If You’re a Dog, Pee Height and Poop Location Matter
Wolves (and Dogs) are in-your-Face Poopers
Scat locations maximize visual impact and odor distribution, study reveals
Research conducted here found that wolves are very strategic about where they deposit their scat. They select plants that maximize the visual impact and odor distribution of their feces.
Thurs., Feb. 26, 2009
Wolves do not do their business in any old place, but they instead choose locations that maximize visual impact and odor distribution, according to a new study that may also help to explain why dogs frequently relieve themselves on fire hydrants and other prominent urban landscape features.
The study is the first to examine the physical characteristics of substrates that wild wolves choose for what is called “fecal marking,” when an individual’s feces can provide information to others about territory control, identity, mating status, foraging efficiency and more.
While feces odor dispersal via wind appears to be a factor, author Isabel Barja told Discovery News, “The results of the study indicate that in wolves, visual aspects govern the choice of plants for fecal marking.”……..
She also said that canines appear to emphasize height when marking with urine, with dogs “trying to pee as high as they can on fences and other objects in their environment.”
Like a person pumping up their chest and muscles to look big and impressive, highly placed urine could suggest the individual may not be one to reckon with.
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Peterson added, “That’s probably why when little dogs urinate, they often lift their back leg up as high as possible — sometimes looking as though they’re nearly falling over — because they’re trying to pee as high as they possibly can.”