Odd dog traits

[The Snark]

At the risk of being accused of harping about a canine cuteness <GAG>... The dogthing that adopted us does things. Weird things we don't understand. The boss asks me and all I can give in reply is a Homer Simpson: I dunno. And so, two things that have us baffled we'd appreciate a little light shone on.

His toys. Things he found, stole, or we have given him. Somewhere out in the yard is his collection, neatly stowed in one small area. Right now a shirt, a pair of shoes, a chew toy, a rubber duck, a green thing, a ball and a glove. He will occasionally take something from the collection and fool with it or chew on it, then he puts it back. He occasionally moves the entire collection. His rule is, all things his must be in the collection area or put back there every day. He rarely plays with the stuff but if we go out and scatter things around the yard within 24 hours they will all be put back in the area.
Just what the heck is this?

His business. I mentioned it to the boss. She hadn't seen it either. In casual conversation she mentioned it to the neighbor where dogthing visits. She hasn't noticed it either. She mentioned it to her husband. Coconut wireless kicked in. Now I note the entire neighborhood is casually watching. But nope. Nobody has ever seen dogthing go potty. Not even a hint. It's been three months now and curiosity is peaked. No marking territory, no occasional land mines underfoot, ever.
Huh?

 

[Anonymity82]

His rule is, all things his must be in the collection area or put back there every day

I believe your dog is suffering from OCD. I'm only basing this on the fact that I have a low dose case of OCD and I feel the same need to have ALL of my stuff in one spot. Of course this doesn't work in the real world, but oh, what a beautiful world it would be if I could keep it that way.

---------- Post added 12-30-2012 at 11:52 PM ----------

My dog sniffs her butt when she farts, but who doesn't?


That is some interesting behavior there Snark!

Oh, and if your dog is suffering from OCD (this actually something dogs can suffer from haha) it's very, very cruel to be disorganizing his pile of goodies haha!

 

[pitbulllady]

Most dogs will try to defecate outside of their own yards, since leaving their own mess would-if they were in the wild-attract larger predators to the den site. Even my father's Pug will wander far out to the barnyard, well away from the actual YARD itself, quite a feat for such a little dog whose nose is nearly above his eyes, just to do his "business". I have never seen a pile left in the yard. Dingoes, in their various geographical incarnations, are well documented for actually burying their feces, using their noses to shovel dirt, leaves or whatever over it. I've seen Carolina Dogs(the North American version), New Guinea Singing Dogs(the New Guinea Highlands version) and Akita Inus(the Japanese version) all doing this. I've seen Akitas that were fanatical enough about doing this that they'd scrape their noses raw if kept on concrete, trying to cover up their own mess, like the proverbial cat covering its mess on a tile floor. Most of the Southeastern Asian "pariah" dogs have at least some Dingo genes in them and tend to favor that type of dog.

I've also had dogs that like to collect stuff, often random stuff you'd think a dog would have no use for. Labs are notorious for this, but then, being retrievers, it's sorta to be expected. I have had Catahoulas who liked to "steal" and hoard things, and I had a female gray wolf many years ago who was a bit of an escape artist and a sports fan. Periodically, this canine Houdini, the "omega" in her pack, would apparently get tired of being pushed around by the other wolves and make her escape. She always came back within a few hours, and without fail, would return with some sports equipment item, like a baseball glove or tennis racket and countless golf thingies, from golf balls to tees. Thing is, I had no nearby neighbors, and all of them that were even within a few miles' distance were elderly, not exactly inclined to playing sports. The wolf would never chew up her loot; she just piled it up neatly in the backyard. I discovered that there was such a thing as glow-in-the-dark golf balls because of her, when she got ahold of a canister containing about 100 of the things and left them in the middle of the dark yard for me to discover when I woke up at 5 o'clock am to go to work, seeing something out the window that looked like a mini space invasion! I currently have a kitten who loves to collect and hoard random objects. He doesn't play with them or chew them, either. He just piles them up and seemingly admires them, but if I start to go towards his stash, he'll grab items and run off with them to keep me from getting them! I only wish I knew what was going on inside his head to motivate him to collect inedible things, that he's not even playing with.

pitbulllady

 

[The Snark]

Thanks much for the input. It's odd. I never equated OCD to animals. OC behavior is as common as dirt in humans so why not animals? PBL, the examples you gave are typical of OCB at the least. It need not go all the way into a true dementia. That this dog is loaded with various neurosissisisis is a given.

Burying the poo, or taking that business elsewhere I understand. But, to put it bluntly, this here dawg don't go whiz. Anywhere, anytime, that anyone has noticed. No marking territory or random squirt here or there.

I'm going to be cracking up about glow in the dark golf balls for a few months. I bet you had some very bizarre thoughts prancing through your head on seeing that.

Re: "I only wish I knew what was going on inside his head to motivate him to collect inedible things, that he's not even playing with." I heard that one. There appears to be some weird rationale going on but I sure can't figure it out.

 

[Anonymity82]

PBL, any idea why my old cairn terrier female would eat her own poop?

