# Why Don't Dogs Lick Themselves All Over?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-dogs-lick-themselves-all-over/187533>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 10, 2003, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-dogs-lick-themselves-all-over/187533 "2003-07-10T18:59:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-dogs-lick-themselves-all-over/187533/1 "2003-07-10T18:59:46Z")

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Cats groom their entire body while dogs only lick their paws and genitals. Why is that?

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**Author:** ![Tim\_Winker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/71e660/32.png) [@Tim\_Winker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_Winker)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-dogs-lick-themselves-all-over/187533/2 "2003-07-10T19:03:34Z")

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Because dogs like to stink. They’d rather roll in poop or a dead animal to get the smell on them, while cats don;t loike to smell at all because when they hunt they don’t want to be heard, seen or smelled.