Anal Communications in the Canine Community: Why Do Dogs Sniff Behinds?

Have you ever wondered why your' dog sniffs the backsides of other dogs? Has your' faithful companion ever embarrassed you by sniffing the derriere of your' houseguest? Have you wondered why on earth your' dog would do such a nasty thing? There is a simple, yet complex reason that your' canine exhibits this behavior. First, we have to understand that dogs are pack animals. According to hsiasia.org, it is a long held belief that dogs are cousin to the wolf.

Over the past century, scientific research has proven that dogs developed from several sub-species of wolves scattered across the world. For example, the northern wolf is different from the southern wolf. The northern wolf tends to be more muscular with a much thicker coat to withstand cold temperatures. The southern wolf tends to be leaner with a shorter coat to contend with the heat. Wolf species differ world wide. When two separate species mate, the offspring become a sub-species of wolf.

The wolf, Canis lupus, through breeding and genetic mutation is believed to have changed shape, size and color through the breeding of these sub-species to become what we know as Canis lupus familiaris, or the dog.

Our dogs are more like their' cousins than many of us realize. The Natural History Museum claims that dogs have around forty-four times more olfactory (smell) receptors than humans. A dog has two hundred twenty million olfactory receptors compared to the five million olfactory receptors in humans. The reason for this? Communication.

Scientists, in association with peteducation.com have been studying the specific effects of pheromones in dogs. Pheromones are secreted in urine, feces and saliva and seem to induce specific emotional and behavioral reactions in dogs such as aggression, fear, avoidance and sexual behaviors. A dogs' sense of smell is, for all intensive purposes, his communications center. One study found that male dogs can smell the ovulation of a female dog up to one and a half miles away!

Not only is the sense of smell used for communication, it is used for identification. A dogs' sense of smell enables him to locate and identify pack members, enemies and prey, as well as, successfully perform the tasks that human noses can not.

Dogs have been very successfully trained to sniff out early cancerous growths, saving a growing number of patients. They have been trained to sniff out cadavers, disaster survivors, illegal agriculture products, drugs, explosives and much more.

How can they do all of this? Dogs have an additional olfactory chamber called the vomeronasal organ, also known as, the Jacobson's organ. This organ, which is located above the roof of the mouth, has a pair of long, fluid filled sacs that open into the mouth and nose.

Sniffing is not a normal part of breathing. In fact, sniffing disrupts normal breathing. When a dog sniffs, he is forcing air into the olfactory epithelium. From there the air goes into a nasal pocket, created by a bony shelf within the nose that permits odor molecules to accumulate and interact with olfactory receptors. This accumulation serves to concentrate the scent which causes nerve impulses that are then sent to the dogs' olfactory lobe in the brain. All helping him to recognize even the faintest scent.

It could be said that a dogs' sense of smell is equal to a human's sense of sight and smell combined. Have you ever gotten annoyed when your' dog sniffs you all over when you come in from outside? The scents that you bring in with you, whether on your' clothing, hands or shoes, tell him who you are, where you have been, who you have been with, if you have pet another animal, what you have eaten and remarkably, if you are ill. Just as it would in a pack and just as it does in the dog park when greeting another dog.

So the next time your' dog sticks his nose in a place that no decent human being would ever consider sticking their' nose, just remember that his nose tells him all about the world around him.