Why Do Dogs Like Period Blood?

If your dog has ever incessantly sniffed your lower regions when you’re on your period, it’s easy to feel grossed out. It is also not foreign for canines to scavenge for used tampons in the trash cans and have a whole “chew and tear” party in your yard.

So why do dogs like period blood? Well, canines predominantly experience their world through their sense of smell. These scent-driven creatures have over 300 million sense receptors, and they sniff things to gather scent-based information.

Their strong sense of smell is so compelling that a dog can aid in forensic investigations, bed bug detection, and even spot particular health concerns like cancer. So, can dogs smell your period? Yes, they can!

When you are on your period, your puppy will be quick to notice that you smell different. Fortunately, your opportunistic and gross crotch sniffer is not frisky or seeking sex-related information. It is just a little curious about your new scent and is interested in gathering information about you.

Do Dogs Know When You’re On Your Period?

You may be asking yourself, “can dogs smell periods?” They can. Dogs, just like cats, know when women have their periods. Dogs specifically love blood because of its distinct smell of proteins.

They are attracted to menstruation blood and can detect it by odor and hormone levels. Depending on the situation, your dog may just sniff your used tampons or pads or take things a little further and chew them up.

Is My Dog Attracted to Period Blood?

The smell of protein will naturally attract your canine. Moreover, your dog will also detect your menstruation because of its higher levels of pheromones. Pheromones are chemicals that mammals, including humans, produce that alter or trigger particular behavior in other animals of similar species.

Pheromones are produced by the apocrine glands, which are mainly concentrated around the groin areas. This placement is perhaps the reason why your puppy will want to sniff your crotch during your periods. It will be seeking scent-based information about your sex, mood, whether you are ovulating, and more.

The apocrine glands produce high levels of pheromones when you are menstruating, right after child delivery and when having sex. The change of body scent makes your pooch intrigued and curious to know more about you.

Female dogs also produce pheromones, especially during their heat cycles. The scent alerts male canines that they are ready to breed with.

Is My Male Dog Affected By My Period?

Gross as it may sound, your male dog will know that you are menstruating when it gets a good sniff of your pheromones. Again, pheromones are behavior-altering chemicals that mainly work with animals of the same species.

Even so, your puppy can instantly focus its attention on you by the scent of pheromones in the air. This action doesn’t by any means suggest that your dog sees you in the same way as a female dog in heat.

Your male canine can only go so far when it picks up the scent of your pheromones. The chemical could alter certain behaviors, making your puppy seem a little more playful than usual. You may notice your dog burying its head in your lap or trying to eat discarded menstrual products from the trash.

If your canine is female, it will also pick up changes in your scent. However, the smell will not intrigue it as much as it would interest a male dog.

Check out for more: Why Do Dogs Sleep With Their Bum Facing You? and Why Do Dogs Sleep at the Foot of the Bed?

Why Do Dogs Like Period Blood? 6 Fact-Based Reasons

Sometimes, dogs eat non-traditional food items, including dirt, fecal matter, grass, and even used tampons. While the behavior is utterly repulsive, it is not restricted to an attraction to feminine hygiene products.

Anything with human biomedical waste is likely to be a source of curiosity for your puppy. This list includes bloody tampons, soiled diapers, and even used condoms.

Here are six fact-based reasons why your puppy is attracted to your period.

1. Canines Find Period Smell Intriguing

The pheromones in your menstruation produce a scent that canines find interesting. Your puppy will want to sniff your crotch or have a taste of your used pads and tampons if possible. Sniffing and licking your period blood, for instance, allows them to discover something new.

2. Dogs Love Stink Bombs

Dogs love chewing stinky stuff, including your shoes and dirty socks. They’ll also prefer scavenging for your funky-smelling used tampons from your trash can.

Generally, your furry buddy will be more attracted to your used pads once they start smelling like dried fish. The odor may be awful to you, but your puppy will detect the scent of food and want to have a bite.

3. Dogs Are Hunters and Scavengers

Canines are opportunistic feeders. Their ancestors were hunters and scavengers before they were domesticated. It explains why dogs love human body fluids, including sweat, pee, semen, and period blood.

Out of natural animal instinct, your cute puppy will take a deep interest in anything with a human odor, especially once it starts to stink or decay. It will perceive it as food, and your used tampons will be more attractive because they smell like rotting meat or protein.

So, don’t be too hard on your pet. Dogs are genetically wired to be constantly on the lookout for food.

4. Dogs Can Be Obnoxious and Uncouth

Dogs need the proper training to learn how to maintain healthy personal boundaries. They can go a little crazy without training and even opt to trash your yard with torn pieces of stinky tampons just when you have company.

Dog training can help you avoid those embarrassing situations. It can be awful if your puppy goes around sniffing random people’s groins because it can smell period blood. A trained canine will be polite enough to enjoy the smell from a distance. You should be able to get your dog to stop a behavior with a simple command.

5. Canines Are Naturally Curious

The apocrine glands are highly concentrated around the groin area. Dogs sniff each other’s butts to gather information from pheromones about their peers’ diet, gender, mood, and health state.

When your puppy detects your period blood, it views this as an information center. It can collect data about you by sniffing your crotch or licking stuff that has your body fluid. This includes your used tampons.

6. Behavioral Issues

Another reason your dog won’t let your used tampons rest in your trash can is that it has behavioral issues. Concerns like OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) can make your canine want to engage in unusual behaviors like licking random stuff repeatedly.

A skilled dog trainer can address behavioral issues by targeting their source. OCD in canines, for instance, is often caused by anxiety, stress, boredom, or fear.

What Happens When a Dog Eats a Tampon?

Again, dogs are scavengers and will always seek opportunities to eat non-traditional foods. Unlike grass and fecal matter, sanitary napkins, tampons, condoms, and disposable diapers pose a potentially life-threatening danger when ingested.

Feminine hygiene products are super absorbent and expand when they contact fluids. If your canine swallows a tampon, it can choke or suffer from an intestinal blockage.

If you suspect that your puppy has ingested a discarded bathroom product, you must act quickly. Here are some warning signs to look out for:

• No fecal activity in 48 hours
• Digestive problems like constipation
• Trouble defecating or constant attempts to vomit
• Loss of appetite
• Fever
• Abdominal pain

You should visit your vet for more tests if you notice any of the above symptoms. The expert will use ultrasound or x-rays to locate where the foreign body is lodged and provide a reliable course of treatment.

Some of the concerns that may arise if a problem goes for too long without treatment include:

• Dehydration
• Internal bleeding
• Puncturing or inflammation of the intestinal walls
• Possible death

What Should You Do If Your Dog Likes Period Blood?

A liking for period blood can affect the relationship between you and your puppy. Most pet parents attest to feeling grossed out at the sight of their furry friends munching on used pads or licking their period blood.

Here are three tips that may come in handy:

• Limit your dog’s access to your used bathroom products.
• Wrap your used feminine products before disposing of them to restrict their stink
• Enroll your furry friend for training where it can learn simple commands like “leave it.”

Conclusion For Why Do Dogs Like Period Blood

So, why do dogs like period blood?

You can think of it as a side effect of having a powerful sense of smell. Dogs are very scent-focused, which predisposes them to take an interest in the source of your new smell. Whether your puppy will satisfy its curiosity and take a sniff at your groin area or not will highly depend on how well it is trained.

A canine trained to give polite greetings will still detect your period but will not shove its nose where it doesn’t belong. If you are worried about your dog’s behavior when you are on your period, its lack of personal boundaries, or opportunistic feeding tendencies, a dog trainer can provide reliable help.

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