Why Your Dog Spins Like a Furry Tornado Before Dropping the Deuce

Just Like Humans, Dogs Are Comfort Creatures

Our precious fur babies tend to have a mind of their own, doing odd things for attention or just bizarre things in general. Something almost all dogs do before lying down or, primarily, before taking a number two, is circling their area. We've all watched this happen in some capacity, but why do they do this? Is it for comfort or just another one of those silly things dogs do? Humans walk into an already comfortable bathroom, whereas dogs have to pick a new bathroom spot each time. While comfort may be the easy answer, there is more to this silly process than what meets the eye.

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Spin, Spin, Sit, Recycle

A large majority of animals may have some type of process they complete before lying down, and yes, sometimes this is just because they want to flatten the area to be comfortable. Another reason is to make sure the area is safe from predators, such as dangerous insects, snakes, or other prey. They are also smelling the area for scents left behind. They are determining what type of prey has been there, which also factors into the safety area. If a predator has marked this area, they will not lie there in fear that the predator may return. Dogs will face the direction they feel safest. Dogs have scent glands in their feet as well as other areas, so they will also use their feet to "mark their territory", which also factors into why they like to dig so much. Makes perfect human sense!

Outside The Box Reason For Dogs Circle Dance

The most popular oddball reason dogs do this, and possibly the most common supported by research, is that dogs determine their direction to defecate by the Earth's magnetic field. In a 2013 study, researchers found that after 2,000 poops of various breeds and sizes, the majority selected to do their business facing either North or South, not East or West. Why? Researchers believe this is due to their ancestral past or their evolution from the wolf family, which also explains why domesticated dogs are generally broken of this habit after human interaction. As humans control the manner of a dog's direction the majority of the time (walks, collars, etc.), this ancestral habit is broken over time. Why would they do this for magnetic reasons? Again, it all comes down to comfort. Dogs are more at ease when their bodies are correctly aligned with the north-south axis. For more on this theory, check out the American Kennel Club's research here.