Discovering YOU Magazine January 2018 New Year Issue Special Edition | Page 43

ASK THE EXPERTS WITH CODY

3. Rolling in dead and/or stinky things.

With my dog, I’ve learned that if she’s rolling in it, it’s either dead or it's poop (or maybe even a dead thing’s poop). In an article for Psychology Today, psychologist and dog behavior expert Stanley Coren highlights a number of different theories as to why dogs love to roll in smelly things. The theory he finds most compelling is that dogs roll in stinky stuff to disguise their own scents from prey. An antelope, for example, will run if it smells a predator nearby, but if the predator is covered in the scent of antelope feces or rotting things, the antelope won’t recognize it’s in danger and will stay put. Of course, most dogs these days hardly qualify as predators (unless socks in the laundry room count as prey), but the behavior remains. Coren also makes an unscientific guess about dogs’ love for malodorous things, and suggests that dogs simply like being stinky: for human beings our dominant sense is vision while for dogs it is their sense of smell.

Dogs, like people, enjoy sensory stimulation and may well be prone to seeking such stimulation to an excessive degree. Therefore, I believe that the real reason that canines roll in obnoxious smelling organic manner is simply an expression of the same misbegotten sense of aesthetics that causes human beings to wear overly loud and colorful Hawaiian shirts.

4. Tail wagging.

A dog’s tail is one of its chief tools for communication. We often tend to thing that “wag” equals “happy,” but a wagging tale is actually a complex language of its own: Wagging to the right means a dog is happy, and to the left indicates fear. If dog’s tail is held high, and it wags back and forth, it’s a sign of happiness, but when the tail is wagging while tucked low between the legs, it’s a signal that the dog is frightened or worried. From an evolutionary perspective, tails exist for balance, but over time dogs began to use their tails to communicate. Scientists still aren’t sure how much of tail wagging is instinctive, and how much is learned, or whether tail wagging is involuntary or purposeful. Veterinarians talking to Animal Planet think that it’s probably a mix of both. Veterinarian Lisa Radosta, owner of Florida Veterinary Behavior Service, explained, We can't talk to dogs so we don't know if they think about the tail wag and then do it, or if it just occurs due to the neurochemical effects of a certain state of mind. However, you can watch dogs in a dog park and know that the dogs have an intent when they hold their tail a certain way or wag it a certain way.