Pet behavior that is...flat WEIRD.

[justginger]

We're staying a castle in Ireland at the moment (yes, it IS as cool as it sounds!) and the hoteliers have two pet dogs. One is a giant Irish wolfhound ( I adore big dogs), and the other is a...I don't know. I'll have to ask. He looks like a stout black and white, short haired mutt with big sticky-uppy ears.

Now this little mutt does the most peculiar thing I have ever seen a dog do. He will go outside, collect 6-7 rocks from the garden or parking area, and carry them around in his mouth. Walking around the castle, you'll find little piles of rocks here and there, where something has distracted him and he's left his rocks behind. But the ultimate goal of carrying the rocks around is to find an agreeable human and spit them out next to their feet. Then the agreeable human either uses their fingers to scatter the rocks, or kicks them to scatter the rocks. He pounces on each individual rock, recollecting them into his mouth, until he has all of them snug in his snout. He will then bend down, spit out the rocks, and look back up at you to do it again.

He can do this all night. When one human tires of the game, he collects his rocks and goes to another table in the bar and stares down the next human. If you try to trick him and withhold one of the rocks, he knows. It's like he's counted them. He also knows if he's one short because he hasn't found it yet -- he keeps looking and looking.

Perhaps he's a herding dog?

What completely off-the-wall things have you seen pets do? I thought my bathroom sink-soaking cat was strange, but this dog...even in my years of pet rescue, I've never seen anything like it!

 

[packrat]

hahaha what a silly dog! He certainly came up w/an interesting game to keep himself occupied!

I had a cat that that would fetch popcorn and bring it back, making a little pile, then she'd scatter it all over w/her paws and bat it around and then stare at me, and I'd have to go pick it all up and throw it for her again.

My cat Opilio is a sponge stealer. She'll open up the cupboard under the sink and steal the sponge. She'll take it off the counter, wherever it is, she'll find it and it's gone. She hides them under the couch and brings them out now and again to play w/, rolls around on them, flings them up in the air and bats them around. She'll come walking out from behind the couch carrying a sponge in her mouth and the second she sees me, she drops the sponge, flops on the floor and looks away like What, I wasn't doing anything..I also found out she was stealing the kids cereal. Round pieces like Trix and Coco Puffs. The kids like to eat it dry for a snack and if they left it out on the counter, she was getting up there and pilfering pieces of it. I'd watch her play and think what does she have? Is she just being crazy and playing w/nothing? Oh huh, it's a piece of cereal, whatever, and then throw it away. 20 minutes later, same thing. Didn't I throw that piece away? Huh, well, I know I'm throwing this one away. Later, is that ANOTHER piece?? Where is this coming from? She had a stash of them someplace. I'm not kidding I bet in one day I threw away 40 pieces of cereal-every time I turned around she had another one. Now I can't get her out of the kitchen sink. She sits in it all day, and when she's not sitting in it, if she hears the water run, she's sprinting for the counter to watch it and try to smack the water and bite it.

 

[Sha]

I don't think it sounds ALL that weird, speaking as someone who's had several dogs over the years. One of our family dogs had a quirk like that. I live in the Caribbean so our dogs are outside - whenever we came home our dog, Galaxy, would run and look for something to pick up in her mouth - sometimes a rock, sometimes a stick, sometimes a piece of plastic - and she would present it to me at the gate, tail wagging. I would pry it from her mouth and throw it as far away as I could, then she would run and fetch it and present it to me again. Repeat x 10. That was our game. I think most dogs like fetching games... ours just liked doing with it with random bits of stuff.

All of our dogs have had their own quirks, come to think of it. It's part of what makes dogs so fascinating and lovable.

 

[Sha]

hahaha what a silly dog! He certainly came up w/an interesting game to keep himself occupied!

I had a cat that that would fetch popcorn and bring it back, making a little pile, then she'd scatter it all over w/her paws and bat it around and then stare at me, and I'd have to go pick it all up and throw it for her again.

