Most humans generally prefer floral, fresh, sweet and lighter fragrances. Dogs on the other hand are the complete opposite, the more horrid the smell (in our minds!) the more likely your dog wants to be smothered in it. This reminds us of Monsters Inc in this instance. Remember Mike Wazowski asking Sully for some deodorant? Sully offers him a variety of ‘tantalizing’ options such as wet dog, sludge or garbage! Definitely belch worthy. Now in dog world… dogs pretty much prefer to smell like those deodorants from Monsters Inc. Dogs consider these aromas the best cologne or perfume they have to offer! Yum yum!
Is there any way to deter your dog from continuing to make-your-eyes-tear-up smell? We generally recommend keeping your dog on a tight leash whenever going for a walk to prevent them from ending up in some other animal’s feces. Although this doesn’t help if your dog also has a large backyard to wallow in! It could be possible to associate rolling in filth to a bad experience for your dog. Whenever your dog starts getting into the roll about mood, make a loud noise that frightens/annoys them. Keep on performing this noise if they ever get the urge. You may notice your dogs frequency of rolling about diminish.
Then again, it is in a dogs nature to roll around in muck and pick up an array of ‘wonderful’ smelling odours as a result. It is quite difficult to stop them from doing something they find completely natural! If you do have any suggestions/comments on how best to cope with your dogs preference to roll about in filth, feel free to comment or email us here at the veterinary clinic! We would love to hear them.