Over the last couple of weeks, Rosie has developed a re-occurring case of the zooms. Is this:
a.) because she is feeling more comfortable at home
b.) because she is losing weight and feeling more active
c.) seasonal or weather related
d.) dogs are crazy and there is no point trying to figure this out
I’m sorta leaning towards d., myself. At any rate, it is pretty funny watching her do laps around the house, ears pinned back, tongue dangling. Tunch just heads for high ground and watches.
arguingwithsignposts
Wait, I thought that was just a cat thing.
schrodinger's cat
Devout kitteh is trying to get closer to the ceiling cat.
SiubhanDuinne
I’m going with “All of the above.”
schrodinger's cat
How do I avoid getting stuff in the block quotes from being in the bold format.
SiubhanDuinne
I’m going with “All of the above.”
ETA: A video of Zoomin’ Rosie would be nice.
stuckinred
I remember a dog whisperer (god I hope this doesn’t start some damn Caesar flame war) where he had a JRT that madly ran a route around the yard. He ended up putting it on a tread mill.
Keith
Every dog I’ve ever owned has done that (we called it “hyperdrive” growing up). I’m going with D as well.
Kristine
Tiger, the long-haired chihuahua we had when I was a kid, used to zoom around the house whenever someone came home. He zoomed outside as well whenever he was excited and having fun. Gaby does the same thing when she’s outside. I’d call it smaller doggy excitement and joy. Very good things.
Chat Noir
I’d say it’s because she’s happy and loves where she ended up living. She’s probably thinking, as she zooms around, “I’m so happy, I just can’t stand it!” And then she lets out some energy. A demonstration video for the Balloon Juice peanut gallery would be welcome.
I’m so glad all is working out for everyone in the Cole household!
slank
I don’t know about item c but the rest of the reasons are good. My dogs get like that, as if they are overwhelmed with the need to be completely silly and just can’t help themselves. They are both comfortable at home, in good shape and generally act like dogs which means inexplicable to us.
Josie
My big dog (akbash) does not do this, but my dachshund mix rescue and my grandpuppy pug both do. I think it is just healthy, active small dogs running off extra energy. The big dog just stands in one place and woofs as the little ones race around and under her. Pretty funny to watch.
Xecky Gilchrist
You need to harness this power for Good!
Build one of those dog-powered rotisseries and let Rosie run on the treadmill.
stuckinred
@SiubhanDuinne: Did I read you to say you were from the Land of Lincoln? I’m from Urbana.
Uloborus
Dogs are not intellectuals. Running around = Fun. A Joke Rooski Terror is small enough to do it inside, and are famous for having enough energy for three regular eight year old children. She’s also lost a lot of weight and is happier than she used to be. I see no mysteries here.
Violet
I’d go with a, b and d. Not sure about c. Isn’t it hot where you are right now? That doesn’t motivate many living things to zoom around, certainly not dogs. If you’ve recently had a cool spell, then maybe.
I agree that Rosie is just a happy dog, thrilled to be living with you. She thinks she’s hit the doggie jackpot (she has!) and is so excited she can hardly stand it. And losing weight and getting in shape has made all that zooming that much easier. Jack Russells are full of energy, at least the ones I’ve known. She’s just doing her thing.
And this post is useless without video.
CanadaGoose
Most dogs will do zoomies at one time or another. Jack Russells are famous for doing it a LOT.
stuckinred
She wanted to be in the Air Force.
drunken hausfrau
She loves the decor and likes to see it a lot… hence, the zooming.
CPO Snarkey
they just go nuts now and then. got that energy to expend. encourage it. i chase after mine clapping. gets them more fired up. full moon is coming up, to. there’s still a speck of wolf left in them.
Halcyon
We always called that doing a ‘Crazy Ivan’ in my house growing up and we’ve had 3 cats all who’ve done that to one degree or another, but our old cat Sam used to do it almost every night.
WereBear
I’d say All of the Above.
We once adopted a Lab/Elkhound puppy who was the definition of energy in motion. We let him out into the backyard and he’d run figure eights, leaning into the curves so hard his side would brush the grass.
This was much faster than we could run with him on leash, so we’d stand on the porch and tell him how great he was, “Go gator dog go!” and he’d grin and stick his tongue out further and have a wonderful time.
He was a “gator dog” because North Shore Animal League had found him in a Louisiana kill shelter with his time running out.
If they look happy, they are.
steviez314
e) It’s Rahm’s fault.
Bill Murray
Rosie is really an advertising plant trying to get you to buy a new Mazda, zoom zoom
john smallberries
Rosie thinks Tunch is too fat and indolent. Rosie is trying to set an example. It will be interesting to know if it takes.
matoko_chan
e) she is a jack.
they are very high energy, which is why the JRT rescue always has dogs for adoption.
id contact your local JRTCA and see if they have local terrier trials.
neill
bartender, i’ll have what she’s drinkin’.
trollhattan
We call it mad-dogging, with a reduced version, mini-mad dog. Dogs seem to have a wacko switch, which only they can flip on. I think it’s part showing off (“lookie how fast I am”) and part an invitation to play (“just you try and catch me”).
