Dogs align their bodies along a N/S axis when they poop

Does your dog do this? I haven't really noticed in mine, but will have to keep an eye on her.


http://io9.com/dogs-align-their-bodies- ... 1493457072

Ever wonder why dogs need to get themselves into just the right position to do their business? As it turns out, dogs align their body axis according to Earth's magnetic field when they squat to poop—a behavior that changes when the magnetic field is unstable. But why do they do it?

My wife used to have a compass in her car that sometimes went bad. The owner's manual recommended she drive around in circles again and again to recalibrate it. Guess dogs do the same thing.

Fred, When your car poops, does VL happen?

pacamom, I was watching a Youtube video yesterday of the birds (probably starlings) in Rome. Google them up and you'll see what I mean: they are in vast numbers like the Hitchcock cast -- but aloft, they form the most fascinating midair formations! literally, they become shifting dark clouds of birds! and apparently with the help of some inner mechanism, don't fly into one another while they're at it.

When I read the dog-poo article, I thought: there must be an inner compass they use that we don't, that aligns them not only with respect to the earth but also to one another.

Or like huge schools of fish that all turn at the same time.

Is the magnetic field more unstable in terrain like Colorado versus Nebraska? I wonder if that has any effect on the dogs alignment?

No, my dogs face across the hill. That puts them facing either east or west.

Maybe there is a disturbance in the force

The Wundermutt is a mostly east-west man and I attribute that to the terrain. The most open space near my property is down hill and to the east. My theory is that he wants to see what's happening around him while he's taking care of business in case he has to pinch it off and take care of some other business on an interim basis such as invading four legged non-canine animals.

Nope my dog is a NEWS dog, smack dab in the middle of a square kennel, she faces all 4 directions

pacamom wrote: Or like huge schools of fish that all turn at the same time.

One gets scared, (usually from a percieved threat) and they all follow....Pretty much describes the Republicans here...Yo