Donnie the Doberman Arranges Toys
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Donnie is a very interesting doberman. National Geographic featured him on their “Genius Dogs” show. He displays an unusual behaviour where he arranges his stuffed toys into specific patterns of circles or triangles. It’s not clear what the motivation for this behaviour is although.
Is it thought out, random or is it just creative expression?
Donnie the doberman is a rescue dog and little is known about his past other than he was kept in a kennel for about a year and he was slow to adjust to his new home and owner. He had to learn basic things like how to climb stairs and go through doorways.
Donnie eventually started arranging his stuffed toys in specific patterns. The toys would be purposefully laid out one by one in patterns of circles, triangles or straight lines. He would also create similar groupings of all frogs or all monkeys, face up or face down. Even more interesting is that his toys would sometimes be laid out with the hands touching.
It is bizarre to watch Donnie in the video. It is also especially touching and fascinating how Donnie let his owner put her arm around him and then began organizing his toys in hugs.
Babara Smuts, a professor at the University of Michigan is researching this dog behavior. She suggests that this behaviour may be self-entertainment or it may be linked to his time in a shelter with only one toy. Since there have not been enough cases of this dog behaviour, a scientific explanation cannot be made. If you have a dog that displays similar behaviour, you may wish to contact the professor and help contribute to her research.
What do you think Donnie is expressing with his toy arranging behaviour. Does your dog also arrange his toys in patterns?
frog triangle
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.
November 26th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Luna, my 6 year old Golden-Border Collie mix. has been “arranging” her toys since she was a pup! I have always suspected it was the Border Collie in her that caused her to “herd” her toys into patterns and categories, but had never heard of other dogs that did this. Finally! I am thrilled to learn she is not alone! I would love to learn more about dogs who create patterns with their toys. Perhaps it is more common than we realize!? –Joan
February 3rd, 2009 at 4:08 am
We recently acquired a maltipoo who we named “Penny” from the animal shelter. We took her to the vet who guessed her age at about 1 – 1/12 years. About a month ago she started arranging her “puppies” in 5 foot circles, usually 6 puppies in a circle and one in the center. She is also making V patterns, half circles and diamond patterns, most always with something in the center. Then she moved on to making a straight lines, about 10′ long with a short cross. Last week she made a complex V pattern which has 3 puppies arranged nose to nose in the center of the triangle. Then, at one point of the triangle she put 3 puppies bottom to bottom. On another point there was 2 more objects touching at a 45 degree angle. She also brought out her dress to make another point plus a puppy to complete the triangle shape with 4 points. When she creates these patterns she usually arranges her puppies face up OR face down but usually doesn’t mix, up and down together. We have taken pictures of her creations but since she only does it when we are not in the room, tomorrow we are going to set up a camera to record her making these, sometimes, complex arrangements. At first we thought it was a random coincidence but now she is making one every other day and they are very distinct patterns which leave no doubt that she is creating them on purpose, for what I have no idea.
May 13th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
My 2 1/2 year old Havana Silk Dog (Havanese) has been dragging his toys outside for a long time. I noticed recently that he has been arranging them. Last night I took pictures because he had 3 bird toys and one other toy in a semi-circle around the grill, all facing up and all with their feet toward the grill while he was in the middle of the circle looking out over the yard. I checked a little later when he came in and he had moved one, just simply turned it to face the door instead of the grill.
Weird. I will continue to watch and see if it’s a fluke or if he’d doing it on purpose. He isn’t a rescue dog.
July 20th, 2009 at 12:15 am
Since ive adopted my long haired chihuahua shes been lineing up her toys and her balls in perfect straight lines, if one of her bones are horizontal the other must be if its vertical the same and mostly exactly 2 ft apart. at first i thought it was by chance but now she is making perfect triangles, its very strange and makes me wonder I have had dogs my whole life and not one of them has done this, shes not a rescue ive known her since her birth, but still its good to know I am not the only one who sees this happen.
