So there you are in a park talking to a very nice stranger with their doberman. When all of a sudden your dog, not content with sniffing just the doberman's butt, decides to sniff the strangers butt too! He gooses him a good one while you turn beet-red and yank on his leash, hissing at him to "stop that right now!".
If our noses had the sensitivity of a dog's, we'd probably be sniffing butts, too! Dogs and humans had individual scents, and that unnerving nose action is the canine version of an FBI check!
The scents and secretions of the 'butt' and other unmentionable areas as well as the mouth tell a dog everything he needs to know, including whether the sniffee is male or female, its readiness for mating, its social status and what it likes to eat!
Now, admit it; wouldn't it be handy to know all those things before you went out on a first date with someone! Where a dog sniffs can say alot. Friendly animals usually sniff each others faces, heads and necks, including the inside of the ears. Two dogs of equal rank will sniff each others behinds at the same time. When a lower ranking dog encounters one that is more dominant, he waits submisively for the other dog to sniff under his tail.
Note, that if your dog is too socially aggressive with people, fight fire with fire. Instead of backing away (an action that your dog might view as submissive), move toward her, making her back away, and firmly tell her no. If she's sniffing someone else, divert her by making her sit or perform an obedience command that will stop the unwanted behavior and maybe your beet-red face the next time!
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