# Dog quirks and interpretations



## Emilio Rodriguez (Jan 16, 2009)

Sometimes dogs show me some curious behaviors. At times I can imagine how it came about and other times it leaves me baffled. I'll post a few that I've seen and maybe someone can comment. Maybe other people would like to post some curious behavior they've seen.

I had a rott that I acquired at about 2 years of age. This dog the first thing it would do when coming to a new home, be it mine in the beginning and later a friend's house, is go find a bathroom that has a bath tub. Jump in the tub and grab the little rubber stopper, take it to a comfortable place and chew on it.

I kept an Alaskan malamute for about 3 months, it was about a year old. It was one of those giant malamutes. I kept it in a kennel most of the time. The dog was fairly skinny. I noticed quickly that he'd eat very little. I'd set down the food dish full of kibble and the next day it would still be almost full. This went on for a couple of weeks and I was amazed at how little this huge dog would eat. I reasoned that it's a very good quality in a dog this size to be such a light eater, cheap on the pocket for me LOL. One day after setting the food bowl down for him I stayed around the kennel cleaning up or something and I heard the food bowl clanking, it was a stainless steel bowl. I turned to look and saw the dog stalking the bowl. He'd crouch down real low and try to sneak up on the bowl then at the final moment he'd lunge at it, grab a mouthful of kibble and jump away, then eat what he had taken and some more that spilled on the ground. It dawned on me instantly that he's afraid of the bowl. I went over and emptied the kibble on the floor. He instantly devoured all of it. After this day that was the way I'd feed him and he changed from a dog that would eat so little to a dog that would eat a ton.

I have a rott now that I acquired at 3 years of age. He has this thing where he'll run his front teeth in a similar way to when they're after a flea or something on their body, making these little bites with just the incisors, along the edge of my mattress. The bites are just light enough that they don't tear the sheet but they leave a wet trail a couple of feet long because he keeps moving slowly as he does it. Like eating corn on the cob. I think it's related to him liking a scent or maybe he just likes massaging his gums. This particular one I'd like to know if someone has seen develop in a dog.


----------



## Jennifer Marshall (Dec 13, 2007)

My AB Cajun loved to be a footrest. One day he was laying near my feet and got up at the same time I stretched my legs out, I put my legs over him to get him to move and he stayed there and just looked at me with his head tilted, then looked back at my legs, sniffed my foot, and stood there for a good 5 minutes before I told him to move.

After that if I was sitting on the couch or in a chair he would come and sit by me until I raised my legs and he would walk under them and just stand there. He stood with my legs over his back for half an hour once, nearly falling asleep on his feet. Content to just be an ottoman. 

Never did this for anyone else. Now my pup is starting to do the same damn thing, but he bulls his way under my legs and nibbles my socks while he stands there.

Duke HAD to check someone out if they sneezed. If anyone in the house sneezed he would jump up from a dead sleep, run over and just stare at their face until they let him sniff them. Once he sniffed your nose, he was content and would go back to sleep.


----------



## Jaimie Van Orden (Dec 3, 2008)

My rescued Terv chases the cats, goes out of his way to chase squirrels but treats my loose rabbit like his best friend, even sharing kibble with her....


----------



## Chris Michalek (Feb 13, 2008)

my mal has a thing with putting balls in bowls. If you're looking for a ball or anything semi round, chances are you will find it in one of the empty food dished, water bowl or toilet. I've seen as many as five balls in five different bowls at one time.


----------



## Howard Knauf (May 10, 2008)

My boy likes to drop his toys in the pool and watch me fish them out. When I don't, he gets another and drops it in. Sometimes there's half a dozen or so in there and it aggravates me so much my OCD makes me get em out. Damn dog.:evil:


----------



## Ian Forbes (Oct 13, 2006)

Howard Knauf said:


> My boy likes to drop his toys in the pool and watch me fish them out. When I don't, he gets another and drops it in. Sometimes there's half a dozen or so in there and it aggravates me so much my OCD makes me get em out. Damn dog.:evil:


Geez, Howard. I guess he just likes training you to retrieve......8-[


----------



## Jerry Lyda (Apr 4, 2006)

Bentley, eats always from the left side of his dish. Also when he gets hungry, he will bring me his dish and hold it till I take it.


----------



## Jen Houser (Dec 12, 2008)

My pup has an obsession with lotion. If he even hears me opening or closing the cap to a lotion bottle he will come sprinting from the other room as excited as can be. It gets very annoying, because he then tries to lick it all off of me. It's become a routine that he will lick my hands for a good 30 minutes every night before bed. 

