Why Do Dogs Scratch The Ground After Relieving Themselves

All caregivers brag about the unusual behaviors their pets often engage in.

Although some of these behaviors are strongly linked to their instincts, on many occasions we do not know why they do it, so, to clear up your doubts, we will tell you why dogs scratch the ground after relieving themselves.

As is popularly known, dogs have a curious ritual after relieving themselves, which consists of scratching the ground, whether they do it on the earth, cement, tile, etc. However, few have stopped to think why they do it.

Let’s review some of these ideas further.

They try to cover their excrement

Covering droppings is an activity generally associated with cats and thought from a hygiene perspective. However, neither one nor the other is true.

There are many species that dump dirt on their droppings or urine, including felines, canines, and even rodents.

However, this activity is not related to hygiene   and, at least in the case of dogs, responds more to a communicative need.

By scratching the ground where they have urinated, they  are spreading their scent to leave olfactory messages to other dogs. Precisely for this reason, it is not by chance that other dogs come to the same area to deposit their own information as well.

Where do the messages come from?

As in the case of cats, dogs have glands on the anus (called anal glands), which are responsible for generating an oil that contains different kinds of information about the dog through pheromones, such as its state of health, its sex and the reproductive moment in which it is (this is especially important in the case of the females).

The communication system of dogs is strongly linked to the production of pheromones. If we take into account that smell is the most powerful sense they have, it can be said that dogs transform smells into information, which explains another of their particular behaviors, sniffing their butts.

However, this theory has a contradiction, and can be identified by anyone who has had continuous contact with a dog.

While it is a fact that dogs leave olfactory messages through their anal glands, it is also true that it is not common for them to come into contact with their own feces. In fact, what most dogs will do is avoid contact with their droppings at all costs.

Thus, scratching to increase the range in which they leave their information appears not to be a probable cause. However, observing the behavior of their distant relatives, the wolves, several conclusions can be drawn.

Wolves, like dogs, scratch the places where they relieve themselves, although in the case of wolves they speak from two positions:

• The first position has to do with the need to leave visual marks on other animals in support of olfactory information. Basically, through visual marking, wolves tell others not only of their presence and reproductive cycle, but also of their size and strength.

• The second pose also involves the wolf’s glands, but this time it’s not the anal glands, but rather a series of glands found on the legs that also transmit information. This makes a lot of sense if we take into account that one of the areas where dogs sweat the most is on their legs.

So you already know. It is not bad to ask yourself things although the answer may seem obvious, because in many cases it may surprise us.

Image courtesy of Javi.