Poop Roll

Today at the end of our morning walk Azuki stopped to smell some rocks, and the next thing I knew, she was rolling happilly on them. I didn't really think much of it at first, since I thought perhaps she had an itch on her neck and rolling on rocks helped to relieve her itch. But then, as her enthusiasm grew, I started to become suspicious. As you know, our pup is always up to no good, and for example when she is off in the bedroom by herself making absolutely no noise, it usually means that she rummaged our laundry basket and is chomping on either Matt's work socks or my underwear.

So I bend over to take a look just what she is rubbing herself on. And to my horror, it was dog poop.

Apparently, our dog has entered the feces-loving phase of her life.

As we entered the elevator to go back to our apartment, I almost fainted from a pungent smell of dog poop. I looked around, expecting to see that perhaps our neighbor's dog had left some unsavory present in the elevator, but found nothing. As the pup trots happily back to our door, and I pick her up...I realized that.....AZUKI SMELLED LIKE SHIT.

No, really. She reaked of dog doo. That poop roll she performed just a few minutes ago had somehow permeated all of her fur, entangled itself in those poodle curls, and seaped into webs of her collar, and made her into a furry, walking, stinky, DOG DUNG. Thinking that perhaps my nose was playing tricks on me, I asked Matt to smell her when we first walked into the door and me holding her high up in the air she doesn't contaminate our floors, and her pa, as much he loves that little hampster, just about fell backwards and let out a audible, "auuuughhhhh"

We wiped her down with doggie wipes real good, although the smell still wouldn't go away. So later, after lunch (while she was safely confined in her cage so as to not stink up the room), Matt gave her a good bath--and shampooed her twice to get all that smell out. I also washed her collar in soap, although all the smell still would not get out.

Curious as to why our dog would perform such a gross act, I did some research online and found that this is actually a relatively common behavior. Here are some answers from animal experts:

One expert said:

"Rolling in feces, though, is really very common. Possibly a dog’s ancient instinct to mask his scent, which would then enable the animal to sneak up on their prey without detection."

Another said:
" There is one theory that rolling in rotten and rotting smells is an ancient instinct, a way to bring a message back to fellow pack members of, "Look what I found!" And can you just imagine a bunch of wolve-dogs throwing their arms up in joy--BUFFALO DUNG! YIIIPPEEEEE!

I think for Azuki, it is quite obvious that her hunting instincts are confined to only running after us and biting our ankles, and ripping her toys around. Therefore, I think the more likely explaination is the not-so-scientific one: -that she simply likes to roll in dog doo doo.

"Of course, there's always the possibility that some dogs may simply enjoy rolling around in carrion, the way we enjoy a scented bubble bath."

Perhaps the next ridiculous pet product should be perfume for dogs--made of animal poop.