My retrievers constantly have to have their paws held. It is a horrible habit they developed as pups. If we are in the car, their paws are on my leg. If I am standing there, they will constantly "shake" until someone catches their paw and holds it. That's all they want... someone to hold it. They will fall asleep with their arm up in the air and they will stay like that for as long as someone is holding their paw. I've acquired a ton of scratches that way. They will keep throwing their paws at you until they are satisfied.


----------



## Erika Moon (Jul 23, 2008)

My dog has a thing for damp towels. After showering we toss the towel onto the doorknob of the bathroom to dry and she will come in to rub and roll against it. I guess she likes my shampoo?


----------



## Anna Kasho (Jan 16, 2008)

One of my GSD's does that nibbling thing on me, almost like biting a flea, when I pet him. The more he enjoys the petting, the more he does it. It is annoying, and painful when he gets my skin...


----------



## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

I had to keep a close eye on one of my Kerry Blue's water dishes. He always wanted to bring it to me BEFORE it ran ot of water.  
If I was a little late at feeding time he would pick up and drop his food dish till I filled it.


----------



## Michelle Reusser (Mar 29, 2008)

I used to have a cat that did the tub stopper thing. Quite annoying until I taught him to put it back when he was done playing with it.

I have had many dogs that do the front teeth chewy thing if I scratch or pet them, even my last horse did it too. To me it equates to...if you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours kinda deal. With the mattress...I don't know?

Baden spins when he is excited to get in or out or if he sees me at the gate of the kennel. Thankfully he doesn't do it any other time or on the field, that would be annoying. He also has to come check on me if I sneeze, I think it's cute. I guess he is just wondering what my problem is. I sneeze pretty loud. He also ALWAYS barks of someone opens my shed door. My guess is the lawn mower lives in there and that is his mortal enemy. If he can get in the shed, he will bite the tires.


----------



## Anne Vaini (Mar 15, 2007)

I don't give my dogs enough freedom to exhibit these sorts of behaviors - but I always know when I've achieved one-session imprinting:

When the pup is amped up she'll RUN and CHARGE into her kennel - repeatedly.

Emma will retrieve her food or water dish when she is amped up - whether or not it is empty.


----------



## Howard Knauf (May 10, 2008)

Bob Scott said:


> If I was a little late at feeding time he would pick up and drop his food dish till I filled it.


Hey Ian...Guess I'm not the only one being trained by my dog, eh?](*,)

Not to worry BOB....my boy does the same thing. Those stainless bowls make a hell of a noise hitting tile.


----------



## Eros Kopliku (Jan 30, 2008)

Every night before going to sleep, my dog gets his favorite non-training toy and nurses on it like on his dam's teat until he goes to sleep. Sometimes he does it for hours.


----------



## Daryl Ehret (Apr 4, 2006)

When I first greet my six month old boy, either out of the crate or coming in from outside, he likes to clamp on my forearm and just hold it firmly for half a minute or so, even if we're moving across the room. If it's a bad idea to allow this, it seems OK to me. He finds comfort in it.


----------



## Dan Long (Jan 10, 2008)

My GSD will drop his toys into the pool as well. I haven't persuaded him to jump in and get them himself yet... so he plays fetch with me. He also will sit at the top of the basement steps and toss a ball down to you, and I'll throw it back up, he catches it, and tosses it back down. He'll go all day doing this if you had the patience. Eros' post reminds me that Gunnar does the same thing- he'll take a stuffed toy and lay there with it, and you don't even have to see him, you know he's got one because he is making this super high pitched, soft little whine. We say he's got his "night night". 









Our Dane has become a master at opening doors. She can turn a doorknob, open the paddle type handles, and sliders are a mere inconvenience for her. Our pug had a bone in his crate which was closed. It took her about 15 minutes of fiddling to learn how to open the latch. She can also open the dog toy box, which looks like a treasure chest with a rounded top, a heavy lid and a tiny knob to lift it by.

Our pug is scared of his food dish as well. He'll sit there and grunt at you until you dump it out for him. Same with paper plates. We feed raw and often I'll put his food down on a paper plate, and the food will stick to it. He'll pick up the food and the plate comes with it, and he'll come running for help. 

Our JRT mix is scared of his own butt. You scratch his rump, he'll turn around and look at it and start growling. He also takes his ball and will rub against it and roll it across the floor as he rubs it.


----------



## Howard Knauf (May 10, 2008)

Dan Long said:


> My GSD will drop his toys into the pool as well. I haven't persuaded him to jump in and get them himself yet... so he plays fetch with me..


