Dogs and Butt Scratches – Boys vs. Girls!
Okay. So this may be another one of my silly dog-pondering questions, but I’m going to ask it anyways. Do male dogs prefer butt scratches more than female dogs?
The reason I ask this is because my dog Jasper absolutely LOVES to have his butt scratched – all of the time. Daisy, on the other had, could take it or leave it, as long as she gets her belly rub she is a happy girl. I have also noticed this interesting delineation between boy and girl dog clients. The boys always seem to be the ones most interested in getting a butt scratch. Dylan, a client I adore, actually does a dance when you scratch his butt. One leg up, then the other, back to the first leg and on and on it goes. You may even get a growl of pleasure out of him if you’re really good.
So what do you think? Do boy dogs like butt scratches more than girl dogs? And, if so, what’s up with that anyways?
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No Dog About It Blog 
BOL!! You’d think I’d know the answer to this having 3 of each!! But I can disprove your theory because my female Silver loves her butt scratched. As far as the rest of them, like everything they like and dislike, only when THEY want it. 🙂
Ha! Already my pondering has led me astray. Silver is indeed a smart girl. 🙂
And, so true. They like and dislike, only when THEY want it. You’ll get no disagreement from me on that one!
Interesting question, Mel. And one I don’t know the answer to. I’m interested in seeing what kinds of comments you get in response 🙂
Thanks Lorie. I have been fascinated with the answers. Obviously, my pondering on butt scratches is just that, a pondering, but now I am wondering why some dogs prefer it and others don’t. Hmmm…
I think owners are more likely to give belly rubs to female dogs due to male dog’s prominent anatomy. They choose to give their male dogs butt scratches instead. That being said, my female loves butt scratches, as does the female dog my dad has. My male loves belly rubs.
Trainerrory – I think you are onto something there. It is easier to give girls belly rubs. How funny that your dogs are the exact opposite of mine when it comes to butt scratches and belly rubs!
Dealing with two boys and one girl here. The puggle boy loves having his butt scratched, anytime of the day and makes all kinds of moan and groans of pleasure when I do this for him. The pittie girl is meh – she’ll stand still for it if I happen to be petting her at the time but doesn’t come looking for it. The pittie boy could care less – he doesn’t come looking for butt scratches nor does he stand still for them like his sister but that could be because he’s a puppy and is easily distracted by other things.
Isn’t that interesting that only one of your dogs likes it – a boy I might add! 🙂 I wonder why some do and some don’t. Another pondering!
I have a dogs named Jasper too, and he LOVES his butt scratches. Especially the ones my husband gives.
I don’t have any female dogs in my house now, and I actually don’t seem to run into many lately. But I have noticed that a lot of the dogs do what I call the “happy butt scratch dance” when I stand over them and scratch their butts. They dance their back feet up and down and are generally hilarious.
Jasper! What a great name Janice! I have also seen the “happy butt scratch dance” – always makes me laugh. 🙂
My girl Tassy LOVES butt scratches! If you happen to be sitting down she will waggle her butt at you, getting closer and closer until she’s knocking her butt into your legs.
LOL! Does she also have a beep that goes off as she’s backing up? So cute.
My girl Cali also LOVES butt scratches 🙂 She’ll come over and lean in for a butt scratch way more often than she will roll over for a belly rub 🙂
Thus you have proven me wrong Julie! Cali is a lucky girl to have a mom willing to give her those butt scratches. 🙂
Jersey is the butt scratch queen! In fact, ALL the females I have owned loved butt scratches more than the boys. Why? I dunno…
Interesting Karen. I’m starting to think it’s a breed thing or something else equally intriguing. it just has me wondering!
Beryl, my Greyhound, loves being scratched front and back of her hip bones and she wriggles her bum and lifts her legs. She also loves having a tummy rub. Frankie, my mutt, prefers having his tummy rubbed. It isn’t something I’ve thought about with previous dogs:) Now you’ve got me wondering too!
Hahaha! Great topic! Especially for the start of the week. People usually post fun stuff on Friday but I think I’d much rather have lighter fare on Monday or Tuesday. By Friday I can handle the serious stuff.
Since I’ve only lived with female dogs I can’t really answer the question. But I will say that while Shiva loves to have her back legs massaged, she definitely prefers belly rubs to butt scratches!
Thanks Kristine! I like to start with the lighter fare because i know Mondays are the day I am less likely to read a long post or something too deep. Too tired!
Interesting that Shiva likes her legs massaged. I bet it feels good given how active she is every day. Guess our girls are suckers for belly rubs eh? 😉
I don’t even want to contemplate the question! I thought all the weird people lived in California! 😉
Nope. They live in Minnesota too. Ha!
Different dogs have different attitude and emotions towards stimulation.If a male dog likes to scratch it’s butt then the female may not like it.While training a dog if you know his or her reaction like this ,it will help the dog to be away from the bad behavior.
Very good point Brian and great observation.
Haha, I’m a little late to this party, but had to let you know that my old gal LOVES the butt scratch — although over here we call it the Koolie Shaker! Scratch scratch…cha cha cha…scratch scratch…cha cha cha! 😉
Ruby – I so laughed when you described the Koolie Shaker! I know a dog that does that very same thing! (He’s a boy. LOL!)
My dog loves to have his butt scratched, he does what I call the tushy rub dance, one back leg up and then the other, over and over. He especially loves it if he is wearing something, like a coat or a rainslicker, then he really wants me to go under the item and scratch his butt. He also seems to like it in the dog park, it seems to give him confidence. I wish I could ask Ceasar Milan!
Just speculating here, could this be related to mating riduals? I’m not trying to be all Freudian about this; however, if there is a predominant difference between the behavior of male & female dogs (not saying it’s an absolute, we’ve seen enough responses to the contrary of this) then it could potentially be a reaction to the location of stimulation during mating. Female dogs already receive stimulation on their rear ends but males don’t, so maybe that’s why they seem it? Or for females the sensation belongs to a particle act & it’s only desired during this act? This theory could go the other way though, meaning females would like it more, but then that would imply dogs mate for pleasure, and i don’t know if science agrees with that…. but hey, I don’t know if anyone would agree with my crazy speculation!