Donnie the Doberman Arranges Toys
July 20th, 2008 Posted in Doberman Videos, Interesting
Donnie is an interesting dobe in that he shows unusual behaviour. National Geographic featured him on their “Genius Dogs” show. He arranges his stuffed toys into specific patterns of circles or triangles. It’s not clear what the motivation for his behaviour is. Is it thought out, random or is it just creative expression? It is bizarre to watch Donnie in the video. Especially touching is the mention of the day after the very first time Donnie let his owner put her arm around him. He then began organizing his toys in hugs, arm in arm. Very interesting. Babara Smuts, a university professor is now researching this behavior.
What do you think Donnie is expressing with his toy arranging behaviour.
Tags: doberman arranges toys
August 18th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
this is pretty amazing. I have a collie golden retriever mix that I got from the collie rescue in april. right after we got her she laid out all her soft toys in a line in the living room. I thought it was a hoot but also thought it was a random act. I didn’t really think anything about it as she did not appear to repeat this pattern. On the other hand I’ve never had a dog that didn’t rip those soft toys apart in 30 seconds. She treats each one like gold…very gentle with them. We call them her “babies”
Is is possible they are relating to the animal nature of the toy? That still doesn’t explain Donnie’s patterns. But I’d love to be in their heads and really understand. I will be paying closer attention to where Gracie places her babies. reni fulton
August 19th, 2008 at 12:04 am
Hi Reni,
that’s fascinating that your dog also displays this behaviour. It’s also interesting that your dog has a rescue background, you have to wonder if the toy arranging, is some sort of coping skill to a past experience.