In the dogbox over rolling

This habit is usually not persistent but is highly offensive and obviously more readily detectable where pet owners prefer to accommodate their dogs indoors. There are many theories among ethologists and researchers but nothing definitive has emerged.

One has to understand normal canine behaviour patterns before judging them as abnormal. The latter can only be abnormal and unacceptable for humans.

Rolling is normal dog behaviour. Relishing putrid odours is also shown high preference by most dogs. Combining the two is harmless and exciting for dogs but not for people with sensitive stomachs.

Rolling is instinctive, normal behaviour which allows the dog to massage itself thereby obtaining relief over the fairly sensitive dorsal aspects of its torso. It allows the removal of loose hairs or some undercoat and the deposition of pheromones – and can be disturbingly visual when carried out on soft sandy soil. Rolling in faeces is classified normal behaviour under certain circumstances. Hyenas have been observed rolling in fresh or rotting carcasses.

Rolling in faeces, cow dung or compost is often encountered with dogs that have just been bathed in a lingering aromatic pet shampoo which has washed off the dog’s superficial olfactory identity. Once stripped of their natural body chemistry, they need to immediately regain some form of social recognition and become more apparent by obtaining necessary odour for this purpose. There is no better way than to roll in faeces, which contains an enormous amount of information for the rest of the curious pack members.

Scent-rolling in a carcass may be a means of depositing one’s scent as a form of ownership or retention of the faeces or carcass odours may represent a trophy of great value for presentation to other pack members. The putrid odours may reflect as a status symbol, as dogs will congregate around a smelly dog and show a focussed, deep curiosity towards the origins of this new identity. Maggots in a carcass are a plus for the scent-roller, perhaps a value-added commodity in canine socio-economics.

The drive to scent-roll is almost as powerful as the sexual motivation, which leads to the theory that neurochemical stimulation plays a major role in this behaviour. It is not possible to imagine that dogs do not enjoy themselves when they are rolling in slime. They would not do it otherwise. They would not do it with such precision and determination if they were doing it under duress. If you observe closely you will notice that their eyes glaze, their mouths droop to enhance the uptake of odours in their vomero-nasal organ receptors in their palate, they grind themselves on their backs then they get up and trot home with a posture of achievement and confidence.

v Read more on this topic next week.