My cat Opilio is a sponge stealer. She'll open up the cupboard under the sink and steal the sponge. She'll take it off the counter, wherever it is, she'll find it and it's gone. She hides them under the couch and brings them out now and again to play w/, rolls around on them, flings them up in the air and bats them around. She'll come walking out from behind the couch carrying a sponge in her mouth and the second she sees me, she drops the sponge, flops on the floor and looks away like What, I wasn't doing anything..I also found out she was stealing the kids cereal. Round pieces like Trix and Coco Puffs. The kids like to eat it dry for a snack and if they left it out on the counter, she was getting up there and pilfering pieces of it. I'd watch her play and think what does she have? Is she just being crazy and playing w/nothing? Oh huh, it's a piece of cereal, whatever, and then throw it away. 20 minutes later, same thing. Didn't I throw that piece away? Huh, well, I know I'm throwing this one away. Later, is that ANOTHER piece?? Where is this coming from? She had a stash of them someplace. I'm not kidding I bet in one day I threw away 40 pieces of cereal-every time I turned around she had another one. Now I can't get her out of the kitchen sink. She sits in it all day, and when she's not sitting in it, if she hears the water run, she's sprinting for the counter to watch it and try to smack the water and bite it.

So cute!

 

[iLander]

Okay, the rock dog story is pretty weird. Freakin' adorable, but weird. My dogs have never come up with anything like that.

My dog used to put her toys in a corner, behind the bookcase, but then one day I vaccuumed it (carefully replacing the toys) and she never used it again.

I guess I ruined it, somehow.

 

[amc80]

Our dogs don't do anything cool...honestly, they are too stupid to come up with something fun like that (English Bulldogs). Oh, one of them loves water and when we give her a bath she splashes with her front paws to get the water going and turn it into a wave pool. That's about it.

The cats have a ton of quirks. The first is their love of Q-Tips. Don't know why, but they LOVE them. One time I left the drawer open where the Q-Tips live...came home to them scattered over the entire house.

The other- you know those sort of gummy slap hands that they sell in quarter machines? It's a rubbery hand attached to maybe a foot long lead (also made of the same stuff) and you can smack them against walls and they stick? The cats go insane over these. INSANE. As soon as I whip out the little plastic container they start going crazy. I have no idea what it is about this toy.

 

[StacylikesSparkles]

hahaha what a silly dog! He certainly came up w/an interesting game to keep himself occupied!

I had a cat that that would fetch popcorn and bring it back, making a little pile, then she'd scatter it all over w/her paws and bat it around and then stare at me, and I'd have to go pick it all up and throw it for her again.

My cat Opilio is a sponge stealer. She'll open up the cupboard under the sink and steal the sponge. She'll take it off the counter, wherever it is, she'll find it and it's gone. She hides them under the couch and brings them out now and again to play w/, rolls around on them, flings them up in the air and bats them around. She'll come walking out from behind the couch carrying a sponge in her mouth and the second she sees me, she drops the sponge, flops on the floor and looks away like What, I wasn't doing anything..I also found out she was stealing the kids cereal. Round pieces like Trix and Coco Puffs. The kids like to eat it dry for a snack and if they left it out on the counter, she was getting up there and pilfering pieces of it. I'd watch her play and think what does she have? Is she just being crazy and playing w/nothing? Oh huh, it's a piece of cereal, whatever, and then throw it away. 20 minutes later, same thing. Didn't I throw that piece away? Huh, well, I know I'm throwing this one away. Later, is that ANOTHER piece?? Where is this coming from? She had a stash of them someplace. I'm not kidding I bet in one day I threw away 40 pieces of cereal-every time I turned around she had another one. Now I can't get her out of the kitchen sink. She sits in it all day, and when she's not sitting in it, if she hears the water run, she's sprinting for the counter to watch it and try to smack the water and bite it.

George (my cat) also loves sponges! He likes them fresh out of the dryer (we accidentally washed a dried one and now do this regularly for him). He rubs them all over his face, chews them, bats them around, rolls all over the place with them. They make him happy!!
That and he has a humpy bear. Two actually and yes, you heard that right. He is fixed and about 7 years old and he humps. I have NEVER in my life heard of a cat humping anything, but he has two stuffed bears that are his and he definitely has good times with them. lmao..he is the sweetest cat ever (more like a dog because he is so attentive and comes when you call him) but his MAJOR quirk is that he is a humper! bahaha..writing that just sounds even more funny to me!

 

[tyty333]

My one cat can't stand for me to read anything. He hops in my lap and bats the
Newspaper down or lays on top of my book or kindle in my lap. If I move it out from
Under him he just depositions himself right back on top.

I know this isn't that unhealed but both my cats like to br patted on
their Burt's really hard.

 

[Porridge]

JustGinger you're here in Ireland!? No way! How long more are you here for? I hope you're having a great time! Sorry about the weather this weekend...

