Dogs and bugs-what an interesting combo! Today something bizarre happened…we had one of our favorite dogs in the office expecting her usual laidback, loving self. Instead, this time, she was a girl on a mission. She paced back and forth, constantly jumping up on things and panting. Within a few hours, we figured it out. She was obsessed with tracking and then (yuck!) eating flies. This sweet little angel, kept up this routine for SIX HOURS!
This fly-obsession routine got us wondering. What is it that she was infatuated with? The motion? The sound? The taste? After doing an internet deep dive, we found out the following fascinating facts.
- Just like OCD in humans, fly tracking can be a compulsive behavior. Dogs are unable to steer their gaze away from the flies and repeat the continual tracking until successfully reoriented. Some animal medical professionals believe that this behavior could be linked to neurological conditions such as epilepsy.
- Instinct. Hunting breeds are more likely to exhibit this type of behavior due to their natural predatory tracking instincts.
- Vision problems also are attributed to fly biting or fly tracking in dogs.
After six hours, we successfully agreed that our fly-loving girl is in to the chase for all of the above reasons. Sometimes she caught her prey and other times she would just happily chomp away at imaginary flies. Either way, it kept us entertained for a day and we learned more about the interesting relationship between dogs and bugs!