She was sneaky about it too. First it just started with her nonchalantly eating her poop when she was done. Then she quickly learned we were not a fan of this behavior. She began to be real quick about it and it became a race to get the poop before she did. This would happen on walks as well as in the yard. As she aged she became slower and was unable to get the poop in time so she started becoming very sneaky about it. We'd come out around 6am and stand in the yard while she did her business. She would walk about 20 feet away and just sit there and look around as if she was deep in thought. The second we'd turn around or went inside she would charge for it. Sometimes she would poop and turn at the same time while we were running over with a baggy so she could eat it. That was her only flaw. Perfect dog other than that. She would even bring in frozen poop to thaw in the winter!

As a burrowing species I think they would eat their babies' poop to protect themselves from other animals eating it. Not sure if they did this with their own poop. Any insight?

 

[AzJohn]

When I was in high school my mom found a dog at a bank. It was in bad shape, half starved, mange and scared of anything. It turned out to be decent dog after some hefty vet bills. He would hoard toys. He had a basket that he kept his toys in. He would take things out and put them back when he was done. Anytime we would come home he would be at the door with a toy. When he got old he stopped playing with his toys, but he still had his basket. He would still take things out and lick them even when he stopped playing with his stuff.

 

[nepenthes]

PBL, any idea why my old cairn terrier female would eat her own poop?

She was sneaky about it too. First it just started with her nonchalantly eating her poop when she was done. Then she quickly learned we were not a fan of this behavior. She began to be real quick about it and it became a race to get the poop before she did. This would happen on walks as well as in the yard. As she aged she became slower and was unable to get the poop in time so she started becoming very sneaky about it. We'd come out around 6am and stand in the yard while she did her business. She would walk about 20 feet away and just sit there and look around as if she was deep in thought. The second we'd turn around or went inside she would charge for it. Sometimes she would poop and turn at the same time while we were running over with a baggy so she could eat it. That was her only flaw. Perfect dog other than that. She would even bring in frozen poop to thaw in the winter!

As a burrowing species I think they would eat their babies' poop to protect themselves from other animals eating it. Not sure if they did this with their own poop. Any insight?

My Terrier Mutt mix I had gotten in Alaska did the same thing. She loved to play with her poop, she learned it would freeze in the winter and would toss it in the air and chase after it. She would also consume it as well. She never brought in any poop-cicles though! LOL

 

[jecraque]

Thank goodness mine only eats cat crap. I don't know how well I would deal with the poopsicles. Mine's neurotic and scared enough to display the shy pooping behavior PBL described--to the point where I can't stay with friends or family in urban areas for more than a couple of days if I am traveling with the dog. He has to have woods or he will not go. Not peeing is weird though, especially for a boydogthing. Is he neutered?

While we're listing unrelated weird dog behaviors, mine licks things--thoroughly!--before he will lay his head down on them. If he is going to sleep, he will have a wet pillow. My best guess is that he is warming up the surface. He's very cold-sensitive.

OP, you're right--this thread is sooo treading the fine line between weirdos who talk about their adorable poochy-woochies on the internet and weirdos who post about their adorable creepy-crawlies on the internet, and I'm inexplicably disproportionately more comfortable with one than the other.::

 

[The Snark]

Well, licking, poop eating. and other repetitive actions, regardless of original purpose, would logically be obsessive-compulsive behavior. A typical example in humans would be hair eating.
Our dogthing is unmodified male. That's what is so weird. A male dog marks territory - as a rule. But this guy is seriously secretive. I also have noticed he doesn't sniff other dog scents.

 

[Niffarious]

Two things -

Dogs are den animals, and often hoard toys, bedding material, etc. My whippets often pile their things in their crate or dog beds. That is their 'spot'. This is not an OCD behavior, is common to dogs and completely normal. Sometimes they simply collect objects they are interested in, but that do not serve much of a purpose.

Coprophagia - there are several theories and much research on this in dogs. For most dogs, this is not an OCD issue at all and many factors may be involved. It can sometimes become an OCD like behaviour in very neurotic dogs but this is actually pretty rare. Poop eatin' is really common with puppies, incidentally.

 

[The Snark]

With my psychologist friend on vacation somewhere in the wilds of the Pac. N. W. I don't have the inside scoop on all the details of OCD and OCB. However, OCB is a very common trait in humans, and, so it appears, in animals. I read an article about bird nest building with the weaver bird being studied. Absolute -normal- behavior would dictate that all nests would be very similar. However, that isn't the case. Some birds barely banged a nest together while others built multiroom ranch houses. Nest building/lining would be a classic example of OCB. The vast majority of females of any given species would have this trait it seems, and a lot of males would get in on it.
As for the difference between OCB and OCD, that is going to depend of what school of psych one has been educated in. Freudian demands coprophagia, homosexuality etc etc etc as being true mental disorders. Other schools, and many modern experts, claim that's bollocks. My close friend, PhD Jung-ian and life long lesbian will be more than happy to dispute that theory using a lot of six or more syllable words.

Anyways, hoarding, bed making, seems to be a pretty common trait in many mammals. Seems to me it is an organic motivator behind primordial traditions. Possibly even genetic in origin? I'd advance that theory. A gene very VERY close to the one that compels people to want to become politicians.