Why Does My Dog Scratch the Ground After Going to the Bathroom?
Dog-behaviour expert Dr. Ian Dunbar explains just what motivates our canine friends to perform some of their more perplexing actions
|
Photographs by Illustrations by Jess Golden
There are actually a number of animals that do that. Bears will scratch the tree trunks with their claws to leave a visual and olfactory marker that they peed or pooped. I was actually watching my dog, Dune, do this yesterday. He left six-foot-long scratches on the ground probably 8 feet into the street. What they’re leaving is a very long visual marker, plus an olfactory one. Scratching leaves the scent from their paws and by scratching the dirt, it leaves a very fresh odour and a line, kind of like an arrow: follow this line of scratched dirt and at the end of it, yes, urine.
MD Daily
Most Wanted
Dog Culture
Photo Contest
Sign up for our fun, free emails about cool dog stuff!












Add a comment