What Do Dogs Discover When Sniffing Private Parts?
Now you must be wondering: “Why the private parts?”. The answer lies in the apocrine glands. These glands are concentrated in specific areas of the human body, such as the armpits and the genital area, and release chemical substances called pheromones. For dogs, these pheromones act like a complete dossier of information about who we are, including our emotional state, hormonal state, and even details about our health.
When your dog sniffs your private parts or those of another person, it is basically “reading” all this information. It’s like finding out if you are happy, anxious, or if there has been a recent change, such as a hormonal variation. Women during menstruation or pregnancy, for example, release pheromones more intensely, which attracts the dog’s curiosity even more.
A Form of Social Communication
The behavior of sniffing is part of the social life of dogs. Among them, it is common for two dogs to sniff each other in the genital area as a way to get to know each other better. It’s their way of saying “hello”, exchanging information, and even establishing some kind of social hierarchy.
When sniffing the private parts of a human, the dog is using the same logic. It is trying to get information about you and establish a connection. So, although it may seem invasive to us, for dogs it is just a natural gesture of curiosity.