Spin-o-rama

Dog Blog Post #174: Zachary spins when we feed him. We have no idea why, but he's done it since he was a puppy.

It's as if the sight of his bowl so filled him with joy that he just had to move to express it. As there wasn't much of anyplace to go - at least not and stay within sight of the bowl (which was kind of the point of the whole excitement thing) - and so he spun in tight circles, moving in front of us, as we made our way from the kitchen to the family room hearth.

It was kind of cute.

Sort of.

At least when he was puppy.

As he got it older, it admittedly got less cute. Seventy pounds of spinning Golden can apply quite a bit of force to whatever it might hit, and he hit a surprising number of things.

He'd hit the sofa fairly frequently.

The six foot long leather sofa.

Didn't dent his enthusiasm (or his velocity) one bit.

He'd hit anyone who happened to be standing between him and his destination.

The TV lies between the kitchen and hearth, and yes, he has run into numerous innocent bystanders, just hanging around watching the 'tube, on his way to dinner.

Ouch.

Beau never spun. At least not until Zachary came along. Beau had far too much dignity to spin. At last until Zachary came along. After a time, he picked up on the idea, but translated it into a measured trot into a circle, but only if the offering in the bowl was going to be of exceptional quality.

Beau didn't spin for kibble.

Zachary would spin for air and a smile.

Henry didn't spin when we first got him, but it didn't take long for him to pick up on Zachary's endearing(?) habit, and he is now striving to outdo his uncle in enthusiasm.

This is not a good thing.

And so last night, the killjoy of the house (that would be me) decided the spinning had to stop.

It actually only took a few loud throat clearings (so they would stop long enough to notice I wasn't following them) and standing still with the food bowls, to make them realize the dinner time rules had changed.

I no longer move when they spin, instead standing quite still until all motion has ceased before I start walking again.

It's now been three meals (for me) and the spinning has dropped a good 75%.

While it might be too late to make final predictions, this is looking like one bad habit that I might actually be able to break, and hopefully before anything in the house gets broken!