Category Ask the Psychologist

When you try to stop Spot from shoveling away the soil in the backyard, you’re waging a battle against instincts inherited from his wolf ancestors. Dogs dig holes for several reasons including:

To cool off: Freshly dug dirt makes a great escape from the heat on summer days.

To bury themselves: Just like wolves that bury food for survival, dogs feel an instinctive urge to hide precious items – such as bones and chew toys – for later retrieval.

To have fun: Some dog breeds (especially terriers and others bred to hunt burrowing rodents) just enjoy digging.

To keep themselves occupied: Certain dogs suffer separation anxiety when they’re left alone all day. Digging gives them something to do.

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Veterinarians think dogs secrete a thin layer of snot or just lick their noses – to keep them wet, which may help them detect the direction of interesting odors. Dogs with warm, dry noses are just as healthy as those with cold, wet ones.

Dogs are covered in hair and cannot sweat through their skin like people do. Instead, dogs dissipate heat through panting and by evaporation of moisture through their noses & paws. They have special glands inside the nose that secrete a watery fluid to keep the inside of the nose moist and to help keep the dog cool.

A warm nose does not always indicate a fever. The body temperature of your dog can only be determined with an actual thermometer. A warm and dry nose is common in healthy dogs after sleeping. Dry, chapped noses are common in older dogs and in some breeds like Bulldogs or Pugs.  Playing outside or sitting near a heat source can also cause a warm, dry nose.

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When a dog pants, she’s turning on the air-conditioning. Painting sucks in and circulates air to cool her body. Unlike their human best friends, dogs don’t sweat through their skin. They do it through the pads of their paws, but not enough to cool off on a hot afternoon (you’d feel the same way if you played fetch in a fur coat).

Most of us pant from time to time as we run, climb stairs, or otherwise exert ourselves. While dogs may pant while they exercise, though, they do it for different reasons. What’s more, no matter how fast they may pant, dogs won’t experience the dizziness of hyperventilation.

Panting as a cooling mechanism is necessary because dogs do not have an effective system of sweat glands like people do. Instead, dogs cool their bodies using the evaporation of moisture from the mouth and tongue, and by exchanging the hot air of their lungs with cooler external air.

When the outside air temperature is the same or higher than the puppy’s normal body temperature of 102 degrees, panting won’t effectively cool off the puppy and can lead to heat stroke. Hot puppies may also resort to digging to scoop out cool places to rest.

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Fallen leaves, cow plops, roadkill – all sorts of repulsive piles seem like paradise to your pooch, who has a nasty habit of rolling in fifth the instant he or she gets outside (usually right after a bath). But remember, a dog’s nose is a hundred times more sensitive than a human’s. What smells sweet to us – such as dog shampoo – might seem just plain awful to your dog, so he or she will roll in something smelly to overpower the shampoo odor. Some experts believe dogs instinctively roll in poop or dead critters to cover their scent or share these foul finds with pack members. In this case, unfortunately, you’re part of your dog’s pack!

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Spot’s sense of smell is a hundred times more sensitive than yours, and he lives in a world where odor is information. Glands on a dog’s backside transmit all sorts of info about his or her identity, including age, sex, social status, and much more. So when dogs sniff each other’s stinky parts, they’re really just saying hello.

If both dogs are healthy, well-socialized, and supervised, it’s actually a good idea to let them “sniff it out” as much as they want (provided each dog is tolerating it well). Dogs may actually be less likely to fight if they take an adequate amount of “getting-to-sniff-you” time with one another. However, some dogs may get intense with the sniffing while other dogs need their personal space.

Watch the behavior and body language of all dogs. If one dog is overdoing it and the other dog seems annoyed or stresses, then the owners should call their dogs away. Also, it’s ideal to let dogs meet and play in pairs. Dogs are more likely to get overexcited in groups, which can lead to fights. 

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They say old habits die hard – and this particular one goes back to Fido’s ancestors. Wolves and wild dogs turn in circles to tamp down the grass and drive out bugs before dropping for a nap. Your pup inherited that same behavior as instinct, whether he or she is settling down in the backyard or on the bed’s comforter.

Dogs in the wild often dig out their own resting spots. Once they’re satisfied with their work, they may examine it several times over by walking around it in circles. If your pooch circles his bedding site before retiring for a nap or for the night, he’s essentially just checking his digging work and making sure that he has a cozy and safe place to sleep — canine style. Dogs also often circle around as a way of driving out any pesky bugs that may be lingering in their sleeping spots.

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