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July 20, 2005
DOG: "Don't Touch My Bone!"
(Jimmy Akin)
Here's a video that's been going around the Net lately. It's titled--for reasons that will become obvious if they aren't already--"Don't touch my bone."
It's funny!
A lot of folks have been wondering what's going on in the mind of the dog in the video. At first glance, his behavior certainly seems strange, and hypothetically he could have a canine equivalent of one of those disorders where a part of a person's body (e.g., a hand) moves without voluntary control.
But I think there may be a very simple explanation:
<SPOILER SWIPE>He's just playing! Dogs sometimes chase their tails, seeming to treat a body part (their tail) as if it were part of another critter. Something like that may be happening here. This dog may have achieved the level of abstraction needed to play a little game of defending his bone against an imaginary aggressor, while using his foot to play the part of the imaginary aggressor. It may just be a dog version of what happens when little boy put toy soldiers or toy robots or whatever in each hand and then let the toys "fight" in front of them. If so, the dog isn't crazy. He's just smart and playful.</SPOILER SWIPE>
Posted by Jimmy Akin in Curios & Humor | Permalink
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Comments
I saw this on America's Funniest Home Videos. In fact, I think it won!
Funny.
Posted by: George G. | Jul 20, 2005 7:53:16 AM
Yeah, I remember that episode too! Funny show.
Posted by: Barbara | Jul 20, 2005 8:00:05 AM
This did win America's Funniest Home Video's. I remember watching it when I was flipping channels...
Posted by: | Jul 20, 2005 8:38:02 AM
I hate AFHV when they do animal videos. They are incredibly dumb, like the dumb beasts they are. The best ones are wedding videos.
Posted by: Ed Peters | Jul 20, 2005 8:43:10 AM
I had a dog who used to play "angry bone protector." Whenever I would get home from work, he'd immediately pick up a bone, chew toy, or some other favored object and start pacing and growling. He'd come just close enough to me to give me an opportunity to grab it from him. As soon as I made a move he'd swing his head away and go the other direction. I'd follow him around saying, "Gimme that bone, ya bad doggie," which seemed to please him all the more.
Posted by: Technicoid | Jul 20, 2005 9:08:11 AM
I have a guide dog, and at times, he chases his tail. I know he's just playing but it looks just funny. He also does the growling with a chew toy usually in his mouth when he wants me to play tug with him. Even more funny is when he literally throws his toys at me. He'll pick up a bone and just fling it at my feet. He's hit me a couple of times but he's too cute to be mad at.
Posted by: Laura | Jul 20, 2005 9:23:36 AM
One of my cats will throw himself on the floor when looking for attention. It's hysterical the drama that he does it with.
Posted by: StephenL | Jul 20, 2005 10:28:34 AM
"One of my cats will throw himself on the floor when looking for attention." Yeah, like a cat is smart enough to do that!
Posted by: Press | Jul 20, 2005 10:58:56 AM
A few possibilities?
Domestic dogs have retained many of the instinctual habits of their pack animal anscestors. They instinctually view their family as their "pack". Young pups when growing up naturally test their "defensive skills" on eachother in the form of play fighting. Perhaps this dog, knowing that he's the "omega dog" and that he better not try this on anyone else, is just testing himself.
Or maybe it's just a strange habit developed out of boredom.
Or maybe he's just showing off for the camera. : )
Posted by: Mike | Jul 20, 2005 11:30:35 AM
What about the bulldog in California who rides a skate board? Saw it on TV news last night - real funny - as one guy said, "That's the last thing you see when you say you've seen it all."
Posted by: | Jul 20, 2005 3:29:51 PM
Thanks for the link, Jimmy.
I agree with you and several of your other commenters on the dog's motivation. My late cat, Riley, loved to play "fight the hand." He'd play at biting and scratching my hand, lay his ears back, kick my arm with his hind legs, go all wild-eyed... but never actually make a scratch.
If I didn't verbally praise him for being such a fierce fighter while he was doing all this, he'd eventually stop and give me this look like "Don't you see what a great show I'm putting on here?"
Posted by: Adam Messinger | Jul 23, 2005 7:31:08 PM
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