We all know the strange ritual that dogs perform before relieving themselves, and that is that they can be spinning around on themselves for a long time. Now a group of researchers from the University of Life Sciences in Prague has discovered that dogs seek the north-south axis to relieve themselves.
For the investigation, this team of Czech scientists has been observing a total of seventy dogs of thirty-seven different breeds for two years. They analyzed a total of 5,582 situations in which the animals peed and 1,893 in which they defecated.
The study, published in Frontiers in Zoology, has compared the positions in which dogs relieved themselves and the variations in the Earth's magnetic field. They found that the animals tried to defecate in a north-south axis, being more likely to do so in this position than in any other.
The dogs are capable of identifying the geomagnetic field of the Earth and by turning on themselves they can calculate the position they wish to adopt, which coincides with the north-south axis. Another of the findings was that, regardless of the conditions of the Earth's magnetic field, the animals avoided relieving themselves by being aligned from east to west.
Apart from finding the preferences of dogs when defecating, the reason why they choose this axis is unknown. The authors explain that "it is still enigmatic why dogs align themselves; if they do so consciously, that is, if the magnetic field is perceived sensorially [...] or if its reception is controlled at the vegetative level", that is, it is feel better in a certain direction.
Although at the moment the reasons that invite dogs to defecate always in this position are unknown, this group of scientists from Prague has been able to verify that dogs avoid relieving themselves in other positions, undoubtedly solving the first unknown of the enigma. In addition, thanks to the study, it has been proven that dogs perceive the Earth's magnetic field.
