What is ‘Middening’? Why Your Dog Insists on Pooping in High Places

The other morning, I watched in befuddlement as my dog, Bella, hoisted her hind legs up on a tall, snowy sidewalk “mountain” and proceeded to poop atop it, the turds rolling down the icy slope. She has a bizarre habit of pooping in high places, angling herself to go on tree trunks or against walls, so she must have clocked the steep, packed-in snow drift and aspired to hit a new record defecation height. Never mind that I then had to chase said turds down snow pile and collect them, one by one, with my freezing hand that was covered only by a thin poop bag.

I’ve been noticing Bella‘s vertically motivated pooping behavior for quite some time and had chalked it up to her own eccentricities. But when I looked into it, I learned the elevated-poop move is actually not unique to Bella; it’s known as “poop-marking” or “middening,” and dogs will do it to mark territory, establish dominance, or simply communicate with other neighborhood dogs. I spoke with two veterinarians who shed more light on the meaning behind pooping in high places.

What is poop-marking (aka middening)?

A Google search led me to other befuddled dog parents, like the Redditor wondering why their Husky “insists” on dropping deuces on trees, walls, and chainlink fences, or the blogger who described their dog pooping on hills as “middening”: pooping in places with high visibility. 

According to Dr. Rory Lubold, head of veterinary services at Yourgi, poop-marking is a version of “scent-marking,” which we typically associate with urination, but can be accomplished with feces, too. Dogs will often strategically poop-mark in places where the scent will be better preserved, and travel better.

“Defecating on elevated surfaces like hills, tree bases, or fence lines fits well with what we know about canine scent communication: placing scent higher or in more exposed areas allows it to disperse farther and remain detectable longer,” Dr. Lubold says. 

You can think of it like your dog is a promoter seeking out a spot on a lamp post with good visibility to plaster their event flyer. Because dogs use bathroom spots as communication hubs — sometimes described as a place to check their “peemail” — the high poop-mark might function like a bulletin on a message board. 

A way to establish territory or “Top Dog” status

Sometimes, the drop is simply a way to relay information. Dr. Matthew Murdoch, veterinarian and founder of Ferndale Kennels and Travel Pet Relocation Services, explains that the dominant scent that’s left from poop comes not from the digested food — but rather the dog’s anal glands getting released.   

“These glands produce a strong, individualized secretion that might tell other dogs about their identity, gender, and size and strength,” Dr. Murdoch explains. The prominent placement may have more relevance than the elevation, he argues: “If a dog can place their scent where other dogs are already paying attention, the message is more effective.”

It can be a way to assert dominance. “Research suggests that higher placement can subtly signal body size to other dogs, partly because dogs are trying to appear bigger, and also because scent height acts as a proxy for presence or status,” Dr. Lubold explains. This theory also sheds light on what dogs are trying to accomplish when they lift their leg to pee. 

And while dogs will often revisit the same spot to leave messages, they also do so to mask the scent of other dominant dogs and “show they are the main dog in this area,” per Dr. Murdoch.

Are some dogs more likely to poop-mark than others? 

While any kind of scent marking is more commonly observed in male dogs, female dogs may do it, too — and in either case, it’s more common in dogs that are unneutered or unspayed. In general, the likelihood may come down to personality more than breed or gender.

“My elderly female Toy Poodle thinks she’s tough, so she barks at big dogs and defecates and urinates to mark areas where other dogs go, despite her being frail and tiny,” Dr. Murdoch says.

Sometimes, marking behavior will increase when a dog finds themselves in a new location or as a response to the presence of new dogs leaving their scent in the area. 

Could the elevated angle function like a doggie squatty potty? 

I was nurturing a cute theory that Bella’s desire to seek out elevated poop spots might be some sort of dog version approach to poop at an efficient angle.

But Dr. Murdoch dispels that: “From a veterinary standpoint, there’s no evidence that dogs are deliberately choosing angles to make defecation easier,” he says. However, he noted that some dogs might favor one leg over the other, due to arthritis or injury, and that could influence their pooping angle. 

So, basically, if you think your dog is a weirdo for pooping up a high mountain of snow, a steep grassy hill or a tree, they might be. But they’re also doing a totally normal dog thing. They’re adjusting to their physical needs or (more likely) they’re communicating in their own language — through poop. You wouldn’t understand.