September 21st, 2009 at 12:06 am
I have a 10-year-old Lhasa Apso that I got when he was 1 year old as a second chance rescue. He was very sickly for a long time. He has always loved his stuffed squirrels and his toys were in as good a shape years later as when purchased new. He loved making them squeak. The first time I saw him arrange them I was working at the computer. I turned around and he had lined them up all facing the same way, equi-distant from each other. It startled me. I told my grown daughter who laughed and thought I was nuts. One time she was visiting and we were laying on my bed watching a movie. Chucky had been busily going in and out of the room. When I leaned over the end of the bed he had been bringing in every squirrel of every size and they were all lined up the same way – and so was he! Napping along with them. I believe he was taken from his litter too soon and these were his littermates – when I first got him he would try to nurse and would burrow under my stomach if I lay on my side. He still sleeps up against either my back or stomach. A year after I got him, we got a second Lhasa rescue – whose never been much of a player with toys. However, three years ago I got a third who in one day “killed” every stuffed toy’s squeaker. Chucky was horrified when his squirrels no longer squeaked and almost seem to mourn their “death.” He walked away from the killed stuffed toys and that was the last time he played with them. I think they were his surrogate puppies.
January 9th, 2010 at 9:01 pm
My dobie, Natasha, referred to as “Naughty” for reasons I probably don’t need to explain, does not arrange her toys. But we have had to lock doors because she knows how to open the front door (lever) and the sliding doors. Awkward when we are not home and the heat or air-conditioning is on. She often seems to do it so the older dog can get into the heat! She also sits on the couch and chairs like a human and grins widely when she’s done something wrong. Probably not that unusual, but she has proven to be extremely intelligent about many things.
March 8th, 2010 at 7:06 pm
This is fascinating, I’ll admit. If I were trying to gain a deeper understanding of what’s going on, I’d pay close attention to how the dog and his owner are interacting. Is the owner, perhaps, reinforcing the dog’s pattern-making behavior and, unintentionally, ignoring (i.e. not reinforcing) behavior that doesn’t result in a toy pattern? This might explain why the patterns are increasing in their complexity as the dog attempts to please the owner. Bringing in the researcher serves to increase the dogs reward for his behavior.
I’m not suggesting anything purposely manipulative here. I just think we have to take a big perspective and observe all of the player’s involved.
April 22nd, 2010 at 1:45 pm
I saw donnie on tv in tokyo tonight and just think he is beyond precious!
Its so great to also read about other beautiful people who rescued their beloved pups.(and everyone who treats animals with the love and respect they deserve)
Animals are such a blessing!
Give donnie a huge cuddle from me!
(My crazy cats send meow greetings from japan.)
anna
May 7th, 2010 at 6:02 am
I notice this video dates back two years. I would love an update on Donnie. Thanks, Karen
July 4th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
Donnie the Dobie kicks ass
August 16th, 2010 at 5:26 am
Our young chihuahua (2 years old) is sort of a rescue -from a friend’s grandmother who could no longer keep her. She does not arrange her toys in patterns, but does bring them to her bed at night. Recently she made very good friends with my parrot, Dakota. When I brought mom to her bed the other night Darla had a new item with her other tiny toys – (monkey, tiger, lambie,) – one of Dakota’s tailfeathers. (the parrot talks to her and is trying to help train her… if she goes where she’s not supposed to he says “No Darla, stop”. In the morning he’s very sweet to her “Cmon Darla, come here”. It was as if she brought his feather with her to keep her company and remind her of him.
September 11th, 2010 at 10:24 pm
[...] his stuffed toys into specific patterns of circles or triangles. Check out this video about him. Donnie the Doberman Arranges Toys | Dobermans Den __________________ Cowboy GSD 6yrs Jesse Jane, Beagle 7yrs Dogs aren't space intensive; [...]
September 24th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
[...] dismiss it all though. And it's not all painting *G* Donnie the Doberman dog is pretty amazing. Donnie the Doberman Arranges Toys | Dobermans Den (unfortunately the video is blocked where I am, maybe others will see it. I did see the program [...]