 I have got him diving for the toy down to the 2nd step but he just won't go any deeper. He loves the water but the scuba thing is beyond him.

My first PSD never laid teeth on anyone at my home except a certain handler who occasionally visited. He knew this guy was his beotch and every time he came to the house Ciro would bite him on the ass. Never broke skin but usually left a bruise.:lol: His visits become less frequent over time.


----------



## Howard Knauf (May 10, 2008)

Dan Long said:


> My GSD will drop his toys into the pool as well. I haven't persuaded him to jump in and get them himself yet... so he plays fetch with me..


 I have got him diving for the toy down to the 2nd step but he just won't go any deeper. He loves the water but the scuba thing is beyond him.

My first PSD never laid teeth on anyone at my home except a certain handler who occasionally visited. He knew this guy was his beotch and every time he came to the house Ciro would bite him on the ass. Never broke skin but usually left a bruise. (so I'm told):lol: His visits become less frequent over time.


----------



## Dan Long (Jan 10, 2008)

Howard Knauf said:


> I have got him diving for the toy down to the 2nd step but he just won't go any deeper. He loves the water but the scuba thing is beyond him.
> 
> My first PSD never laid teeth on anyone at my home except a certain handler who occasionally visited. He knew this guy was his beotch and every time he came to the house Ciro would bite him on the ass. Never broke skin but usually left a bruise. (so I'm told):lol: His visits become less frequent over time.


I can hold the toy under water and he'll stick his head down and get it. The problem with our pool is it's above ground and no steps to get in and out, only a ladder, so all the dogs are unsure of jumping in somewhere that they can't walk down into. He's got no problem at the beach or at the lake we have nearby, he'll go right in and swim and fetch floating toys. It's that jump off into 4' of water with no escape that makes him pause.  We've been contemplating some sort of floating ramp that they could use to get in and out.


----------



## Howard Knauf (May 10, 2008)

Our pool in an in ground and he still wont go any deeper. Below the 2nd step he'll start grabbing at the toy like a raccoon looking for crawdads but he wont go under. BTW, your boy is the spittin image of mine.


----------



## Dan Long (Jan 10, 2008)

Howard Knauf said:


> BTW, your boy is the spittin image of mine.


You must have a very handsome dog then  Post some pics!


----------



## Tina Rempel (Feb 13, 2008)

Boa does the chewy grooming thing when I scratching her. She likes to "hold hands" too, she'll gently take my hand in her mouth and just hodl with no pressure at all.

Ccatti used to flip her water dish over, in the house. She would pick it up in her mouth and pretty much throw it..... For a couple years a water dish was never left down on the floor. Now she hoards kongs, I found a dozen in the back corner of her crate one day.

Abe figured out the kong thing and now the kongs are all "buried" under the pad in his crate. He'll go into her crate to steal them back. Abe's also the one that thinks it fun to walk between your legs. The problem is he's a big boy, and I'm short! :lol:


----------



## Howard Knauf (May 10, 2008)

Here ya go Dan....


----------



## Carol Boche (May 13, 2007)

Like the football pic Howard..... 

I had a rubbermaid tub that a friend brought full of the old tennis balls from the courts.......Rock decided it was his personal toy box and when I went to grab some one day there was only about 10 in there. 
I figured he was stealing them and taking them outside, until I moved my dresser one day. 84 tennis balls were under there...ugh...LOL

He also will bring the food or water dish from the kitchen and stare at me pathetically about 15 minutes before feeding times.


----------



## Nicole Lit (Jan 21, 2009)

Jax is water obsessed. Actually, she is quite obsessed and very persistant about many things - top ones being:

1. An intense desire to drop her toys in the toilet...needless to say, the toilet seats in our house are always up, and it's not because the dogs lke drinking out of them... 

2. "Helping" with laundry, namely taking things out of the dryer and putting them into the clean hamper; helping put wet clothes in the dryer; and/or putting her soggy, gobby toys in the dryer while I'm trying to put wet clean cothes in (not so "helpful")...

3. Watching TV/vids on the computer. Seriously, I have never had a dog that loves watching TV as much as her - she will actually watch an entire episode of something. ..

4. Swimming and water related activites...she completely freaks out swimming to a thrown item - 1/2 her upper body is out of the water, as she is paddling so hard she is pretty much propelling herself up and out of the water (did I mention she does this horrible high pitched "yip yip yip" the whole way while swimming out to get the item...and oh yes, if an item happens to become water logged, she will dive in and will not give up until she gets it...I have had to "rescue" her once because she was gagging and choking [aka pretty much drowning]and still trying to dive deep!) ](*,) Gee, got prey drive?!


----------

