Rolling

Had some thoughts about this on the way home just now----with a VERY smelly Benj who was lathered (literally) in cow muck.

IME it seems to be the dogs who are more insecure in their enviroment who do this.

Polly was awful for ages and then stopped, Celt did it as a young dog when he was finding his feet in the group, Etta did it when she was younger, Saff did it all her life---and all her life she was a stressy insecure dog who was desperate to please (I know she was knocked around a bit on the farm as the original owner told me that) Then she had pups with another owner then came to me. Pippin the feral dog will still do it.

Now Benj is at it, I know he is very upset and stressed. Every car he looks for his owners and the tooth extraction didn't help.

Small dog Coo doesn't fit my pattern and does it sometimes.

Thoughts?

rune

It may or may not be true that some dogs who roll are more insecure in their environment that others, I have no idea.

My bitch who is obsessed by rolling in stuff is the most secure, well balanced, confident dog you could wish to meet. She does not do stress, adapts to all environments, and is totally reliable in all situations, she is deffo not desperate to please anyone but herself!

You did make me think, I have had 6 dogs, 3 males and 3 females.

NONE of the dogs have ever rolled (1 entire, 1 entire for 3 years and another a desexed bilateral cryptorchid).

My first bitch lived outside, killed snakes, rabbits, tortoises, and anything else that she could find (including unfortunately a couple of chickens), rounded up my horse and was fearless everywhere, she liked rolling.

My second bitch rolled occasionally.

Maybe its ME! LOL

Tilly has been a lover of fox poo her whole life. I've lost count of the times I've had to walk her home at arms length while she happily stinks to high heaven!! I would say that she is a fairly confident bitch but can have her insecure moments if she's not happy with a situation. My old collie X bitch was a rescue who was VERY insecure when she was away from the house and she too was a roller. I've never had a male who rolled though!

Roxie rolls but never rolls IN anything, she just rolls on grass for the sake of it...

Doesnt seem to matter what the situation is. She did it all day as we walked round the county show

Daisy rolls on her Ballie - to scent it I assume.
Shamus rolls for a back-scratch.
Mini Dog rolls in fox sh*t.
I don`t think any of them have insecurities tbh.

Sadie rolls in grass - which is brill for her allergies! Never rolled in poo - oh wait the once but it was mixed in with leaves, she also rolls on her toys, her bones - everything that belongs to her - maybe it's a possesion thing?

It could also be one of those things we will know nothing for sure about.. I like your theory though..

Only one of my dogs (BC) rolls regularly - usually in the stinkiest, deadest thing he can find The two shepherds tend to roll occasionally and just for pure pleasure (not in anything smelly).

Tilly rolls on fox poo but not rabbits, sheep or cows! Sje also rolls on dead birds
Horse poo she ignores unless it's really fresh in which case she eats it!
When she's been to the groomers she rolls on the rug at home & when she came back from boarding she did a massive fully stretched out 360 degree proper gomping mega roll on the rug

my dog is a wreck out of the house and has never rolled in anything

All the dogs i've owned have been 'rollers' but then they have all been Beagles whom are quite known for their love of rolling in anything stinky

Bea is the worst for it she will roll and eat every kind of poop she comes across,fox poo cat poo you name it...(apart from other dogs poop) and has a particular penchant for eating and rolling in Bird Poo !
Alfie was the same so is Daisy,Sheep and cow Poo being a fine delicacy to them for eating lol Dead fish & birds are also on the list.In fact there isn't much they haven't rolled in
Alfie was a confident secure dog, nothing phased him and Bea... well... she's even more so,Daisy is quite an insecure dog for a Beagle and i would say probably rolls slightly less(Not much) than the others have