November 4th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
This is so amazing how Donnie arranges his toys and certainly cannot be explained as just a random act. Dogs are much smarter than people ever imagined. I have a Great Pyrenese and a Lab mix (the Lab mix was acquired as a stray), both of whom occassionally get stuffed toys. They guard my 5 goats on 40 acres. They will take the toys and stash them somewhere on the property, then later the toys reappear again, but these dogs take care of them. Perhaps they have strategic points where they stash and pick and choose which toys get to come back to the pen and when. I saw the frog toy the other day in the pen I haven’t seen in quite some time, now it’s gone again. Dogs are remarkable, I can’t imagine a world without them. I believe Roy Rogers said when he died that if dogs don’t go to Heaven he wanted to go where they go. But of course they go to Heaven.
December 22nd, 2010 at 8:48 pm
My Mom just adopted a puppy about 13 weeks old that came from a kill shelter in New Mexico. She looks like a fox so they named her Foxy. After just a few days, she started collecting all the shoes in the house and arranging them in a straight line, all right side up, all toes pointing the same way. Today she did a 1/2 circle. She does not chew on anything, but bones. She was potty trained in a day. She does not bark. She is just the smartest dog I have ever seen.. and I have 3 of my own. You can look at her and just know she understands everything you say. Just Amazing. Would love to have a animal behaviorist meet her while she is still so young. I’m going to take her a bunch of stuffed animals tonight.
December 22nd, 2010 at 9:18 pm
Trina please thank your mom for saving Foxy. She sounds like a great addition to the family.
December 23rd, 2010 at 10:22 pm
Foxy strikes again. I took Foxy a “litter of puppies” 8 little stuffed puppies. She rejected one right away put it away from the others. My Mom reported to me this morning, Last night Foxy arranded a line of shoes from the bedroom to the livingroom. In the living room was the circle of puppies 7 of them with her brush in the middle. The one she did not like was in the other room. I ordered a camcorder to give to my Mom today.
December 23rd, 2010 at 10:28 pm
Yes, you’ll definitely want to record Foxy’s organizing. Very fascinating.
December 26th, 2010 at 7:00 pm
I adopted a cocker spaniel about 3 weeks ago. She is 2 1/2 and came from a puppy mill. This morning she had a perfect line of 4 items. Spaced exactly 12″ aprart. She had a bouncy ball, a chew item, a bouncy ball and a red bow in that order.
I took pictures because it was so unusal. She has not moved anything and it has been 4 hours. She gets other balls around the house to play with.
December 28th, 2010 at 12:07 am
I observed, admittingly with a expectancy bias, that the shapes that these dogs are creating are strikingly similar to the shapes attributed to the vast majority of UFO sightings: V-shaped, L-shaped, semi-circular and straight lines. Dogs can’t talk, and it may be that certain dogs that know certain things wish to convey this information by pictoral represantations of things they have seen in the sky. Or not. It’s just a thought.
January 30th, 2011 at 4:39 am
Don’t forget, Dr. Smuts wants you to contact her if your dog has any behaviour similar to Donnie’s
From her website:
http://www.sitemaker.umich.edu/barbara.smuts/donnie_
If your dog or a dog you know arranges objects into patterns, I would like to hear from you. Please e-mail me at: bsmuts@umich.edu
February 5th, 2011 at 6:26 am
Oh my gosh my sanity is restored. The last month dog toys have been arranged in circles,groups, angles & I kept thinking I was imagining it since I have never really seen them moved. Tried peering around the door a few times but when she saw me watching she did not start the task.(why is it private?)I interpreted the hugging behavior of two toys a bit different:) not believing it was real until it recurred two more times. Since she is set on this being a privately arranged activity until I actually see her in action I will be in the dark. However, the work of Donnie is so similar in many ways it is scary! Who knows what they could construct together. There are a few pictures on my facebook account (dr-kislings-vision-tips) & I plan on posting a spot for her soon. Honestly a month ago I would have thought you made it all up!