My dog sits really funny it's so cute. He looks like an old man when he does it! He's only about 2yrs old in this photo:

 

[Haven]

Rock pup sounds adorable! He sounds like a very resourceful pup who just doesn't have enough tennis balls in reach. I love it.

All of our animals are weird, I think. That's why we love them so.

My mom's Newfie/Lab mix cannot stand it when people hug in front of her. She goes bananas--growling and barking and jumping on the huggers. When you stop hugging, she goes back to her sweet, docile self.

Our Shih Tzu turns into a wild man if you give him loud kisses on his neck or head. First he starts smashing his face into the bed or sofa, then he flops his body around like a fish out of water, and ultimately he'll start making this growling/snorting sound that I can only liken to Gremlin noises. He really looks possessed when he does it. I keep saying we need to get video, but whenever it happens we are so doubled-over with laughter that we can't move.

Our Pit Bull plays hide and seek/tag with us. When she gets in the mood she grabs her huge yarn bone toy, picks her target, and does this stance with a look and we just know it's ON. If we want to initiate it all we have to do is stand still and stare at a spot right above her head, and she knows it's on. It's hilarious. She'll run so we chase her, or she'll chase us, or one of us will hide and then she'll wait a bit and come find us. She tries to get guests to play, but the uninitiated always just thing she wants them to tug on her bone.

I just saw this awesome video of a "kleptomaniac" Greyhound on CuteOverload.com. It's pretty awesome weird dog behavior caught on tape:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcxffRmTMKY&feature=player_embedded

 

[mogster]

I stayed at a hostel once where the owner had a border collie. He would bring you rocks to throw, though not quite the game of fetch as he would run after the rock and then stand next to it to show you that he had found it. Then he would expect you to pick up the rock and throw it again, and would put his paw on your foot if the request went unanswered.

 

[Porridge]

My mom's Newfie/Lab mix cannot stand it when people hug in front of her. She goes bananas--growling and barking and jumping on the huggers. When you stop hugging, she goes back to her sweet, docile self.

Our jack russell does this too! He hates when people touch each other. It's bizarre.

 

[Haven]

Porridge--I LOVE it when pups sit like that! My mom's 85 lb Newfie/Lab mix sits like that, it's hilarious!

I love funny animal positions!

Our cat Vince always falls asleep in ridiculous positions. He usually looks like he passed out drunk or something.


Manny always lies around with his belly hanging out. Here's my favorite. I put the words in and put it up on my Facebook recently. I'm pretty sure that's what he's thinking.

 

[Haven]

My mom's Newfie/Lab mix cannot stand it when people hug in front of her. She goes bananas--growling and barking and jumping on the huggers. When you stop hugging, she goes back to her sweet, docile self.

Our jack russell does this too! He hates when people touch each other. It's bizarre.

I've always wondered what the deal is with this! She NEVER growls unless people are hugging in front of her. It's so strange.
My sister Allie gets offended because she doesn't care when Allie hugs people, though. Anyone else in the family, she goes nuts. Allie? No biggie. Ha!

 

[Porridge]

Hahaha! I saw that one on FB, it made me laugh.

I LOVE the one where he's sprawled across the arm of the chair! Hilarious!

 

[rubybeth]

My mom's Newfie/Lab mix cannot stand it when people hug in front of her. She goes bananas--growling and barking and jumping on the huggers. When you stop hugging, she goes back to her sweet, docile self.

Reading this reminded me of my sister's dog, a long-haired dachshund. He gets very excited/agitated when people hug, and we've figured out that it's because he wants to be PART of the hug. So we pick him up and then hug, and he's happy (lots of tail wagging)! He's a snugglebear, for sure.

 

[vintagelover229]

I am SO glad you started this thread!

I've been considering starting one like this but was afraid people would think I was batty and spent way to much time with my cat to notice theses sorts of things.

The pictures/stories have made me LOL! Haven-that video you posted was SO FUNNY!


We have a 4yr old female bengal cat who is quite strange indeed. She does a few different things that have made me go

First-when we moved into our new house she must have been thrilled since we have an upstairs loft. She considers this her personal run way. One morning I hear this Ker....THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK. Ker THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK. I have NO clue what this is-it sounds like a 50lb thing crashing around upstairs and then MEOW-MEOW-only to start the process all over again. I'm thinking she's hurting herself or something.

Nope-she RUNS as FAST as she can back and fourth-then MEOWS (almost like she is talking herself for doing a good job or working herself up for another sprint) and she is SO loud-she only weighs 8lbs so I'm not quite sure how she can make this banging like she does.

