Have you ever paid attention to which direction your dog faces when he poops? Well, neither had we, but a recent study indicates dogs may be more picky about their bathroom habits than we thought! According to this recent study, dogs prefer to poop with their bodies aligned in a north-south direction. Researchers at the University of Life Sciences in Prague observed 70 dogs (37 different breeds) for over 2 years. The dogs were allowed to go about their business in an open field where they wouldn’t be influenced by fences, buildings, or other man-made structures. They watched over 1,800 defecations and 5,500 urinations. Their results indicated that dogs have a clear preference to align their bodies in north-south orientation, and didn’t like pooping facing east or west at all. Of course, this all depends on the geomagnetic field. The study found when magnetic field fluctuated (like with a magnetic storm, solar flares, etc.) dogs didn’t seem to care which way they pooped.
Here at My Zoo, we decided to do a little survey to see if our clients’ dogs have a preference.
31 people answered our 2 question survey. 16% stated their dog preferred north-south. 9.7% reported their dog preferred the east-west axis. The rest reported their dog didn’t care or they didn’t pay attention.
- This chart shows which direction dogs were reported to poop on our survey.
It’s important to note, however, most dogs in our mini-study were not free-roaming so their pooping habits may be affected by man-made structures!
So next time your dog is performing the “pre-poop spin,” consider the fact idea that he may be trying to align his body with invisible magnetic fields!
- Chart showing the bathroom situation for dogs on our survey.
Included below are a links to the original study and a link to help with research! Happy pooping!
Survey: http://www.frontiersinzoology.com/content/pdf/1742-9994-10-80.pdf
If you want to help: https://www.uni-due.de/zoology/research/dogs