Why Do Dogs Always Sniff Each Other's Butts?
Why Do Dogs Always Sniff Each Other's Butts? Here's how it started. A few days ago I was out walking my Labrador when we ran smack into a Golden Retriever coming the other way. I braced for a barking contest. Instead, the two dogs circled each other once, and then — very naturally, very matter-of-factly — each one buried its nose in the other's rear end. I just stood there, holding the leash, watching these two dogs go face-first into each other's backsides, and I genuinely did not know what to do with myself. And then I started wondering: why, though? You've definitely seen this before. You probably never thought much of it — dogs just do that, right? No big deal. But think about it for a second. When humans meet, we shake hands, hug, make eye contact, exchange pleasantries. When dogs meet, their first instinct is to go straight for the most "private" part of each other's anatomy. If you actually sit with that for a moment, there's a lot ...