Splooting
Roxy splooting
Most of our dogs have adopted the hearth rug position, limbs stretched out fore and aft, from
little Jack Russell, Busy Biddy to big Dalmatian, Frodo the Faller. Watching Roxy
relaxing today and demonstrating her hearth rug technique, I dimly recalled hearing
or reading something to the effect that this pose was not good for dogs, could
damage their hips, or some such thinking. I felt this could not be right, as so
many of our dogs have done it with no lasting damage, or, indeed, any damage at
all.
There is potential for damage, if passing humans are not
looking where they’re going. A dog is a trip hazard at the best of times. For
the dog, being mistaken for an actual hearth rug could be perilous!
I looked it up and discovered there is a name for ‘hearth rug
dog’. Apparently, ‘splooting’ has long been associated with Welsh Corgis, but
many other breeds also do it, as do cats, rabbits and other four-legged
animals, like squirrels and lizards.
One explanation suggests that animals sploot to stretch their
joints. Another thought is that they do it to cool down when the weather is
very hot. Dogs can only sweat through their pads and so stretch out to expose
as much as possible of their skin to cool surfaces.
Anyway, splooting is my new word of the day, but there will be limited opportunities to use it.
