I have a bitch that's about 3 years old, got her two weeks ago. She's completely unsocialized, never left the kennel, and it's pretty sad. All in all she's not too scared of street noises and other stuff so the basic temperament is not of a nervous wreck. Since everything is new to her it's interesting to see some reactions.
I was walking with her on leash and we came upon a small pond that was completely overgrown with floating plants, to the point that you couldn't tell there was a hole with water there. She walked into it and her right front foot slipped in. Once she felt the foot fall in her reaction was to jump over the perceived obstacle, of course she landed in the pond. She didn't panic and swam to the edge and climbed out. I think it's curious as my assumption is that feeling there's a fall in front of it a dog would choose to put on the breaks and back away. Which now makes me think that it's a learned reaction. I probably won't get another a chance to see how this bitch reacts in a similar situation after this experience, whether she learned something.
have you ever lost your balance and then realized "oh shit" and then jumped or hopped to recover your balance? i think thats what her instintive reaction may have been. maybe programmed into every liveing thing by god unelss your a gecko or some other liveing being that has sticky feet.
Now that you explain it I remember something similar, stepping where I shouldn't like on a pile of dog shit, and impulsing myself over it even though the step was already taken. But that was coupled with a very quick assessment that my jumping wasn't going to put me in a worse situation yet. I guess the same could be applied to the dog in the situation I described. But she didn't really fall or lose her balance, it looked to me like she could've backed out, but she chose to jump. I was just wondering if it was a learning experience. Dogs learn very fast from one or two experiences, they have to as animals in nature. The bitch falling in the water reminded me of the sled dog stories by Jack London I used to read as a child. Supposedly experienced dogs can distinguish weak ice etc. In such a case the safe way would be back not forward.
Instinctive reaction to a fall
Linear Mode
