Scent Rolling: Why Do Dogs Like to Roll in Stinky Scents?

The day is perfect.  You and your pup are walking peacefully along the beach and she suddenly runs up ahead.  You can see her sniffing something…..and then she’s rolling in the sand like there’s no tomorrow.  When you catch up, you see that she’s rolling on a dead fish, or eel, or something that was once swimming happily in the ocean (and by the smell, it was a good while ago!).  Why does your otherwise perfect dog like to roll in dead fish? And more importantly how can you discourage the behavior?

Most dog parents have at some time become familiar with this smelly habit. Whether it’s a bath in cow manure, a plunge into the nearest road kill, or a leisurely massage in a long-gone fish remains at the beach, dogs seem to wear foul scents the way people wear perfume. Do they just like the smell? Is it an olfactory disguise their ancestors used when hunting prey downwind?

While most dog lovers, including myself, haven’t a clue, there are several theories that do make sense.  The Senior Curator at Wolf Park in Indiana, Pat Goodmann, spent several years studying the phenomenon, called scent rolling, in the wolves at the semi-natural wolf reserve.

Why Do Wolves Scent Roll?

“Scent rolling is probably a way for wolves to bring information back to the pack, ” said Goodmann. “When a wolf encounters a novel odor, it first sniffs and then rolls in it, getting the scent on its body, especially around the face and neck. Upon its return, the pack greets it and during the greeting investigates the scent thoroughly. At Wolf Park, we’ve observed several instances where one or more pack members has then followed the scent directly back to its origin.”

This scent smearing ritual isn’t limited to stinky odors. In her studies, Goodmann placed different odors in the wolf enclosures and found that wolves roll in sweet-smelling scents too. Besides rolling in cat feces or urine, elk, mouse, and hog, they also rolled in mint extract, Chanel No. 5, Halt! dog repellent, fish sandwich with tartar sauce, fly repellent, and Old Spice. So the scents aren’t necessarily foul, nor are they ones that wolves necessarily like. Goodmann stated, “some of the Wolf Park wolves object when handlers put fly repellent on their ear tips but these same wolves often scent roll readily in fly repellents manufactured to be sprayed onto horses, provided the scents are sprayed on the ground and left for the wolves to discover.”

But the explanation that makes the most evolutionary and adaptive sense is that this ritual is an attempt at disguising the dog’s own scent, a leftover behavior from when our domestic dogs were still wild and hunted for a living. If, for instance, an antelope smelled the scent of a wild dog, jackal or wolf, it would likely bolt and run for safety. But prey animals are quite used to the smell of their own droppings, so canines learned to roll in antelope dung or carrion to mask their scent and thereby increase the likelihood of a successful hunt.

How to Prevent Dogs from Rolling in Foul Scents?

While this foul form of fragrant communication may be fine for wolves, it’s not so fun when it’s your pup that’s sharing the news. What can you do to discourage this odiferous behavior? According to Goodmann, it’s a hard habit to break. Even if presented with an odor over and over, wolves continue to roll in it. The same goes for dogs.

The solution to this problem lies in your keen vision and ability as a trainer. Keep your eyes open for things that excite your dog’s nose and before your furbaby is rolling in ecstasy, call her back to your side. Then keep her engaged in fun games and rewards around you so that she forgets the potential stinky fun elsewhere. While the training time for preventing scent rolling makes this solution sound tedious, the time saved on needless baths makes the effort easily worthwhile.

Managing a “Stinky Dog”

Teaching the “leave it” command can be very helpful in managing your dog’s most odor-inducing activities. You may need to bring along your dog’s favorite treat when you begin training, which will act as an appropriate reward for avoiding these strong-smelling items.

Safety Concerns

If the leave it command comes too late and the damage is already done, there may be some safety concerns. Most of the time, your dog’s penchant for rolling around in stinky stuff is unpleasant but harmless. If your pup starts eating some of these “delicacies,” you definitely need to intervene. A dog that eats the remains of an animal, especially rodents, can inadvertently digest a deadly toxin − such as rat poison. The dog can also be exposed to parasites and bacteria, including leptospirosis. If your dog does ingest a dead animal, contact your veterinarian for guidance and to discuss health risks.

Cleaning Up

Even with training, your dog may still roll in “stinkiness” and will still manage to get dirty and smelly on occasion. (He is a dog, after all.)  Bath time will be on the agenda, and Nature’s Miracle products are excellent in removing odors and are formulated with odor neutralizers & deodorizers.

Dead fish: If you spend time with your dog by a pond, lake, or beach, she may anoint herself from time to time with eau de dead fish.

Wash the worst of it off with dog shampoo and water, and rinse well. Then saturate the fishy area with lemon juice – freshly squeezed works best. Let it soak for five to ten minutes.  (You can chat with him while you wait. Don’t scold him, he’s just doing dog things.)

Then rinse, shampoo, and rinse again, and apply conditioner according to directions to counteract the drying effect of the lemon juice.

Icky, greasy, who-knows-what gunk: If your dog rolls in foul-smelling things he finds in the yard or on a walk, a bath with Dawn dishwashing liquid will probably remove it. Dawn is often used to clean wildlife that has been exposed to oil and other toxic substances.

And while you’re scrubbing your stinky puppy for the third time in one week, just remember; that nose may get her in trouble and cause her to stink up your house, but it is also quite remarkable in many other positive ways. Her amazing nose is 10,000 to 100,000 times as acute as ours. Dogs can use their noses to assist people with managing medical conditions such as diabetes, and they may even be able to sniff out cancer in humans. That’s something worth cheering about!