For a few years, there was work related to the anus, which according to the staff was an under-studied topic for obvious reasons.
I'm afraid I chickened out of choosing the "model the anal sphincter" project. In retrospect it sounded fun and interesting.
The whole thing about human buttocks as well I recently learned about after getting a dog of my own (ya ya, covid puppy acquirer here). I was always weirded out by my childhood dog's butt and read up on it while I was researching dog ownership before I got my current little buddy. I figured I was going to have to wipe his butt to ease my slight-yet-ever-present faecal phobia. I then learned that dogs (and most mammals) actually prolapse pretty extremely when pooping, making it so that poop rarely touches their butts (at least on short haired dogs). As it turns out, my pup's butt is generally the least smelly part of him!
Anyway, a bit of a ramble about a dog's butt that many probably already know, but(t) I found it fascinating.
The mind boggles at how you've determined this...
But indeed the digestive tract is what makes us tori and not spheres.
Hopefully this isn't TMI and in the spirit of this article!
I have a lot of dogs. Every once in a while, it seems that one of them gets a plugged up anal gland, or it doesn't get fully expressed when they poop. An earlier commenter said to look for liquid dropping out when they poop; I see this all the time. But sometimes that doesn't work for whatever reason, and then later on the gland "pops" and all the stuff comes out. The dog is usually sitting on my lap when this happens. It happens with both girl and boy dogs. My wife calls it getting butt-juiced.
The smell causes me to immediately change my clothes. It's not a fecal smell. I can't begin to describe it, but once you smell it you'll never forget.
Years ago we fostered a girl dachshund who loved my wife but hated me and feared me like the devil himself. Often when I would approach her in any but the slowest and most non-threatening way, she would tense violently and squirt anal gland juice like a skunk. Sometimes she'd leave a trail of the stuff on the floor as she ran for her life. One whiff would tell you it wasn't urine.
(BTW, that poor girl dog was eventually adopted by a sweet single woman and they are now inseperable companions)
I'm sorry to put this in your head but... fish sauce.
Source: I heard it from a vet.
Depending on pup, you can easily get a bunch of body parts shoved into smelling distance without any effort other than continuing to be alive. Then it's just a matter of recall and forming an opinion.
There are a great many such things, such as that skeletal remains of old civilizations showing very good teeth for civilizations wherein the brushing thereof was nonexistent, but the diet contained no added sugars.
Squatting, as you would do outdoors if you didn't have a toilet, spreads the buttocks and there is much less cleaning needed. It also promotes more complete emptying so you don't have fecal matter left "pinched" in the anus that needs to be wiped up. If you use a typical western toilet, get something like a Squatty Potty to prop up your feet and you'll find you need to do much less wiping.
A rare and treasured occurrence indeed.
In the West I have to go through meetings knowing how unclean everyone's bottoms are /s
I'm not trying to convince you to get a dog or anything, but I never wanted one and it completely changed my life in so many positive ways. I'm getting outside regularly, I've made new friends, I've developed acquaintanceships with several awesome people in my neighbour, I talk to strangers, and my weekends now have structure which has made me incredibly productive in my personal projects--I now view the downtime I have between walks and general caretaking of my pup as very precious and not to be wasted whereas before I could spend an entire Saturday in bed if I felt like it.
(ya, I said embarking... I know what I did)
I and my family have had lots of dogs over the decades, and, looking back, the poodles have been my favorites. My present dog is a standard poodle who exemplifies what I like about the breed. She's smart, polite, curious, friendly, playful, and compliant. Smart and compliant in particular don't always go together in dogs, and it's a real bonus when they do.
Molly loves everyone, and is always happy to meet new people and other animals. She is nevertheless a good watchdog, who feels it's her duty to inform us if anyone (human or otherwise) approaches the property. On the other hand, as soon as we acknowledge her alerts, she stops them, which means they don't become tedious.
Poodles are retrievers, which may account for her tendency to bring me small animals, always completely unharmed, and to come and get me when she finds injured or dead animals near our house. Some birds and squirrels owe their continued lives to Molly.
Obviously my pug's butt has some kind of smell because all the other dogs keep smelling it :D My complacence is more with that if he sits his butt down on my pillow, I'm not going to freak out about it. Should I be concerned about this?
The uneven distribution is that not all dogs do it naturally, some need occasional assistance (you can do it but I’d recommend a quick/cheap vet visit, it’s gross and a bit of finesse). Some dogs just don’t get it done naturally and need that assistance on a regular cadence.
The health implication besides being a natural bodily process is that if it backs up, the whole solid waste system backs up.
Edit: don’t be overly worried, but do be attentive. If you see butt scooting this is probably what’s going on. (If it’s not it might be something more serious like a tapeworm. But I doubt that from what you described.)
And dogs are very attuned to the scent. If you smell it too it’s probably a good idea to go let a vet nurse squeeze out your pup’s anal glands. It’ll be a relief for pup and not at all traumatic.
I've seen videos on youtube of people expressing a dog's anal glands, but I myself have never once been able to do it. There must be a special technique that I just can't get.
There is definitely a technique, but for $5 or $10 extra at the grooming appointment I think I can afford to go a while longer yet before I try to figure it out for myself - I mean, I know you can go on YouTube and learn pretty much anything but I just can't see myself...