when i take my dog for a walk it takes such along time cause we have to keep stopping at lamp posts & also big piles of poo from other dogs!...does anyone know why?
2006-09-15 04:53:44 · 34 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Dogs
It's kind of like reading the gossip column...they can tell a lot about the dogs that have left the droppings: size, health, whether or not it's a female in season, dominance factor (full male or neuter) etc. and this helps them sort out their place in the local hierarchy. You will see that your dog stops and widdles a little wherever he stops to sniff, even a few drops, it's like teenagers with spraypaint, leaving their mark wherever they go. It's a way to say "I was here and I'm cool."
2006-09-15 05:42:31 · answer #1 · answered by anna 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are effectively checking out the other dogs by their "calling cards". Dogs don't have the same taboos about waste as us - they are not repulsed by the smell - rather, interested in what it tells them. When male dogs keep urinating on walks - they are partially doing it to mark the trail (so they can find their way back)(and also so they can let others know they have been there). It's like the poo and the pee are signals to other dogs.
2006-09-15 04:59:42 · answer #2 · answered by big pup in a small bath 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
dogs sniff pee and poo to see who's been around. it's a simple thing that they do, and your dog does it because it can. clearly, you are not the dominant dog in your household, your dog is. your dog tells you where to go, and at what pace, etc. because your dog is the pack leader. if you don't care, fine. quit complaining about stopping every two seconds. if you do care, YOU decide where your going and IF youre going to stop and WHERE. i hope you don't have a big dog if this is the case. you're asking for trouble.
2006-09-15 05:02:41 · answer #3 · answered by desidoo 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, the short answer is: "because (s)he's a dog..."
Dogs noses are hundreds (even thousands) of times more sensitive than ours. They get a huge amount of information through their noses that we can't even conceive of. Sniffing poo and urine lets them know who's been there, how healthy (prosperous) they are, where they most likely came from, their availability status for mating, etc...
Basically it is the same sort of information you get with your eyes from looking at "myspace".
2006-09-15 05:00:04 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think its to get the scent from other dogs. I always steer my dog away from piles of poo and lamp posts as they could contain infections. But when she smells wee on the grass, she immediately wees on it and I think that to cover the other dogs wee and make that patch of grass hers.
2006-09-15 21:04:20 · answer #5 · answered by Rob 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's called animal instinct. Dogs mark there territory by doing that - it's just something that comes naturally to them. Another reason could be that they are also ensuring that they are not ill in some way by smelling their faeces or unrine for any "odd" sort of smell.
2006-09-15 04:56:43 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's how they know what other dogs are in the area. Animals like dogs are very territorial, and their sense of smell is keen enough that, my smelling the urine, they can tell whose it is. Dogs use their urine to "mark" their territory and warn competing animals away.
2006-09-15 05:01:55 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because a dogs world revolves around scent, they have a far superior sense of smell than we do. They are also territorial and smell is a way of 'reading' other dogs.
2006-09-15 04:56:08 · answer #8 · answered by horsegal 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it is their way on investigating who the other dog is. My mom's dog actually eats poo out of the cats' litterbox!
2006-09-15 05:00:51 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you don't know the answer to this question I really don't think you're the right person to own an animal!!
You do know you have to feed and water it, as well as take it for walks don't you??
2006-09-15 05:03:21 · answer #10 · answered by Sweetcakes 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