Murder on wood floors.
The next to last samurai
When i was a kid we had a miniature poodle who would play in the snow, get all excited, come in and do 9 or 10 fast laps around the coffee table, then come to a screeching halt with a loud whuff! It was hilarious.
jeffreyw
It’s rare, but when Annie goes on a tear the entire household pauses in wonder.
demo woman
Happy Dog, Happy Dog, Happy Dog!
REN
I once owned a 100lb black lab/dalmation mix who used to do this in out 12×72 trailer. He would roar down the carpeted hallway, into the carpeted bedroom then back down the hall through the living room , and then came the vinyl kitchen floor where he would lose his feet and crash into the kitchen cabinets. The ensuing scramble to his feet would inform you where cartoonists got the idea. Three times into the cabinet served to snap him out of it.
It’s a wild hair, I used to get one myself now and then. Age seems to mellow those out of you.
HRA
Tiki does it after his bath, when he has done his poop, and when he decides to attack his toys and fling them all over the house.
IOW it’s mostly when he’s happy.
CynDee
I greatly disagree with d. Dogs are NOT crazy.
Those four legs are made for something, and most healthy doggies love to run and chase and work off their energy.
I think her zoominess means that she is happier, healthier, feels safe and now Gets It what Fun is all about.
She’s busted through the Repressed Canine ceiling and is ready to inhabit her no-worry JR self. Yaay for Rosie girl!
Don’t be surprised if she and Lily take up chasing. Our collie mix used to be the rodeo horse and our beagle-JRT would be the goat. You should have seen those figure 8’s. Talk about horizontal on the turns.
Made you want to stand up and yell, “Go, Go!!”)
Wordsmith
@schrodinger’s cat:
I don’t think you do. I tried for about 5 minutes one day until I was so pissed off, I didn’t even post.
Emma
Corgi owners call it “frapping”: Free Random Acts of Play-ing. You ain’t seen nothin’ until you see eight or nine corgis dashing about at high speeds and then, at some sort of pre-set signal that only the dogs can hear, they all drop to the ground, breathing hard and, I swear to Jeebus, grinning from ear to ear.
arguingwithsignposts
@stuckinred:
Are you *from* urbana, or *in* urbana. If you’re *in* urbana, you are not far from my neck of the land of Lincoln.
matoko_chan
@Emma: heh. my friends corgi 8 mos puppy does a ‘death roll’ like a crocodile, he rolls over and over when hes trying to get another dog or a human to play with his inexhaustible self.
asiangrrlMN
@schrodinger’s cat: You have to write something ahead of time like this.
Then immediately write something after it like this.
Update I: Of course I fucked it up while trying to explain. Le sigh.
@arguingwithsignposts: That’s why you wanted Chi-town for the BJ JamFest! You still up or just got up?
Rosie is loving life, Cole!
arguingwithsignposts
@asiangrrlMN:
Chi-town is about three hours from me. I slept for about an hour from 5-6.
ETA: although, I have been to Minneapolis before, and it is a very clean downtown – UMinn is nice too. BJStock!1 1! !!
Anonymous At Work
You have both dogs and cats in your house and you think the *dog* is crazy? Check the mirror lately?
SiubhanDuinne
@stuckinred #13: Yes, but I’m from upstate. Well, Chicago, actually. Or for those in Chicago, Oak Park, actually (which I believe is where ellaesther now lives).
Larkspur
Dogs usually let you know when something is wrong by a change in appetite and/or weird poops. One of my dog friends is elderly and was having some joint and back problems, so at the vet’s suggestion, her people put her on an NSAID. She seemed to do well, but then she started eating grass (she’d always liked a nibble now and then, but this was different), and occasionally barfing up half-digested greenery (very carpet-unfriendly). Finally, one weekend when I was house-sitting, I took her on a walk and had to hold her back, because she was going after everything green, she was ready to defoliate everything.
“This is weird,” says I. “It’s like she’s self-medicating.” (I have been known to behave similarly, mostly with non-green substances.) So they took her to the vet the next day, and yup, the NSAIDs were doing a number on her stomach (even though we hadn’t seen any blood), and they switched her meds, gave her a temporary course of stomach soothing meds, and that ended the defoliation. She’d been in pain and was desperately seeking relief. (She rebounded really quickly.)
I agree with everyone that you probably don’t need to worry. Rosie may need more actual walks, though. But Jack Russells always need more more more. God I love ’em.
Anne
If it’s anything like why the cats do it, it’s just what they do. That said, I think (a) and (b) could be factors. One of our cats, Orbit, used to be rather full-figured. We changed their food, and he’s lost a fair amount of weight in the last year. He’s become more energetic, more playful, and (surprisingly) much more affectionate. These days, given the right lure, he’ll jump a good six feet off the ground, where he used to have trouble getting more than two feet off the ground.
