Whenever there is a human foot available, my dog backs up and rubs the base of her spine, directly above her tail, against it. If you’re sitting on the sofa with your feet propped up, it’s almost an automatic signal for her to commence rubbing.
Not only does it look bizzarre, but it seems to have no purpose. I’ve scratched the area for her, thinking perhaps she had an itch, but she still wanted to rub.
Any ideas?
WAG: Is your dog genetically prone to hip displaysia (I think most larger breeds are)? Perhaps it’s soothing to her aching parts.
Because she luuves you! Yes she does! Yes she does!
If she’s spayed, though, there may be a different explanation, like pinworms or something. Although the fact that’s she’s rubbing on your feet, rather than the carpet, tends to support the “public display of affection” theory.
IANAVet.
She’s a mutt, a combination of a Norweigian Elkhound and Golden Retriever, and at her yearly checkup last month, the vet said she was very healthy, and she romps like a puppy, showing no pain in her joints whatsoever.
**dono, ** she is spayed, but it’s not her backside or genitals that she’s rubbing against our feet-- it’s the far end of her back, right in front of the base of her tail.
She is a very affectionate dog who gets plenty of cuddles and love from her Mommy and Daddy. I guess it could be affection, but I can’t imagine it’s as satisfying as hopping up on the sofa and being petted while we’re watching TV.
I am a student vet, and the explanation the lecturers gave to us for this is that the dorsal nerve roots of the nerves that go to the genital area are in this region of the back.
In other words, rubbing there stimulates the same nerves that are in the genitals (to simplify a little).
So, in short: it’s a sex thing.
:eek:
So, she’s . . . uhm, . . . “getting off” on this? My foot is the equivillent of a doggie vibrator? Good lord! Furry little pervert!
(I’m still so surprised that she’s interested in sex after having been fixed. A few months ago, I posted a thread when I discovered her making love with the neighbor’s dog. She is getting hormone pills because her bladder started “dribbling,” and fellow Dopers surmized that this was the reason.)
My dog does this too, and he starts flicking his tongue out of his mouth like a snake and making little grunting noises. He’s a horny little bastard, I guess. 
Are you trying to tell me that it’s unpleasurable when someone rubs the base of your tailbone?!?
I don’t know if dogs “get off” per se like we do, but it’s apparently a pleasurable sensation.
If your dog is on oestrogen pills for incontinence following desexing then that could indeed be affecting her arousal.
Omigawd - my Boxer does exactly the same thing!!