Another thing she does is ANNOUNCES when she has used the litter box. Like she did a good job or something

I thought this was strange so I googled stuff about bengles and sure enough-there are a couple of them who do it as well.

She also talks A LOT. One night we were in bed-and we hear the strangest noise I've ever heard...we wait-to see if it will happen again-and sure enough-there it is. We look at eachother and are like----is that the CAT?! WTF is that strange noise she is making? I've heard her yodel before too...that was weird. But this is what she sounded like (we busted out laughing as soon as we realized it was her since it was SO strange)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ft54T-MT4zw

When I play these videos trying to find the right sound out comes the cat-ears perked-wondering WHERE on earth that sound is coming from. All curious like-hey I"M the only cat supposed to be up in here!


She also likes to make us WORK for her attention. She'll come real close-arch her back-rub up against you-but as soon as you reach down to pet her she inches away just far enough to make you reach. I'm not putting up with that so I ignore her and sooner vs later she'll come and actually get on your lap. But it's like she thinks she's SO special that we'll work for it lol. She used to hate being picked up and having her belly rubbed...but after a year of me training her that I'm not going to hurt/drop her (by putting her down gently after picking her up/etc) she now is a big ol' suck and loves attention and if she doesn't get it will have a meowing fit. She used to have to be under the blanket to be on your lap but that's improved-she still prefers it though.

One thing she does that drives me nuts is she'll come up for attention and then sneeze all over. I push her away and say DON'T come up and sneeze one me. So now she goes on the top railing on the loft-and she'll be sneezing up there and it sprays down on me. Not cool.

I tried to attach pictures but it's taking to long to load. Oh well!

 

[AGBF]

Our Newfoundland, Griffin, did something so strange the other day that I told my daughter not to repeat what she had done to start him on it! I don't know if anyone here can shed any light on this behavior.

He is usually so calm that it's ridiculous. I would swear that he would never bite anyone. One day she was making faces at him-maybe faces to kiss him, which he loves-and she started to dart her tongue in and out of her mouth. He got an absolutely crazed look on his face and sat glued in place staring at her as if he had never seen her before in his life, as if she were some foreign specimen, not a person. I don't think he barked. But it was frightening, chilling. He clearly didn't recognize her as herself and maybe not even as a person!

I intervened between them and got him to snap out of it, but it took a few minutes before he would trust that she was Whitney again! Then he went back to licking her face and being affectionate as if nothing had happened. But she really spooked him!

I wondered if he thought she had turned into a snake. That thing with the tongue could have been perceived as snake-like. It was the only answer I could think of. Can anyone else think of anything? Do dogs react like that to snakes?

Deb/AGBF

 

[justginger]

I guess there are PLENTY of pets out there that do some off the wall things!! This little dog just had me in stitches though, so clever to know if one was missing, but seemingly so stupid to repeat the same game ceaselessly.

Yes, Porridge, I am in your fair country! Ireland has been somewhere my mother has always (ALWAYS) wanted to go, so the trip was my Christmas parents to my parents. They, my DH, and I are here for 8 days, touring around Dingle and Kerry. We were in London over the weekend and arrived in Ireland on Monday - let me tell you, the Irish weather has been spectacular in comparison to London! We were in Tralee last night and are now shacked up in Killarney. Our hotel overbooked so they upgraded us to the MASTER SUITE. Bloody brilliant! I'll start a thread on our trip when we get back home.

 

[Autumnovember]

llllollll! I love animals and their interesting habits!

My dog enjoys running sideways. It's strange to see. She also will sit by my bed and wait for me to invite her to come sleep next to me....otherwise she will keep sitting there until you do. If you take too long, she'll whimper.

My friends does a handstand while peeing (it freaks a lot of people out).

 

[missy]

Hahaha, so funny and charming!! If only they could speak to us in our language. Imagine the amazing things they would say to us!

All our cats have peculiar habits I think. But the one that seems the strangest (though endearing IMO) is our Francesca darling. She "nurses" my dh's arm every night and morning. I must take video of it because you need to see it to believe it. She doesn't care to do it to me but if he isn't around she might munch on my arm for a few seconds or so but OMG for what she does to my dh! She latches onto his arm and just starts kneading away and sucking his arm for 15-20 minutes at a time. LOL and my dh is so patient and allows her to do it! She gets really into it and makes all these sounds and purrs the whole time.

