Paging Steven Pinker
Like most dogs, there's a level of stimulation at which Emmy begins to "orbit." Exactly what will set this off is a little hard to say-- sometimes, it takes chasing her around the room for a while, sometimes it just takes petting her in a certain way.
Whatever the trigger, the behavior is always basically the same. She runs a figure-eight loop through the house, at full speed. Around the dining room table (weaving her way around the chairs, if necessary), across the living room to the foot of the stairs, back across the living room to the table, and repeat. Sometimes, she'll attempt to pick up a toy during the course of one of the loops, but even when she succeeds (which isn't often-- life is difficult without opposable thumbs) she usually drops it. She'll also sometimes add a side trip through the kitchen to the back door, before coming all the way back around.
If we're outside, the loop is from the backyard gate around one side of the shed to the foot of the big oak tree, then back. Sometimes, she'll pick up sticks during this process, but mostly it's just a full-out sprint, with all four legs leaving the ground at times.
It's really incredibly cute, in a frantic-dog sort of way (which, admittedly, may be an acquired taste). And I think every real dog I've known has done this at some point or another. But I have absolutely no idea what it's good for.
I'd really love to hear some bio or evolutionary psychology type explain what purpose this is supposed to serve. What set of conditions in the proto-dog world made this an evolutionarily favorable behavior?
(Feel free to use this as an excuse to just make up outlandish explanations, or write satirical essays using this behavior to prove that evolution is all a crock.)
Posted at 9:20 AM | link | follow-ups |