February 13th, 2011 at 5:22 pm
i’m dying to see donnie’s video.this one here is blocked.
pls if u have any website that has donnie’s videos i’ll be very grateful.I have a 9 month old doberman whose one of the upper milk fangs hasn’t fallen out.i researched alot but there’s no mention of doberman’s fangs anywhere.i’m taking him to a vet tomorrow.i also rescued a stray when she was about 2 n 1/2 month and although she never gave birth she literally raised my boy dobie since he was of 35 days.my boy is very possessive of his toys he’d claim toys from Poppy gal and press them down under his front leggs and chew on only one while poppy softly barks him.poppy is one shredder
June 23rd, 2011 at 9:29 pm
My dobie lab mix lays his “babies” out touching hands too. I have pictures,it is so cute. Again, no idea what his story was before we got him. he was in and out of shelters until he was 2 years old.
July 4th, 2011 at 1:22 am
My husband surprised me with a black law. puppy about a year ago. He purchased this precious pup from our hometown hardware store. She not only arranges her toys and chew toys, but she also takes drinks of water to one of our other dogs. No one would believe us until my sister and Hus and saw this occur with there own eyes in amazement. We have never known a dog that has performed this task. Our own vet doesn’t believe us. Is there a connection with the toy arranging and being a water drink dog?
August 11th, 2011 at 4:56 pm
I HAVE 6 YR. OLD PUG, THAT DOES THE SAME THING WE NOTICED IT, AND THEN I LOOKED ON THE INTERNET OF WHY SHE DOES THIS, AND CAME ACROSS THIS SITE. SHE WILL PUT THEM IN A STRAIGHT ROW AMOUNT OF TOY’S 6 OF THEM, AND SHE WILL MAKE LIKE THE BIG DIPPER PATTERN , THEY HAVE BEEN MEASURED AND THEY ARE EVEN IN DISTANCE 5 IN. APART IN ANY WAY SHE LAYS THEM OUT .SHE WAS NEVER IN A SHELTER , WE ADOPTED HER FROM A BREEDER . SHE { THE PUG } STARTED DOING THIS ABOUT WHEN SHE WAS 4 YRS. OLD WHEN WE MOVED .
December 1st, 2011 at 9:36 pm
We have a Dobi that my husband purchased for me from a breeder..runt and only female of 12. She does this! She’ll take her stuffed babies out to each of the 2 gates in the back yard (2-3 at each) arranged exactly 4′ apart in a straight row. We tease that she’s leaving them out as if to guard the area in her absence
When I gather them, she puts them back when we’re not watching. She’s been doing this since about 3-4 mos old an she’s 15 months. Shes very smart and its good to hear others sharing this experience.
December 15th, 2011 at 11:25 am
I was very touched by the show featuring Donnie the dog genius. It is my feeling that he is a very sensitive dog, and he expresses strong emotions— especially when he arranged the hugging animals after his human hugged him for the first time. He is so intelligent and loving. I foresee a long, happy and love-filled life for them both.
December 16th, 2011 at 1:45 am
My dog Rosey is a female golden retriever chow mix.
She is a rescue,and also a special-needs dog.
She has canine epilepsy,anyway,for the first year we had her
she would take her toys and arrange them either in a semi-circle,in front of the sofa I was sitting on,or in a straight line from me to her.
She always seems to always have to be touching me in some way,whether holding hands,lying against me,or having a trail of toys from me to her.
I love her so much,it is the most touching thing I have ever experienced.
February 20th, 2012 at 5:32 am
My poodle, a puppy of 8 months, just started lining up her toys a couple weeks. I’m not sure what started her to do this, but it did happen while my wife was away for a week. She usually takes care of the dog, so maybe the trauma of her main squeeze has been a catalyst. Either that or I have a genius dog.
March 5th, 2012 at 6:23 am
I got my dog “Maximus” from a breeder of mini schnauzers. He was 2 months old. He has been lining up his toys or putting them in circles since he was a pup. He is now 10 months old and still does it. Once they are lined up he does not play with them. I swear he uses a measuring tape for the distance between them. If they are in a circle he lays in the middle of them. I have tried moving them and he gives me a dirty look and puts it back where he had it. He takes his toys outside and won’t let me bring them in. If I do that he takes it right back outside. If I watch him he stops in his tracks until L leave. I’m not supposed to see where he is putting it. I have pictures and have called my neighbors over to see this craziness. He definitely has a mind of his own.