This is why your dog gets the 'zoomies', according to a vet

Is man's best friend the dog, as they say? Certainly, but according to the SPA, a French rescue charity, 200,000 pets are abandoned each year. If there are many reasons why owners leave their animals to their own devices, could one of the factors also be a poor understanding of the animal's behaviours and attitudes?

Why understand dog behaviour?

If you want to adopt a dog, for example, it's best to know a few things about canine behaviour so that you are not surprised and know how best to react. This will certainly save you some misadventures.

Indeed, our happy companions have a whole range of attitudes that can go from tragic to very comical. Interviewed by Le Parisien, the veterinarian Hélène Gâteau has made a speciality of deciphering certain canine behaviours, which are certainly very common, but... strange to say the least.

'Zoomies'

Today she talks about how some dogs get excited for no reason and will, for example, run frantically and suddenly for several minutes. Can you think of a pet who does this? She explained why this occurs:

Dogs that get excited for no reason, we call that zoomies. In scientific language, they are periods of random and frenetic activity, impossible to stop it, it is completely in its delirium!

Not to be confused with other behaviour

But don't worry,

It's perfectly normal behaviour. It happens mainly in puppies, who will try to release their excess energy, it happens mainly when the dog has contained himself for a few hours, after a car ride for example or after a bath.

But be careful! However, this sudden period of intense activity should not be confused with certain behaviours that may reflect a deeper psychological problem. Indeed, as the vet, herself explains:

This is not to be confused with dogs that have behaviours that may be pathological such as chasing their tails or trying to catch imaginary flies.

In which case, it could be a lack of activity that the dog is trying to compensate for or even more serious, an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

This article was translated from Gentside FR.

Sources used:

Le Parisien: Pourquoi mon chien s’excite tout d’un coup sans raison et se met à courir partout ?