Q: What information do dogs get when they sniff each other’s bums? It’s quite disgusting!
A: Sniffing butts is a meet-and-greet on a whole new chemical level. It might be an odd behaviour for us and your friends might not appreciate it when you do this, but it is very natural for dogs, and even cats, to do.
The information that is obtained during the ‘butt-sniffing session’ would be the gender of the dog, reproductive state, health, diet and their emotional state. Yes, they get all that information by sniffing each other’s bum.
The olfactory information received through this session will also dictate whether interaction with the other dog will progress or disengage.
Each dog has an individual pheromone ‘signature’ and dogs can recognise each other from this smell. During the exchange of smelling this personal data, an acute olfactory memory enables a dog to remember specific characteristic smells, even if he hasn’t seen the other dog for years.
Samantha Walpole, behaviourist
