Dog rolling in strong scents

frash

4 year old Golden Retriever

Loves being off the lead & we're lucky enough to live in an area where she can do that a lot.

The odd time she used to roll in fox poo if she found it - seemingly liking to acquire the scent or something. At such times we'd bring her down to the sea for a swim to get rid of it.

Lately she's rolling in more & more stuff.
Found her rolling on a dead rat recently & another time it was a discarded dead fish.

Anyone know why she's doing this & also is there any way to discourage it (other than not letting her off the lead).

tk123

My girl used to be terrible for it. I used to put a tshirt/coat on her to make cleanup easier (she'd often do it before I had to go to work) and interrupted her when she did it. I also only wash her in scentless shampoo when I do have to wash her. They say that they're doing it to mask their own scent.

em_cat

frash wrote: »

4 year old Golden Retriever

Loves being off the lead & we're lucky enough to live in an area where she can do that a lot.

The odd time she used to roll in fox poo if she found it - seemingly liking to acquire the scent or something. At such times we'd bring her down to the sea for a swim to get rid of it.

Lately she's rolling in more & more stuff.
Found her rolling on a dead rat recently & another time it was a discarded dead fish.

Anyone know why she's doing this & also is there any way to discourage it (other than not letting her off the lead).

All dogs asfaik are fond of doing so, so much that many shampoo brands market specific Fox poo removing shampoo. It probably goes back to masking their scent to ward off other competition.

She could just think it’s the best thing since sliced bread:)

Also can be a sign of a medical issue if it’s out of the blue behaviour, so may warrant a vet visit.

frash

em_cat wrote: »

Also can be a sign of a medical issue if it’s out of the blue behaviour, so may warrant a vet visit.

It's not out of the blue - I think she's just gotten better at finding manky things to roll in

em_cat

frash wrote: »

It's not out of the blue - I think she's just gotten better at finding manky things to roll in

That’s good. We had a Shih Tzu that loved to roll in dirty nappies... once went on a long walk in Wicklow & she found one, unbeknownst to us & my god the stink was unreal.

I’d say tk123 has the best solution though.

holly_johnson

I think this is just a case of “dogs will be dogs’ to be honest. My little fella goes mad when we bring him down to Wexford rolling in god knows what! it’s been horse poo, Fox poo, unidentifiable poo. You just can’t stop him when he gets the “urge”. I chalk it down to being one of the joys of dog ownership. He has fun, then he repents when he gets a bath. I can’t be mad at him for doing so. Bless. His little cheeky face when he comes trotting back smelling like a sewer - he thinks he’s deadly but then I’m putting him in the shower & he’s looking at me like I’m beating the living dayights out of him. Aww.

tk123

Lucy was rolling in human poo at times :eek: we had to stop walking in one spot because it was just disgusting having to wash it off and the same in the mornings before work... So something had to be done. Her favourite part of our walk on a Saturday is rolling in the wood chip pile in the park which makes her smell like a pine air freshener so win win

jimf

jesus its bad when they eat it

but awful when they decide to wear it as the latest doggie fashion

my old springer jessie used to love retrieving a bone she had buried about 2 months previous oh my god the stench

aonb

This is instinctual behaviour. Supposedly Dogs ancestors would roll in something revolting/strong smelling so mask their own smell when hunting. The other theory is that they roll in stinky smells to 'tell' the pack what they've found/source of food in their territory. Then again, some say that dogs just ADORE smelly smells (with their super sensory receptors). In any case I dont think this is something you can stop/prevent - your only hope is to keep her on leash, or stop waliking where there are smelly things to roll in, or else train her to come when called instantly - assuming you can see her rolling quickly enough ...

Sheepdish1

aonb wrote: »

This is instinctual behaviour. Supposedly Dogs ancestors would roll in something revolting/strong smelling so mask their own smell when hunting. The other theory is that they roll in stinky smells to 'tell' the pack what they've found/source of food in their territory. Then again, some say that dogs just ADORE smelly smells (with their super sensory receptors). In any case I dont think this is something you can stop/prevent - your only hope is to keep her on leash, or stop waliking where there are smelly things to roll in, or else train her to come when called instantly - assuming you can see her rolling quickly enough ...

Exactly this, I read it’s an evolution “hangover”

Sleeper12

Our two dogs do the same thing.

I've been told it's to hide their own scent. A throwback to the days dogs hunted. Makes it easier to sneak up on prey Can't say if it's true but it's what I was told

SmartinMartin

It's to mask their own scent for hunting. They do it instinctively. Springers/retrievers are very prone to it. My Welsh and English do it, but funnily enough my colly copies them.

