Oh Hey!

If you are a pup parent, you’ve likely noticed that your furry friend will sniff other dog’s butts. As a human, you probably view this behavior as rude and have told your pooch to knock it off. 

Before you send Fido to etiquette classes, you should know that there is an important reason that pups smell each other’s behinds. According to VCA Animal Hospital, your dog is simply trying to gauge the appropriate way to interact with a new pup.

Essentially, dogs will use their superior sense of smell to figure out if they have a potential new playmate. Not only do “dog noses contain 150 million olfactory receptors,” they have something “called Jacobson’s organ,” which “communicates with the part of the brain that deals with mating.”

Simply put, unlike us humans, dogs can figure out a ton of details, like sex, emotional state, overall health, and diet, just by sniffing another pup’s backside. 

Now you may be asking why they specifically need to smell each other’s bum. After all, there are much more pleasant places to sniff. 

The VCA Animal Hospital reported that “aroma emanating from the anal region is a unique form of canine identification.”

You may also have noticed that your dog insists on being the one to get in the first sniff? Well, that’s because she views herself as the dominant dog! 

Do you have any other strange dog questions that you would like us to answer? Let us know in the comments below!