Why Do Female Dogs Sniff Female Humans?

Talk about something strange and awkward! Some female dogs like to come up to female humans and sniff their private areas! That can be quite uncomfortable, especially if you have a dog that does this regularly to visitors. It takes friendship to new levels, to say the least! But why do female dogs do this?

Does your female dog sniff female humans? Are you worried about this behavior in your female dog? If so, you’ve come to the right place. We understand this behavior can be awkward at best.

We’ve put together some information about why female dogs sniff female humans and how to help your dog if she has this problem. Let’s get started!

Why Do Female Dogs Sniff Female Humans’ Private Areas?

Female dogs that sniff female humans are doing this for a reason. But it’s important to consider the roots of this behavior and what it means for canines.

Dogs have highly sensitive noses and can smell about 40 times better than us. Canines have up to 300 million olfactory receptors in their noses, compared to our 6 million. That’s a huge difference! And dogs use their noses to get all kinds of information from the private areas of other dogs. A dog’s private area is filled with glands that give off pheromones, and other chemicals dogs can smell.

Have you ever noticed dogs when they meet a stranger dog? One of the first things they do is sniff each other’s private areas. The dogs are gaining information about one another, and this is how dogs communicate with one another (other than barking). You might say this is a “handshake” between dogs.

When dogs sniff one another, they gain information about what the other dog has eaten, if the dog is female or male, if the female dog is in heat (she may be receptive to a male dog’s advances), and they can even gain information on the other dog’s health.

Why Do Dogs Sniff Humans?

Humans also have scent glands in their private areas, which can sometimes attract a dog’s nose. And when it comes to women, dogs may smell if a woman is having her period, has given birth, if she’s had sex, or if she’s pregnant. These are all very interesting smells for dogs.

So, when dogs sniff a woman’s private areas, the female dog wants to learn more about the female human she’s sniffing.

How to Curtail This Behavior

It’s not easy to break this habit in a dog since this is a natural behavior. If your dog is only sniffing a little without being too intrusive, it may be OK to let it go. However, if your fur baby is getting more personal, you’ll need to help her stop this behavior.

You may want to consider taking your female fur baby for obedience training. You’ll need a good bit of patience to teach your dog to stop sniffing female humans. However, with consistency and patience, you can teach your dog to stop doing this.