Amusing but questionable direction-finding technique

[Andy F]

Adding to the age-old question of, "Does a bear poop in the woods?", some researchers decided to answer the question, "Does a dog poop in the woods facing magnetic north?"

From the article: http://www.frontiersinzoology.com/content/10/1/80/abstract

"With this in mind we searched for signs of magnetic alignment in dogs. We measured the direction of the body axis in 70 dogs of 37 breeds during defecation (1,893 observations) and urination (5,582 observations) over a two-year period. After complete sampling, we sorted the data according to the geomagnetic conditions prevailing during the respective sampling periods. Relative declination and intensity changes of the MF [magnetic field] during the respective dog walks were calculated from daily magnetograms. Directional preferences of dogs under different MF conditions were analyzed and tested by means of circular statistics.

Results
Dogs preferred to excrete with the body being aligned along the North-south axis under calm MF conditions. This directional behavior was abolished under Unstable MF. The best predictor of the behavioral switch was the rate of change in declination, i.e., polar orientation of the MF.

Conclusions
It is for the first time that (a) magnetic sensitivity was proved in dogs, (b) a measurable, predictable behavioral reaction upon natural MF fluctuations could be unambiguously proven in a mammal, and (c) high sensitivity to small changes in polarity, rather than in intensity, of MF was identified as biologically meaningful. Our findings open new horizons in magnetoreception research. Since the MF is calm in only about 20 % of the daylight period, our findings might provide an explanation why many magnetoreception experiments were hardly replicable and why directional values of records in diverse observations are frequently compromised by scatter."

Apparently, 20% of the time, Fido's scat might align along a north-south axis. I'll have to go out into my backyard later today and do my own statistical analysis.

I wonder if this is true of other canines such as coyotes and wolves?

[Scott S]

Cows and deer might line up along magnetic lines, too, though there has been some controversy. http://www.nature.com/news/the-mystery-of-the-magnetic-cows-1.9350

[Diane Pinkers]

I'd like to see the grant proposal for that one

[Franco Darioli]

My guess :
20% of time it aligns N/S
20% of time E/W
20% of time NE/SW
20% of time NW/SE
the other 20% of time fits in between at about a 5% occurrence at each point

[Marko Botsaris]

I wonder what they mean by unstable magnetic field. Typical fluctuations of the field due to solar events and other factors are very small compared to the NET magneti field of the earth. So if the dog can sense the much larger net magnetic field of the earth then it shouldn't be bothered in any case by the fluctuations/instability. It definitely should have a clear picture of where true north is at any given time. So right away that seem suspicious logic. But maybe they mean the dog was going beside a busy road, in which case then "instability" would make more sense.

Why would a dog pee in a certain magnetic direction even if if could perfectly sense the magnetic field? Apparently other mammals do it too!. Weird. Why would they care. The dog can clearly sense the light and breeze and so on that we can also sense, as well as a hell of a lot more scent that we can. Why wouldn't those things be so much more important as to overwhelm the so-called magnetic bias?

I would also suggest that the dog damn well knows the direction it is pointing, more or less, without the aid of a internal compass, the same way most of us do. Probably much better. This by itself is enough to probably blow the idea that they have "proved" that dog sense magnetic fields, even should the correlation be real, and even should the dog prefer a direction.

I would definitely want to see the data to find out what level of correlation. (Edit it is convincing, but still a pretty wide angle, like 60ish degrees. Lot of room for other stuff going on instead). If the correlation is very week then their methodology not good, then it could all be baloney, which would be very depressing after recording 3000+ dog pees.

So many possible holes, but the real test would be to out the dog in room that could be rotated with respect to the earths magnetic fields in such a way the there would be no other sources of bias from visual or other non-magnetic clues. So they definitely are going to need a grant to pay for that.

Now I really want to know the answer to the all important question – do Australian and southern hemisphere dogs point in the opposite direction?

All of this is not to say it is that remote possibility. If you think this post (and the poster) is nerdy, I just herd arch nerd Oliver Sacks describe how he puts a large neodymium magnet in his pocket when he walks around town and says that by feeling how it twists in his pocket he can tell which compass heading he is on. ROFL. I'd like to say this is a SUL replacement for a compass but the magnets are pretty heavy.

Now the real question – does he line the magnet up when he pees?

Edit: I just took a look at the actual paper.(here: http://www.frontiersinzoology.com/content/pdf/1742-9994-10-80.pdf) It seem pretty thorough, actually, and they are aware some of the potential problems. You can find out the names and sexes of the dogs, and how many times they defecated as opposed to urinated. Lots of dogs, lots of authors/observers, and lots of crapping and peeing. All in all very impressive.

Personally I find the extreme discrepancy in the (all important) crapping to peeing ratio between individual dogs (spoiler if varies between 3 and 1/3!!!)to be very disturbing – there is a whole grant proposal right there! (I also find that I care at all very disturbing, but that is another matter)

An impressive amount of work. Which is not to say they should not *absolutely* be front runners for next years Ignoble Prize! Probably too good for the award committee to pass up, as they usually are more for the silliness of the concept or execution, rather than the actual science, or lack thereof.

[Mark Regalia]

I have one dog who walks and walks and turns and walks some more trying to figure out which direction to point. Now I know she just has a faulty compass. Next time I'll whip out my smartphone compass and show her which direction is north. This could save me and my other less patient dog a lot of frustration with her.

[Marko Botsaris]

Maybe you can "repair" her by taping a few magnets to her.

[David Thomas]

I just use the same technique as generations of Arctic Natives have:

The satellite dishes point south. The other way is north.

[Mark Regalia]

Yep the satellite trick is an age old technique used by indigenous cyclists lost in the suburban wilderness.

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