# Dogs and dead stuff. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 12, 2003, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-and-dead-stuff/181377 "2003-06-12T17:08:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Elvis_Rojo)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-and-dead-stuff/181377/1 "2003-06-12T17:08:31Z")
Some co-workers and I were just talking about it, and we’re all rather curious…what’s the reason dogs like to roll around in road kill? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-and-dead-stuff/181377/2 "2003-06-12T17:10:49Z")
It’s not so strange when you consider they probably just finished eating a bunch of cat shit. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Elvis_Rojo)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-and-dead-stuff/181377/3 "2003-06-12T17:38:54Z")
That’s the other thing we were talking about. Why is it dogs love cat shit so much too? Supposedly, it’s high in protien, but is there something more to it? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-and-dead-stuff/181377/4 "2003-06-12T19:40:40Z")
It could be that carnivores are trying to disguise their own scent from prey by rolling around in smelly stuff like carrion and shit. Lions, for example, like to roll around in elephant dung. ---
**Author:** ![Stage\_Manager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stage_manager/32/7267_2.png) [@Stage\_Manager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stage_Manager)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-and-dead-stuff/181377/5 "2003-06-12T19:46:37Z")
I seem to have read in some book by this guy named Cecil Something-or-other that cat feces has salt in it, and the dogs eat it for the salt. I could be wrong though. ---
**Author:** ![sethaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@sethaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sethaw)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-and-dead-stuff/181377/6 "2003-06-12T20:17:17Z")
I remember seeing on television once that in wolf packs the alpha dog sometimes rolls in his own waste products. Then the smell is on his fur and rubs off everywhere he goes, allowing him to mark his territory better. I’ve always thought that dogs behavior of rolling in smelly things is related to this. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-and-dead-stuff/181377/7 "2003-06-12T20:43:59Z")
My theory was/is the same as Colibri’s. I think they do it to disguise their scent. ---
**Author:** ![aaslatten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f14d63/32.png) [@aaslatten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaslatten)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-and-dead-stuff/181377/8 "2003-06-12T22:24:01Z")
I’m so sorry I read this thread. ---
**Author:** ![kindablue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b77776/32.png) [@kindablue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kindablue)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-and-dead-stuff/181377/9 "2003-07-07T17:22:25Z")
I was wondering the same thing and found this thread through a search. Trying to disguise their scent is the most obvious explanation, but it seems that the smell of death would be as alarming to prey as the smell of a wolf. Cats don’t do this to my knowledge, yet they are effective hunters too. Any other theories? ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-and-dead-stuff/181377/10 "2003-07-07T18:07:15Z")
Also, a cat’s digestive system is not very effective, leaving lots of food in the… ummm… excrement. Dogs never let anything go to waste. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-and-dead-stuff/181377/11 "2003-07-07T18:09:17Z")
Actually, the scent of death may be useful in controlling the pack; “I’m a mighty hunter! I’ve killed tons of stuff; just smell me!” ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-and-dead-stuff/181377/12 "2003-07-07T19:18:29Z")
Actually, **kb** , cats do indeed try to disguise their scent. All that near-constant grooming isn’t about looking nice, you know. And, as mentioned before, lions roll in the dung of herbivores. As for the smell of death being alarming, I don’t really think so. I mean, in the wild things die all the bloody time, of old age, disease, predation, etc., so the smell of carrion probably wouldn’t be all that unusual or worrisome. Those who point out the inefficiency of the feline digestive system are quite right. They’re not quite so bad as rabbits, who actually eat their own feces to get the bulk of their nutrition, but not nearly so efficient as the canids. Given an easily-available food source, dogs will go for it over something that requires effort. They’re pretty omnivorous, after all, and tend to be scavengers. ---
**Author:** ![Marsie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Marsie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marsie)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-and-dead-stuff/181377/13 "2003-07-08T00:19:26Z")
It’s because stinky, dead stuff smells like perfume to them! “Eau de Deader than a Doornail.” My dogs have always loved finding something fetid in the yard and rolling around in it. Usually after I’ve dropped $60 on them at the groomers!