Dogs Align Themselves With Local Magnetic Field When They Go.

[mixedgas]

Ever wonder why dogs circle so much before pooing? Fido is measuring the direction of the localized magnetic field.
The ritual DOES have a purpose. Fido's aligning with the local flux, he changes the body angle with the local declination, so not a North heading compass as we know it.
They show a trend to b aligned North/South and avoid a East/West orientation.
The statistics show a significant positive correlation.


Here's the link:

http://www.frontiersinzoology.com/co...9994-10-80.pdf

Strange but true.

Steve

[Galvonaut]

I wonder if this has a purpose - maybe scent is spread further?

[mixedgas]

Probably something more basic, like long range navigation.

Steve

[steve-o]

Interesting. I heard a long time ago that most humans align their beds to point northward.

[TechJunkie]

Interesting. I heard a long time ago that most humans align their beds to point northward.

Thats only because they thought it had some beneficial effects. It was not a natural phenomenon.

[swamidog]

most humans wouldn't be able to find north with a compass.

Interesting. I heard a long time ago that most humans align their beds to point northward.

[JasonB]

I heard this recently on the news and observed my dog aligning North-South.
Now I wonder if my diggity-dog can be an indicator for sun spot activity that disrupts the magnetic poles

[steve-o]

Thats only because they thought it had some beneficial effects. It was not a natural phenomenon.

No this was not a fad. This was something that people did subconsciously (not on purpose) .

[The_Doctor]

most humans wouldn't be able to find north with a compass.

Is that a polite way of saying 'ass with both hands'?

Re dogs, I'm fairly sure I've seen two or more dogs shitting at arbitrary angles at the same time. It's been a long time since I was in company of people and many dogs, but I think if we'd seen dogs align north/south to shit, then many times dogs would have been aligned to each other routinely when they shat at same time. That kind of thing tends to get noticed and remembered, and I don't remember it ever happening.

Re dogs and sunspots, not for a while! The sun hasn't been this quiet since the 'little ice age', the Maunder Minimum about 300 years ago.

[JohnYayas]

No this was not a fad. This was something that people did subconsciously (not on purpose) .

When did they do this? I bet it looked silly to have their beds sitting cockeyed in their rooms?