One of the joys of being a dog owner is boasting about the most revolting item your dog has rolled in. The most foul smelling (to humans) perfumes they favour are fox faeces or rotting birds. There are many suggestions for why dogs roll in smelly things. Wolves will roll in any unusual scent and that other wolves will follow the scent back to its source, supporting the notion that this is a way to bring information back to the pack.
It has also been suggested that perhaps they use these scents in the way humans use perfume. It may be enlightening to look at where dogs like to wear their ‘perfume’. The typical is for the dog to drop a shoulder and try to rub their neck and shoulder in the scent. This suggests that it matters to dogs where they carry this scent as their scent glands are based at the bottom of the neck.
If wild canids such as wolves do it more reliably than domestic dogs, that might hint at it being a residual behaviour from the dogs ancestry that doesn’t serve a very important purpose anymore, but it has persisted in domestic dogs for so long that we must assume it serves them some purpose.
Here at Fetch all of our team carry fox shampoo to ensure that your pooch’s perfume is all gone before you’re home. It’s a good job that your fur friend hasn’t spent lots of money on their perfume. They prefer to use the free samples on offer!