Cottage Q&A
QUESTIONDoes anybody know why my German shepherd insists on rolling around in dead fish?
ANSWER
All canids, the mammal family that includes dogs, wolves, foxes, and coyotes, share a fondness for powerful odours - including some that render them temporarily unfit for polite human company. "It seems to be a way of masking their own scent, though we're not entirely sure what purpose it serves," says Mark Engstrom, curator of mammals at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. "It could be defensive, but it's more likely to be predatory. If a deer catches the scent of dead fish instead of the scent of wolf, it might be less likely to run away. Or it could be a form of advertising. If you smell different you'll attract the attention of others. They'll come check you out."
Claire Duder, a veterinarian at the Centennial Animal Hospital in Bracebridge, Ont., suggests the answer could be even simpler: To a dog these things smell not bad, but good. If you watch dogs closely you'll see their behaviour is quite ritualized, she points out. Whatever the tempting mess might be, they always sniff it delicately first, then drop a shoulder into it before getting down for a good comfortable roll. "I'd say it's the doggy equivalent of a visit to the perfume counter - first a sniff, then a dab on the wrist, then a little bit behind the ears," she says.
Duder gets plenty of opportunity to observe her own dogs' aroma rituals. Emma, a Labrador retriever, goes in for bear poo, while Robin, a border terrier, favours a good mess of worms. "Stella, the mastiff, doesn't seem to have a preference, unless it's rotting vegetation," Duder says. "Nonetheless, she seems to smell bad a lot more often than the others do."
* Published in the April/May 2002 issue of Cottage Life
