From observing my pack of various-breed dogs, I’ve observed that they groom themselves when something is bugging them (goopy eyes, sore pads, cockleburs, itchy butt) but never just for the fun of it like cats. We follow the same rule of benign neglect in regard to bathing them; we only do so if they’ve gotten into something particularly stinky.
The cat, on the other hand, grooms herself regardless of her condition (at least on any level we humans can perceive). Maybe cats need to keep themselves cleaner because they are stealth hunters.
I’ve always wondered if a cat got muddy would they eventually get it off themselves? I can’t recall ever seeing a muddy cat. Sometimes their feet get dirty.
Dogs seem attracted to mud. It will stay on them for a long time unless a human brushes it off.
Dogs LOVE to be dirty - they joyful rub themselves in dead things and the poop of other animals. Cats detest being dirty. They would certainly never go and roll in the mud. If they got muddy by some misadventure they would clean it off as best they could.
My husband’s cat was rescued from a building where a fire had taken place. She was grey from ground in soot she could not groom off. Despite repeated bathing, the Humane Society also could not get the soot out of her fur. The dirty fur had to shed out. At which point it became obvious that her predominant color was white.
I agree with a previous poster that it comes down to be a solitary stealth hunter. Cats get close to their prey then pounce suddenly. If they can be detected by smell, they have a problem. Dogs are pack, pursuit hunters. They run down their prey, so being so smell-free you can get really close isn’t as important.
Heh, you can buy some pretty weird stuff like ground emu, and I once read a post on a dog forum asking how to cut up a road kill armadillo.
But, I just feed mundane beef, chicken, and duck. Sorry.
From what I understand, dogs use their revolting stench as a part of their hunting strategy. They will split their pack into two, half going upwind of the prey herd and half downwind. The prey smell the upwind dogs and bolt in the other direction, right into the rest of the pack.
Our dog will clean her personal private area but that’s about it. So it’s apparently important to them that that is kept clean.
Twice I have given her a bath only to have her try and roll around in some other dogs shit while out for a walk. I don’t think dogs give a hoot about smelling good.
We bathed our dog fairly regularly, and although she seemed to be reluctant to get into the bath, she would behave in what seemed to be a very lively and happy manner afterward – who knows, maybe it was relief that it was over. After a walk, she would also patiently sit and hold out one paw at a time to be wiped. I did notice that after a bath, she liked to run alongside the sofa while rubbing the top of her head against it. Maybe she was trying to pick up the sofa smell.
