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strange habits/ likes

2K views 20 replies 12 participants last post by  Melissa Brill 
#1 ·
What are the strangest habits or 'likes' that your pup has?

When I groomed Perry a few weeks ago he tried to eat some of his hair (that was lying on the cloth). I thought it was a weird thing, but figured he was bored or something... but then yesterday after I combed out some mats, the comb was sitting on the couch (with a puff of hair in it) he tried to steal the comb/ hair out of the comb. I have no idea why he's so interested in eating/ chewing on/ playing with/ ??? his own hair.
 
#2 ·
Teddy tries to steal his comb too after he has been groomed.

He has too many wierd habits to list them all here but the two I can remember right now :

- he barks at guests when they come home, then makes friends with them and carries on with what he wants to do. when they stand up, its like he forgot they were there and starts barking at them until they leave the house! lol!

- a couple of times, I've came home to find that he has arranged all 20 of his toys in height order (one tile per toy - and in a line). I walked in and not only found his toys in order, but he was also sitting in the correct spot (ie based on his height!)!! I wish I could get a a photo but before I could get my phone out of my bag, he ran through all the toys and they flew all over the living room!
 
#3 ·
Perry is no where near that organized with his toys - he just puts them all over the house randomly :)

As for the comb - he's only been interested in it when it had tuffs of hair in it - not when it was clean, so I think it was more the hair than it was the comb itself.

Funny about the barking - Perry has issues with people (we just got a new night guard who he won't stop barking at - even more than the old night guard who he didn't like at all!) I also do think that he sometimes 'forgets' things - like the other day I was in the bedroom getting changed, he was in there with me, he went out into the other room and then less than a minute later he walked back down the hall towards the bedroom - and started growling like there was an intruder in the house while staring at me! It was dark in the bedroom so I'm sure he couldn't see my face, but he had just left me standing in that exact position 30 seconds ago but until I said something he didn't realize it was me :)
 
#4 · (Edited)
Kosmo will travel up to three hours in a car with me, though of course we take pee breaks. While we travel I sometimes talk to him about what I am doing. For example, "Since that art director in town making his movie moved his bed in front of the windows, I think I need to use a headboard with an open design rather than the padded one I planned to use. I think the park front Atlanta, GA house is lucky to get a lot of light. So, lets showcase that in our furniture plan!"

Kosmo, says "GRRr, whine, whine, whine." So I believe, Kosmo, with these whines of varying lengths and pitches, is talking to me and affirming every opinion I have just like a good human male.

All this is evidence for me that my dog's strange habit is that he talks back to me.
 
#5 ·
Sprocket does the funniest thing when I pet him and he wants up on the couch he will try to hook his front legs onto my arm and pull himself up pushing his head back and his back legs up I'm not sure if it's a smaller dog thing? Or unusual at all but he's my first small dog and it's cute to me
I haven't let him on the couch yet when he does this but I still think it's cute lol


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#7 ·
Both of mine try to eat the hair after grooming. It doesn't matter whose hair. I have to just be sure to clean it up immediately. Raffy has somewhat grown out of it, but Sassy has become more interested in it recently.

Sassy will grab whatever is closest...a toy, a sock, or whatever when she's excited. Then she prances around with it and goes "roo roo". She will also growl a little but it's a soft play growl. It's ridiculously cute so we have done nothing to alter this quirk. We will say "roo roo" back to her and she will wiggle her entire back half as she prances about.

Raffy just has a thing about grooming/licking faces, particularly the eye area. Especially the other dogs. He can't ever settle next to our cockapoo without trying to give her kisses. She doesn't want anything to do with it. Sassy, however, will just tolerate it, but will often try to turn his attempt at grooming her into a play session.
 
#8 ·
roo roo

Sassy will grab whatever is closest...a toy, a sock, or whatever when she's excited. Then she prances around with it and goes "roo roo". She will also growl a little but it's a soft play growl. It's ridiculously cute so we have done nothing to alter this quirk. We will say "roo roo" back to her and she will wiggle her entire back half as she prances about.
Perry does that too - though I am not encouraging it because it's too hard right now to distinguish it from the 'I'm uncomfortable' growls. My Mom's scotty 'talks back' (grumbles, roos, etc) all the time at people as well.

Perry also REALLY likes to smell people's breath. He's done it from the moment we got him (and try to discourage it because he really shouldn't have his face that close to someone's face) - but it's kind of adorable, when he's paying super close attention to you, looks like he's trying to figure something out, and he'll get his face right up in yours and you can see him sniffing your breath.
 
