Scent rolling is the act of pressing the body against a strong-smelling object or scent. This behavior usually begins with the wolf pushing a cheek against the object, and then sliding on it until the side of the chest has cleared the object. The wolf will likely stand and repeat the process several times on each side of the body.

Wolves commonly perform this behavior with any strong or unique-smelling object within their territory, such as a smelly carcass (food), urine or feces from another animal outside the pack, or any other pungent odor encountered that is not a regular scent within their territory.

Many visitors ask why wolves and subsequently their dogs perform such a behavior. For wolves, the answer is simple: olfactory camouflage. We believe wolves are essentially transferring the scent of the different odor to their bodies so when hunting their prey may not smell wolf, rather the benign rolled-upon scent, when in close proximity of the hunting pack. This camouflage has obvious benefits for hunting wolves, as they may be able to gain closer access to their prey. Another theory for evolution of scent rolling is to transfer the scent of the rolling wolf onto the object chosen, thus "marking" it as an item within their territory. Gray wolves likely utilize both of these advantages as a motivation to perform scent rolling.

So, why do dogs perform such a behavior? Some breeds may scent-roll for the same reasons wolves do, especially to mark their territory. A pertinent question to any interested dog owner is: "Does your dog typically scent-roll on your property more so than off your property?" If so, the motivation is likely a territorial marker. In some dog breeds, scent rolling is simply a rudimentary, or useless hereditary, tie-over from their ancestors, wolves. Regardless if domestic dogs perform scent rolling or not, the behavior is an important survival tool for gray wolves.