Fundamentally, though, I think it’s just what a lot of them do. And I’m no expert, but I would guess that this is especially true for terriers.
asiangrrlMN
@arguingwithsignposts: So you are in the Land of Lincoln. And yes, Minneapolis is very nice. BJStock sounds dirty. But you knew that.
Update eleven-billionty and beyond: Hope you get some real sleep tonight.
Emma
Matoko_chan: Yeah, I’ve seen that too. They look almost like cats when they do it. Corgis can win prizes in the weird behavior category. Lovely creatures, though. Next pet in the house’s going to be a corgi.
arguingwithsignposts
@asiangrrlMN:
Update twelve-billionty and infinity: there is Lady Smudge in the next thread over!
Update twelve-billionty and infinity + 1: me too.
Luzeelu
Two of my dogs are Havana Silk Dogs and Silk owners have a name for this little game. It’s called “runlikehell” and it usually happens at least once a day, but especially if they’ve just been swimming or had a bath.
The big goofy mutt likes to crash through the woods with a 10-foot “stick” in his mouth. I have to be sure he’s not behind me when we walk down the hill to the creek. He’s gonna take me out one of these days!
quaint irene
When our dogs were in their adolescent and post-puppy years, we called those outbursts the ‘Crazy Hour.’ Like the energy just comes boiling up and CANNOT be contained.
But Rosie’s of a more mature age, no? Maybe JRT’s never grow out of it.
Gina
Irrational exuberance. My 7 year old male Rottie still goes batshit wild, and tries to get all of us to join in and chase/tackle him. The two younger dogs (both around a year now) mostly wear each other out, Mo doesn’t play with them, so he’d prefer us humans join in.
He’s definitely mellowed out though, he used to regularly smash giant head and butt sized holes in the drywall when he’d get going too fast to brake on the wood floor. His “spells” seem to coincide more with cooler weather, but I’m guessing Rosie’s may coincide more with being a JRT and losing weight. Sounds like a fun dog party!
stuckinred
@arguingwithsignposts: From, born in Mercy Hospital in the great year of 1949.
licensed to kill time
@schrodinger’s cat:
Two ways: Put two underscores on the line directly above your blockquote. OR start your blockquote directly after a line of text.
It is the empty line above the BQ that makes it go bold because FYWP, that’s why!
mb
The answer is “b.”
You Don't Say
Our dog does it on occasion and I always wonder if he didn’t get enough exercise that day. We’re meeting with an animal behaviorist next week because our dog’s separation anxiety is causing problems so if I remember I’ll ask her.
andrea
My sister’s JRT does that often, especially when visitors show up. We call it the Dance of Joy.
WaterGirl
Not to worry. Just enjoy it when you see it. Our name for it is “activation potential”.
draftmama
Since we live with Lucy the Lunatic OESD I definitely vote for (d). At 4+ years we have finally stopped going into the Bresnan Cable office with Lucy in tow to beg for another remote. At last count it was l7. If the only thing your dog has learned in four years is that getting close to a draft horse is a bad idea, its time to accept they are just bonkers.
Cliff
a, b, e.
E= JRT
Molly does it too, But I’ve got warp-speed directed at the mtb trails. one of these days I’ll try and strap a camera to her head just to see what its like to ride my trails at double humanspeed.
Lesley
Sounds like Rosie is happy and coming into her own. Doing laps around the house for the heck of it is an expression of joy and freedom.
sweetgreensnowpea
safe + free + loved = joy
resulting in zoom.
not limited to dogs, cats, birds (i’ve seen gold finches and hummingbirds “zoom”) and very much, tho not limited to c).
(do humans in cold climates not “zoom” abit with the first spring thaw? do you not “zoom” a bit the first day you can plant in the spring, john?).
humans just try to analyze it.
creatures (even plants) just “do/be” it.
bystander
a) Ass Rabies? (sorry couldn’t resist – I still laugh out loud)
b) Cooler early morning/evening temps will do it
c) Necessary weight loss makes energy go up and joints happy
d) For doG’s sake, she’s a Jack Russell terrier.
e) I’ve never been sure who’s crazier – Jack Russell terriers, or the folks who choose to cohabit with them.
caune
E. because she’s a Jack Russell Terrier…it’s classic behavior!
Sue
Your doggy is dancing!!! Our shitzu does this too, as did our half-coyote (god rest his soul) and ALL of our cats. Look at their faces while they do it — they’re LAUGHING!!
jman
My big doodle gets the zooms. He gets a big happy and has to burn off the excess. Time to go outside and play frisbee or chase the ball.
Kevin
when i try to get my dog to fetch , he fetches the first time but after i give him the treat and thow the toy again, he just performs all the he trick he knows and ignores the toy. How do u stop this and getbhim to fetch?