Kids Say The Darndest Things!

I do so enjoy working with kids. This summer, I had the opportunity to do three different visits with kids in animal-themed summer camps. The kids ranged in age from 5 to about 9 years of age.  At the end of each of my presentations, I told the kids that they could ask me any burning, animal behavior related questions they had. And they had some doozies. After each camp, I made a point of jotting down some of the fun, entertaining, and amazing questions the kids asked me. Here are just a few of my favorites to give you a chuckle today. And if you have kids, see what their answers are!

1. Why does my dog scoot scoot his butt on my mom's favorite rug? (I have to say, this question came up twice this summer and both times there was a lot of nodding...and giggling)

So, dogs scoot like this when they have an issue with their anal sacs. The sacs may be full, inflamed, or impacted meaning the dog is unable to empty the sacs by themselves when they go to the bathroom, so they scoot on the floor to try to do it that way. You can certainly encourage your dog to scoot around outside, rather than in the house, as if they do get those anal sacs to empty, it will be stinky!  And if they keep doing it, take them to your veterinarian for a check up.

2.  How come dogs don't like cats? (I got this one twice as well and both times it started spirited discussions from kids whose dogs and cats are buddies)

Dogs and cats can certainly be friendly with each other.  In fact, many people raise their dogs and cats together and they get along quite well, even playing and sleeping together. Even if you see a dog chasing a cat, that doesn't necessarily mean that the dog doesn't like cats. Dogs respond to movement by chasing. That's why they chase squirrels too, and run after each other.  It is often the case that if a cat doesn't run, the dog will walk up and start sniffing them socially.

3.  How come some dogs don't have tails?

All dogs have tails, it's just that some of them have very short, stubby tails that are incredibly close to their rear ends. These dogs with stubby, almost non-existent tails are built that way because having a tail would have gotten in the way of the original job they were bred to do. So, for example, French Bulldogs have a very short nub of a tail. Since all bulldogs were originally used for bull-baiting, not having a tail meant the bull couldn't get a hold of the dog that way and hurt them.

4.  How come dogs sniff other dogs pee?  (Another one of my favorites for the number of giggles from the kids, and sighs from the grownups)

Dogs can tell an awful lot about other dogs from the way that their urine smells and tastes!  They "sample" the urine, using their tongues to push it up against a special organ back where their noses join their mouths. The vomeronasal organ is a dog's chemical analyzer and they will often make a funny face as they are processing the smells. It is called a flehmen response. And they aren't the only animals that have them!

5.  How comes dogs don't talk? (This is one of my favorites!)

I always say that if dogs could talk, we'd all be in trouble!  Quite literally, dogs cannot form words because they lack the ability to use their tongues and lips to form words the way that we do, and their brains are built for more important tasks such as processing smells and sounds. However, dogs are very good imitators and there are certainly dogs that can make sounds, modifying their pitch, tone, and volume in a way that makes it sound like they are saying certain words. Dogs do, however, have the capacity to learn words and more than one language and respond to those words accordingly.

Given how easy it is these days for kids to just "Google" anything they want to know, I find it refreshing that they are still willing to raise their hands and ask questions...and learn from real people and the real world around them.

Flehmen face in a zebra!