stinky stuff is. Then she makes me stay outside until I get dry. P.S. I hate hair drying thingies more than baths.

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  3. I dry Jasper off as well as I can and then he air dries. Don't have any
    hair dryers.

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