Rolling in stinky things

Why do dogs roll in stinky smelly dead things?  Why is it that dogs almost always find something to roll in right after a nice bath?  Why does it rain right after I wash my car?  Do you ever ponder these questions?  If so, you are at the right place to find the answers to the first two questions.  

Izzy found a dead snake and a dead turtle after I cut the grass.  I didn’t purposefully run over the turtle.  Just kidding–the grass was so high I couldn’t see either one of them and snakes get rid of mice!  

After getting Izzy cleaned up I rushed over to the UGA library to find the answer to my questions.  Actually, I searched the internet but it sounds so much more impressive that I went to the library to do some research.  

One thought is that dogs actually like the smell of dead things.  Just like those 7th grade boys I taught liked to drench themselves in AXE body spray after P.E. dogs like to roll in smelly things.  Perhaps they think it makes them more attractive.  Dogs have 300 million olfactory receptors in their noses.  Humans have about 6 million.  Dogs also have a second olfactory system sometimes called Jacobson’s Organ.  It’s entirely possible that our receptors prefer different scents.  There is a great article about a dog’s sense of smell at this PBS site. 

Another theory as to why dogs roll in rotten carcasses and other things that humans cannot bear to smell is that the odor acts to conceal themselves from predators.  I would think that the smell would warn other animals of the dog’s presence.  Many scientists believe that this is a holdover their wolf ancestors that a wolf avoid detection by hiding its natural scent.  

Others believe that dogs use the scents as a way communicating information.  The dog could be trying to say “Hey look  at this dead thing I found over here!” or “Hey, this is my carcass to enjoy, keep your paws off!”  

The way Izzy was strutting around holding the snake in her mouth and then dropping it to roll around on top of it leads me to believe the last theory I suggested.  I managed to get it away from her with a stick and toss it on the roof of our shed so that she couldn’t get it again.  It was gone when I went back later so I guess some birds took it.  Maybe those perched high on the tree above the shed int he picture below got a free meal.  

Izzy found something much more suitable than a snake after her bath.  

I will keep looking for reason why it rains on car wash day…

Joy