#9 ·
When Ricky gets happy excited about anything he makes "monkey sounds." If you close your eyes, you think there is a chimp in the room with you. Of course this endears him to anyone who is around.

When Momi and I are having a conversation, Ricky will sit next to us and look back and forth to whoever is speaking and tilt his head from side to side trying to decipher the exact meaning of the words.

Whatadog!

Ricky's Popi
 
#12 ·
Perry makes that monkey sound. I'm not exactly sure what sets it off, but he only does it when I assume he hears something that I don't hear from the neighbor's yard. He'll run back and forth along the living room wall on the same side as the neighbors and make that sound until I let him outside (or distract him) where he'll go bark near the wall between the two houses.

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#10 ·
Most of what I thought were Loki's strange or quirky habits I now know where just Loki being Havanese. I like to call him a cat because he sits on the back of the sofa with his head on my shoulder. He has a definite pathway he has developed for zoomies and gets confused if I move the furniture.

Loki too does the grrr, grrr, at his toys. He will pounce on them, growl at them, shake them, runs zoomies with them in his mouth, dive into his bed, rest a minute, throw the toy and start all over. I don't worry about the growling sound because it is distinct from a growl he makes if scared or guarding the house. He screams if uncomfortable or mad - like grooming.

My favorite is when he loses the toy while shaking it and it lands on the furniture. He will look all over the floor and under the furniture for it but never in the chair or on the sofa. We just laugh at him before "finding" it for him.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Kosmo loses his toys the same way. Once I was eating lunch and Kosmo was on the other side of the sofa barking softly. I walked around to see what was up and he had his brush on the floor and was inviting it to play by bowing and barking.

So many of these observations are familiar. When my daughter Sarah met Kosmo she said, "That isn't a dog, it is an alien creature". We laughed and I said that it was like I was in her favorite childhood cartoon, "Lilo and Stitch".

These dogs are absolutely precious. I am so grateful to have mine.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Perry doesn't know how to catch a ball or even a treat. If I throw either to him it will bounce off his nose (or land by his feet) while he stares at it blankly. This isn't because he doesn't understand the concept of catching because one of his favorite games is to bring his toy raccoon over to me and drops it in my lap so that I can throw it to him. Sometimes he catches it but even when he misses he's still trying, just won't do it with treats or balls.

edited to add: I decided to see if this was still true - and he does seem to be 'getting' the idea of catching the ball better (or at least does if I do it right after we've played catch with his raccoon) but treats, nope, they bounce off the nose.

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#15 ·
Yeah, that doesn't seem to be something that Havanese are particularly good at. Kodi is funny, because if you toss something to him, he immediately steps back and looks at the floor! :laugh: And, yes, he has a solid retrieve. It doesn't have anything to do with that. My trainer thinks that the facial hair makes it hard for them, so they just give up and come up with a more efficient way of getting the cookie. (off the floor)
 
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#18 ·
Duke's weird habit that is forming is to try and dig in between the deck slats... It's like he is trying to get something but there is nothing there!(OK maybe there is some leaves and he wants to eat them.. but really there is nothing)

He can get a bit obsessive and I will have to break his attention.. like Duke play with the toy stop digging for nothing!
Once he has all his shots and can go on the ground I think he will be a hole digging dog!
He will also try and hide his bones by digging in blankets it's adorable.
 
#19 ·
Duke's weird habit that is forming is to try and dig in between the deck slats... It's like he is trying to get something but there is nothing there!(OK maybe there is some leaves and he wants to eat them.. but really there is nothing)

He can get a bit obsessive and I will have to break his attention..
I encourage Ricky to explore, and he is one curious dog! Heaven knows what has caught his interest but something is stimulating his curiosity! Often times his curiosity is stimulated by a smell rather than something he can see. He will often dig at the ground and then roll in the spot he has scuffed up. Exploration is good to develop a maturing brain. Ricky will often engage in manic digging in the house, whether it is his blanket, the bed spread, his crate mat or the carpet. It's not a problem for us unless he might do some damage to furnishings and then we distract him with a toy. Otherwise, I don't see a problem.

Ricky's Popi
 
#20 ·
Lily (4 1/2 mo) does the same thing w deck slats. She goes nuts trying to dig btn them too. It's so funny bc she gets so into it. She also. Does it sometimes with the trim on the baseboards of the wall. She just goes nuts like she wants to get it off of is just playing with it, scratching and digging it. She also digs and scratches the hardwood before she lays down. But I figured this was typical. She also comes running when she hears the ice from fridge , and waits patiently for her piece. And then takes it and plays with it, hopping around backing off from it biting it bc it's so cold.
 
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