It’s Sunday, a good time to rest and catch up on a few smalls that we never seem to get to. Hopefully that doesn’t involve work! I took on the Chiredzi River this morning and came out on top. The water is still pretty high, but I had learned from Kim’s previous ordeal and let my tyres down a bar, which pulled me through with ease.
I didn’t pick up any signal at first; this because they were so far into Hippo Valley that they were almost at the end of the property. These dogs are adventurous, I think they would move even further if there weren’t a few stragglers in the pack.
We past an incredible looking pan and finally hit running water. One by one the dogs crossed over and I thought I was stumped, so I hung around until all the dogs had caught up to the pack. I then decided that I might as well give the water a bash and crossed over.
The rest of the dogs were waiting just on the other side and had exhausted themselves with nothing to show for it. It was time to do what everybody should be doing on a Sunday – chill out.
Well , having not seen the dogs since they left the reserve , the first thing that struck me was how lean Puzzles looked !
Maybe its just me , but is she very thin at the moment ?
Then I seen the vomiting , and I wonder is she ok or is this normal behaviour for the wild dog ?
Whats the vomitting and rolling all about ?…
Thanks,
Ron
Interesting habit.
Domesticated dogs sometimes do it without any specific reasons as well.
By the way Mark, thank you setting up pictures profile portal, so one can open them in the same window now.
Yes Ayesha , Ive often seen domestic dogs rolling…. usually rolling in fox poo.
But ive also seen one dog who persistently rolls on ciggerette butts, which he hates !
I always felt it was to remove or dilute the unwanted scent. Ive heard various different explanations , yet no definitive answer has me totally satisfied !
The fact that this dog is rolling in his own food - throws my theories all up in the air !!!
By the way , do the wild dogs eat some grass like their domesticated cousins ?
Ron
Yep, and I think Kim has a recent video in which, I am not sure, probably Puzzles was eating grass.
Canine specialists think that domestic dogs when they behave this way are imitating an innate wild habit…………but what are the wild ones imitating? A lot of theories, but some think it’s stomach problems when they do thus. They also are prone to bezoars and it is way of getting rid of it. Rolling in it’s own vomitus………hmm, to cover odour with smell of stomach contents. I am not sure there is definitive explanation.
Yep, and I think Kim has a recent video in which, I am not sure, probably Puzzles was eating grass.
Canine specialists think that domestic dogs when they behave this way are imitating an innate wild habit…………but what are the wild ones imitating? A lot of theories, but some think it’s stomach problems when they do thus. They also are prone to bezoars and it is way of getting rid of it. Rolling in it’s own vomitus………hmm, to cover odour with smell of stomach contents. I am not sure there is a definitive explanation.
The dogs normally vomit out hair, bone and hoof that can’t get digested. So it makes sense that they eat the grass to induce this action, but why they insist on rolling in it we don’t really know. Maybe it helps them carry a distinctive scent for other dogs and animals in the area to pick up that they’re on the packs home range.