Although for humans it is a somewhat uncomfortable and embarrassing behavior, capable of putting us in a hurry, for dogs it is something so normal and social that they will do it over and over again. Dogs smell people’s crotch or bottom to get information about them.
The most developed sense of a dog is its sense of smell, which is more than ten thousand times higher than that of humans. When two dogs greet each other they normally sniff each other’s butts and genitals, thus obtaining a wealth of important information.
The age of the other dog, its sex, if it is in heat or not, if it has recently given birth, if it is sick…. So much information can be obtained by simply smelling pheromones concentrated in the genitals that they try to do the same with humans.
Why do dogs smell the crotch? Apocrine sweat glands
Dogs contain thousands of these glands scattered throughout their bodies, but concentrated especially around their genitals and rear. These types of glands release a substance that we know as pheromones.
Pheronomas contain a very characteristic odor based on countless factors, a dog can even know if another dog is in a good mood simply by the smell of its pheromones. In the same way, you can know your age, sex, what you usually eat, if you are healthy, etc….
Dogs do not speak, so their main form of communication is their body language and smell, as we can see in the german sheepdog forum smelling its owner. Surely you have seen many times how your dog urinates in a tree or corner where another dog has already urinated, thus leaving its scent so that the other dog knows that it has been there.
It is simply one more form of communication that humans do not use, but which is very widespread in the animal world. Mainly in mammals with a highly developed olfactory system, like our dogs.
Why do dogs smell the crotch? How to act
If a dog smells the crotch or even the butt of another person, we must understand two basic things: The first is that this person may find the behavior of the dog uncomfortable and the second is that it is a totally natural behavior in the dog, which we should not punish.
The dog will smell the person’s crotch because they may have had sexual intercourse recently, are menstruating, have given birth, are sick, or simply because they are curious and want information about that person.
However, for the person, the situation can be very uncomfortable, so we will simply remove our dog and ask him to sit down. But without scolding him, since he really isn’t doing anything wrong. We will apologize to the other person and continue on our way.
Humans concentrate a lot of pheromones in our private parts in the cases mentioned, so it is not surprising that the dog is attracted to these smells. Totally normal behavior within the animal kingdom.