Does Your Pooch Poop Directionally?

[Bocefish]

More scientific studies funding well spent. :lol:

http://www.geek.com/science/dogs-poop-r ... d-1581264/

Most dog owners have countless stories about their pets that convey the high level of intelligence that dogs actually have. Not only can they perform tasks like sniffing out bombs and illegal drugs, but dogs are eminently empathetic, and always seem to know just when we’re feeling down and need a furry friend. New research from the Czech Republic has found that dogs can sense much more than our moods and emotions, but can actually sense variations in the Earth’s magnetic field — and are affected by it when they poop.

The Czech researchers were studying what animals have sensitivity to the Earth’s magnetic field, and decided to test man’s best friend. After observing dogs for a while, the team noticed a pattern the animals would display when preparing to poop — particularly, the stance they would assume. In order to further study the theory, the scientists watched a bunch of dogs poop in a field.

The test consisted of 70 dogs totaling 37 different breeds. When all was said and done, the team witness 1,893 different instances of dogs pooping. When matching up the defecation stance with the times when the Earth’s magnetic field is calm, the researchers noticed that the dogs had an inclination to align their bodies in a north-south stance. When the magnetic field was not calm, the dogs didn’t align anything other than their poop with the ground. Interestingly, a sensitivity for the magnetic field may not be the only — or at least, a very strong — factor. When dogs were on leashes, regardless of the magnetic field, they didn’t have an inclination to align themselves any particular way. When they were free of leashes, though, they went back to their north-south ways. The team also found that the dogs preferred to avoid an east-west orientation.

So, while the test isn’t definitive, it does suggest that dogs are sensitive to the Earth’s magnetic field, and for whatever reason, it appears to affect the direction in which they poop. This research likely won’t unravel the mysteries of man’s best friend, but it will at least let us know that the next time we see a dog squatting over the ground, it’s more mystical than it seems.

Apparently, mine is directionally challenged? :dontknow:

 

[stinky4219]

I have noticed that my dog ... Stinker D likes to drop his pie in the outer edge of the Palmetto bush which are quite common here in Fla. So in conclusion I figure which-ever the direction that bush may be would would determine the direction of his alignment. One these days the silly boy is gonna get his tush snake-bit!!!

 

[KylieJacobs]

Haha, I think this article is a bunch of crap, magnetic field, really?!?

My dog is anal about where he pees. I started having him walk in a circle around me with the leash because it was easier when he was a puppy. He still does the circle thing now, and he has to find thee perfect spot! Sometimes he almost stops and pees, but then decides it isn't the right timing, so he walks around the circle twice more, then pees in the exact same spot that he stopped at previously. :? He's a white German Shepherd. Normally an intelligent dog, just not when he's doing his business.

 

[Bocefish]

Haha, I think this article is a bunch of crap, magnetic field, really?!?

It's for realz :lol: about a bunch of crap. From my experience, male dogs will usually pee on everything, everywhere, anyway they can to mark their territory... but according to the study they also pee directionally way more often than not.

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/01/ ... tic-field/

WASHINGTON (CBS DC) – Dogs are quite particular about where they choose to relieve themselves — not only do they defecate in direction with the north-south axis, but they also are sensitive to slight changes in the Earth’s magnetic field.

A new study published in the journal Frontiers in Zoology finds that a wide range of canines preferred to “excrete with the body being aligned along the north-south axis” under “calm magnetic field conditions.” The nearly 37 breeds of dogs studied were found to completely avoid urination or defecation along an east-west direction.

The study is the first time that magnetic sensitivity was proven in dogs, although previous research has shown that many mammals “spontaneously align their body axis” with Earth’s magnetic field in a diverse range of behavioral contexts.

Examination of 70 dogs over two years – including 1,893 defecations and 5,582 urinations – revealed that dogs who were not leashed or influenced in movement were naturally inclined to relieve themselves in “axial orientation” with the earth’s magnetic field.

The study did not detail exactly why this phenomenon occurs: “It is still enigmatic why the dogs do align at all, whether they do it “consciously” (i.e., whether the magnetic field is sensorial perceived (the dogs “see”, “hear” or “smell” the compass direction or perceive it as a haptic stimulus) or whether its reception is controlled on the vegetative level (they “feel better/more comfortable or worse/less comfortable” in a certain direction).”

Although dogs are often influenced by their owner’s behavior to choose a spot of relief, the researchers note that the study was “truly blind,” and that observers were not biased in their choice of geomagnetic field variations.

The dogs were found to align themselves with the Earth’s magnetic field regardless of the time of day and other variations in weather.

The researchers note that the study may “open new horizons for biomagnetic research,” specifically, that the Earth’s magnetic field may have greater impact in behavioral response from organisms than considered before.