--- description: An explainer from the American Chemical Society title: Why Do Dogs Sniff Each Other's Butts? image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Why Do Dogs Sniff Each Other's Butts? Here Comes the Science by [Samantha Grossman](/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 30, 2014 2:50 PM CUT by [Samantha Grossman](/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 30, 2014 2:50 PM CUT You know when you see an otherwise cute and perfect dog with his nose just straight up buried in another dog’s behind, and you’re just like_, seriously, dude, why?_ This [new video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZlJ8XfwiNg "undefined") from the American Chemical Society explains the science behind this seemingly peculiar behavior — and why the smell doesn’t overwhelm them. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3057950/why-dogs-sniff-butts/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3057950/why-dogs-sniff-butts/"},"headline":"Why Do Dogs Sniff Each Other's Butts? Here Comes the Science","datePublished":"2014-07-30T14:50:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:12:01.950Z","description":"An explainer from the American Chemical Society","url":"https://time.com/3057950/why-dogs-sniff-butts/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals","Dogs","Science topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Grossman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3057950/why-dogs-sniff-butts/","name":"Why Do Dogs Sniff Each Other's Butts? Here Comes the Science"}}]}] ```