# Why do dogs kick after relieving themselves? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 12, 2008, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-kick-after-relieving-themselves/448981 "2008-05-12T01:52:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-kick-after-relieving-themselves/448981/1 "2008-05-12T01:52:29Z")
And why only some breeds? I know, or at least I assume it’s to cover their scent so any marauding predators in the region can’t track them. The problem with this is that the dog only kicks a few times, and on whatever it happens to be standing on. Kicking backwards fairly randomly 4 or 5 times doesn’t even begin to mask a scent, let alone cover it. The kicking on grass I can only assume is because there’s no nice sand or soil like there used to be wherever the breed originated. The kicking only a few times I’m guessing is because it’s watered down by domestication from the primal instinct, which perhaps had the animal (wolf?) kick many times in a more directed effort. And why do only some breeds do it? For those of you who haven’t seen this phenomenon, the dog walks a few steps forward and rakes the ground back with its hind legs. Has anyone ever seen a wolf or wild dog do this? Do they do it better? I assume that none of them actually bury it, because burying is done with front paws and I doubt that the instinct would have changed enough to go from front to back. Besides, they’d then almost certainly get the scent on their paws, which would defeat the purpose. My dogs didn’t do this growing up, so I’ve only been wondering about this recently. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-kick-after-relieving-themselves/448981/2 "2008-05-12T02:02:26Z")
I just thought it was my dog that did this! I’d much like to know the answer too. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-kick-after-relieving-themselves/448981/3 "2008-05-12T02:49:40Z")
I read somewhere (sorry, no cite) that they do it not to cover the scent, but to spread it. It makes them “look” bigger to other dogs who will come along later and “read” the pee for information. One of my dogs does this, and she always seems pretty excited and proud of herself when she’s doing it. I’ve also only seen this behavior in small dogs. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-kick-after-relieving-themselves/448981/4 "2008-05-12T02:53:08Z")
It’s the dog equivalent of the piss shiver. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-kick-after-relieving-themselves/448981/5 "2008-05-12T02:53:31Z")
It doesn’t have anything to do with either covering or spreading the scent of the waste–it’s territorial marking behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-kick-after-relieving-themselves/448981/6 "2008-05-12T07:12:21Z")
But spreading scent IS territorial marking behaviour. ---
**Author:** ![DCTrekkie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dctrekkie/32/18862_2.png) [@DCTrekkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCTrekkie)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-kick-after-relieving-themselves/448981/7 "2008-05-12T07:57:41Z")
I was told that they have scent glands (or whatever they’re called) in the pads of their paws and they rub it on the ground to add to the scent they leave. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-kick-after-relieving-themselves/448981/8 "2008-05-12T09:06:01Z")
Wait, do they do this after pooping, or just peeing? Do dogs take dumps to mark territories? I guess it makes sense that they would be trying to spread a scent rather than mask it. Still waiting for someone to chime in on wolf behavior. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-kick-after-relieving-themselves/448981/9 "2008-05-12T12:43:14Z")
[QUOTE=BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed] Wait, do they do this after pooping, or just peeing? Do dogs take dumps to mark territories? I guess it makes sense that they would be trying to spread a scent rather than mask it. Still waiting for someone to chime in on wolf behavior. 🙂 [/QUOTE] My male Boxer does this and my female mutt does not. I think males do this more than females do. I wish the Boxer would quit doing it, though. He doesn’t step forward enough sometimes and gets his paws poopy. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-kick-after-relieving-themselves/448981/10 "2008-05-12T12:50:45Z")
[QUOTE=BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed] Wait, do they do this after pooping, or just peeing? Do dogs take dumps to mark territories? I guess it makes sense that they would be trying to spread a scent rather than mask it. Still waiting for someone to chime in on wolf behavior. 🙂 [/QUOTE] My dog only does it after poos. He’s a bit odd though. He was a couple of years old before he started cocking his leg. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-kick-after-relieving-themselves/448981/11 "2008-05-12T13:00:10Z")
[QUOTE=1920s Style “Death Ray”] But spreading scent IS territorial marking behaviour. [/QUOTE] Well, yes, of course, but the scratching the ground is not done intending to smear the scent of the poo around. It’s a separate marking behavior. My intact male will occasionally mark his toys this way if he leaves them out in the yard. Not pooping on them , scratching around where he leaves them. [QUOTE=DCTrekkie] I was told that they have scent glands (or whatever they’re called) in the pads of their paws and they rub it on the ground to add to the scent they leave. [/QUOTE] Yup, along with the big slashes in the ground as a visual display. [QUOTE=BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed] Still waiting for someone to chime in on wolf behavior. 🙂 [/QUOTE] They do it, too. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-kick-after-relieving-themselves/448981/12 "2008-05-12T13:06:34Z")
Stupid time-out in the edit window! The scratching activates the scent glands, but also leaves a “think of the big scary guy that left these scratches” visual mark. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-kick-after-relieving-themselves/448981/13 "2008-05-12T13:22:47Z")
A couple cites: > [@](#): > > **Scent-marking and territorial behaviour of Ethiopian wolves Canis simensis** > Claudio Sillero-Zubiri a1 and David W. Macdonald a1c1 > a1 Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, U.K. > > Abstract > > Scent-marking behaviour and inter-pack aggression were studied in wild Ethiopian wolf, Canis simensis, packs. Raised-leg urinations, followed by ground scratching, were the most frequently deposited scent-mark. And > [@](#): > > THE SOCIAL BEHAVIOR OF DOGS AND WOLVES: AN ILLUSTRATION OF SOCIOBIOLOGICAL SYSTEMATICS > > J. P. Scott I’d have to pay for the full PDF, but from the abstract: …originally connected with territoriality. Both sexes have anal scent glands and may scratch the ground after defecation. The micturition pattern differs between the sexes. [QUOTE=IACUC Arizona] dogs mark territory by frequent urination, and by scratching the ground to leave scent from sweat glands in the paws. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-kick-after-relieving-themselves/448981/14 "2008-05-12T13:28:10Z")
Cats have a similar motion which appears to be covering the effluent. I always thought dogs were inspired by the same instinct as cats, but they were less efficient. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-kick-after-relieving-themselves/448981/15 "2008-05-12T13:34:25Z")
Hu. My girl only does it after she pees. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-kick-after-relieving-themselves/448981/16 "2008-05-12T15:27:52Z")
My BT does it normally after he poops, but also sometimes after he pees. It walks away while he does it, too. I can’t explain it, but there it is. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-kick-after-relieving-themselves/448981/17 "2008-05-12T16:59:10Z")
My (55-lb female) dog scratches after poop or pee. But, strangely, she only started doing it when she reached about a year in age. We often wondered whether it’s a behavior that just surfaced at that age, or if she was mimicking the large male dogs she hung out with at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-kick-after-relieving-themselves/448981/18 "2008-05-12T20:02:24Z")
see below. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-kick-after-relieving-themselves/448981/19 "2008-05-12T20:03:45Z")
I’ve got two female American Eskimos, one is three and the other is about 8. Only the older girl does this and I believe she only does it after pooping. She doesn’t even scratch near where the turds are, she takes a few steps sideways and then does her turf scratching about a half-dozen times and then goes back to smell the area she just scratched. Odd, and the younger one hasn’t picked up the routine yet.