My sister says it's because she has imprinted my dh as her "mom" He is way more maternal than me so that makes sense!
It really is a sight to behold.

 

[Porridge]

Yes, Porridge, I am in your fair country! Ireland has been somewhere my mother has always (ALWAYS) wanted to go, so the trip was my Christmas parents to my parents. They, my DH, and I are here for 8 days, touring around Dingle and Kerry. We were in London over the weekend and arrived in Ireland on Monday - let me tell you, the Irish weather has been spectacular in comparison to London! We were in Tralee last night and are now shacked up in Killarney. Our hotel overbooked so they upgraded us to the MASTER SUITE. Bloody brilliant! I'll start a thread on our trip when we get back home.

Oh great I'm so glad you're having a good time! Hit me up if you need any tips! I hope ye have a ball

 

[DiamondBrokersofFlorida]

I have quite a few dogs, 8 to be exact.

This probably isn't really too weird but I have one in diapers that thinks she is a diva. LOL

 

[DiamondBrokersofFlorida]

I have quite a few dogs, 8 to be exact.

This probably isn't really too weird but I have one in diapers that thinks she is a diva. LOL

 

[AGBF]

I have quite a few dogs, 8 to be exact.

This probably isn't really too weird but I have one in diapers that thinks she is a diva. LOL

Jan? Is that really you? Which of your babies is in a diaper now?

Hugs,
Deb/AGBF

 

[PilsnPinkysMom]

Rock doggy sounds like a hoot- that's odd dog behavior, but I've heard that they have basic counting skills!

I wish we knew why dogs (and cats) behaved the way they do.

My pit mix is a shoe hoarder, but only my own. If I leave shoes out she steals them and tucks them away in a little storage cubby. Now I'm on to her scheme, but until I found pairs of shoes pushed way back in the cube-like storage furniture, I thought I was losing my mind (and losing many shoes!). She pulls out her favorites to nibble on the heel, then replaces them when she's done.

 

[Haven]

Rock doggy sounds like a hoot- that's odd dog behavior, but I've heard that they have basic counting skills!

I wish we knew why dogs (and cats) behaved the way they do.

My pit mix is a shoe hoarder, but only my own. If I leave shoes out she steals them and tucks them away in a little storage cubby. Now I'm on to her scheme, but until I found pairs of shoes pushed way back in the cube-like storage furniture, I thought I was losing my mind (and losing many shoes!). She pulls out her favorites to nibble on the heel, then replaces them when she's done.

That is hilarious! I love that you thought you were losing your shoes!

One of my childhood kitties, Princess, used to hoard fresh cherries. She would pick them up by their stems and hide them all over the house. Those were a lot of fun to find later on.

 

[monarch64]

I think this thread builds the case for reincarnation! Fascinating!

 

[AGBF]

I think this thread builds the case for reincarnation! Fascinating!

Well...my posting has nothing to do with reincarnation, but seeing monnie's icon sparked it. When I saw monnie's icon I remembered the thread in which I said I saw a photo of her dog and knew it was hers. She said she had once seen Portia, Mara's dog, and recognized her in a thread. While I was off-line I suddenly remembered the name of Jan's dog (Jan is from Diamond Brokers of Florida) from years ago. The dog I knew was Barney. Unless I am having a false memory syndrome of some kind!

Deb

 

[minousbijoux]

We had a dog, Ursa, who has since gone on to the great meadow in the sky. Ursa was a retriever mix and was a deep rich brown with fairly long hair (thus the name Ursa). She would steal bread - but only fresh french baguettes. Generally, she didn't steal food, and would not think of trying to reach up to the counter to get whatever. But if there was fresh baguette (which, at the time, there was almost every day), all rules out the window. The first few times, she would eat it. But after a while, she would disappear out in the yard with it. I always figured to eat it in guilty privacy.

One day, I was gardening as I did on a regular basis and dug up a rock. An odd rock. Quite light, actually. Looked like a dirt covered rock, but like it was made of styrofoam because it was so light. Yup, the bread.

I soon found these "rocks" all over the yard. She was saving her little treasures for the future until I had to come along and dig them up... When I would show them to her to see if perhaps she would want to rebury or play with them, she would look at them, then look at me in a completely blase, uncomprehending way, as if to say "what, am I supposed to know what that is or why its there?" and then turn around and walk away...

Thank you for starting this thread. I had completely forgotten about the "french bread fetish" - as we called it- until today and it is a very happy memory to remember her by.