TheChizler

My partner's family dog rolls on my face when I lie down in exactly the same way as when he's found something smelly on a walk, not sure what it says about me...

SmartinMartin

Your partner's family think you stink.

Dakotabigone

Why would you walk your dog into human excrement?

Rubberchikken

ours does this too. absolutely loves it. hates the shower when she gets home though. face on her is priceless:)

tk123

Dakotabigone wrote: »

Why would you walk your dog into human excrement?

Well unfortunately people like to poo in the dunes and my dog is great at finding it... hence we don’t walk there anymore...

kylith

tk123 wrote: »

Well unfortunately people like to poo in the dunes and my dog is great at finding it... hence we don’t walk there anymore...

Same along the canal around here. I couldn't walk under bridges without my old terrier trying to eat it

volchitsa

SmartinMartin wrote: »

Your partner's family think you stink.

And have said so in front of the dog!

curiousb

Our lab/pointer does the same, but now I can usually spot when she is just about to drop and roll and I shout 'stop' and she will usually look at me and pee on it instead!

Segotias

My 2 are the same, seems to just be an instinct thing...the smellier the better. Covering the smelly parts in ketchup before washing helps get rid of the smell, then shampoo

JulesInKy

I don't know about evolutionary leftovers, masking, hunting, marking or anything like that. I think my two reckon they smell like they're wearing the doggy version of Hugo Boss aftershave when they roll in it judging by the grins on their faces when they trot up to me, with an almost visible cloud of smell hanging over them. Sometimes I have no clue what it is they've been dousing themselves in - don't think I even WANT to know!

My go-to for getting rid of the smell is Vetscrub. Bad smells are usually caused by bacteria, so the scrub helps with that too. We need to post photos of them getting their showers post- canine aromatherapy

beveragelady

My chap went quiet for a while once and when I went to look for him I discovered that he had made a little slide out of a cowpat. He had smeared it down a slope for a good ten feet and was having a brilliant time gliding down his little poo-slide and then galloping back to the top to do it again. He looked so happy and he was already completely coated in cowdung so I let him play away until he was exhausted. It's much easier to wash an exhausted collie.

twignme

I have two dogs and one, the collie cross doesn't roll and the other, a retriever setter cross does whenever he gets the opportunity. The problem is that I drive 8km each way to where we walk, so I am confined in the small space of the car with the eye watering scent of fox poo all the way home. I always have a bucket available at the back door that I fill with warm water and a dab of anti-fox poo shampoo to clean the affected parts with a soft sponge. It's always the same area, on his back and shoulders. He gets the double pleasure of the rolling and then the TLC of a warm scrub and a rub dry so he's happy out!

dudara

We’ve got badger sets on our land and the dogs love to roll in the badger dung. It literally makes your eyes water. Silage effluent can be another favourite. All you can do is rinse them down and hope that they’re satisfied for a while before doing it again.

tk123

Lucy in her element this morning on her wood chips. She'll roll all the way down to the bottom and the same with a hill around the corner.. does anyone else dog do that? She often draws a crowd

mymo

One of mine rubs himself in the lavender bushes (which is lovely), but mostly it's fox or otter poo
Ketchup by the shower, more than one visitor has asked why there's a bottle on ketchup in the shower

volchitsa

Ketchup? Never heard that one before, I'm intrigued!

mymo

volchitsa wrote: »

Ketchup? Never heard that one before, I'm intrigued!

Rub in the ketchup on poo, rinse, shampoo as normal, ketchup breaks down the smellies and saves 3 shampoo and rinses. Cheaper ketchup brands work best, although my mostly white or cream dogs do look faintly pink on occasion, doesn't show up on the brown one ðŸ˜

frash

OP here.

My niece took her out for a walk last night and OMG the smell off her when she brought her back.
I've no idea what she rolled in but it stank!

I've hot & cold outside taps & a DIY mixer tap thing that I can connect to the hose so washed her down & then did the ketchup trick first and it's great for getting the smell gone & saves on the shampoo.

I was hoping someone would say it was a phase or that their dogs stopped doing it when they got older.
Hopefully she's delighted to be clean today & it'll last a while but I doubt it!

kylith

frash wrote: »

Hopefully she's delighted to be clean today & it'll last a while but I doubt it!

More likely to be pissed off at you for washing off her lovely stench :D