Fake Limping.

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kmandichak
Posts: 13
Joined: Sat Nov 01, 2008 9:22 pm

Fake Limping.

Post by kmandichak »

A friend of the family has a dog. I don't know what breed the dog is or how old she is. The thing is, the dog pretends to limp everytime she is around a human. Just the other day, I watched the dog limp around. I had followed her around the corner to where the dog thought she was alone and she stopped limping. Then when she had seen me, she start to limp again. Another time when we were at camp, the dog started to limp around again. She likes to follow my friend's husband places, so when he walked up the road, the dog followed. I watched that the dog would follow behind the husband walking normally. But when the husband turned around, the dog would start limping again. My friend and her husband has told me that this has been going on for awhile.
Border Collie Momma
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2008 12:00 am

Post by Border Collie Momma »

hahahahahahaha... quirky?
Maxy24
Posts: 296
Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2008 3:08 pm
Location: MA, USA

Post by Maxy24 »

That's odd, did they train that command by any chance? has he ever been injured/ He may have gotten a lot of attention for limping at one point. that's really odd :lol:
kmandichak
Posts: 13
Joined: Sat Nov 01, 2008 9:22 pm

Post by kmandichak »

I don't think the dog was injured in any way.
Mamie
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2008 2:30 pm
Location: Fort Worth, TX

Post by Mamie »

We had a german shepherd mix that did this. He got hit by a car and it dislocated his hip. After surgery, he was showered with attention by everyone and pampered. As he got better, the attention tapered. Then, our other dog hurt his foot and started getting the attention. Suddenly, the first dog was limping again. Then a little while later, we left to go to town, and our "poor" limper was keeping up with the car in an adjacent field. I think we clocked him at 20 mph. So much for limping! So we started lavishing him with some attention and he made a miraculous "recovery." Once the hurt foot healed, both were back to normal.
natastrophe
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2007 7:15 pm

Post by natastrophe »

I was just discussing this behaviour with a friend of mine who has a little terrier (maltese x, I think). He was telling me that his dog, Ernie, appeared to discover that he can get more attention (and sympathy) if he limps.

John actually watched Ernie one day. He was walking around the house just fine and as soon as he walked through the door way of the lounge room where all of the humans were, he started to limp! He apparently does it on walks as well if you don't talk to him/pat him every now and then.

As soon as he's had some cuddles/attention, he walks away normally!
Gershep1
Posts: 82
Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2008 7:06 am

Post by Gershep1 »

It has to be some sort of learned behavior for sure. Dogs quickly pick up on attention to any little detail (especially the behaviors you don't want LOL). One of my dogs had a very minor foot injury and when I treated it, I always said something about him having "a hurt foot." Within 24 hours, I noticed that he knew "hurt foot" and would pick up that paw automatically. He never faked an injury, but I did ultimately turn it into a rewarded behavior and he got a little showbiz work for being able to limp on command :roll:
Palzie
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2009 12:51 pm

Post by Palzie »

My dog also has a fake limp. She injured her foot when she was a puppy, and due to all the attention she received, I believe that she learned that this was a great way to get attention. She generally only displays her limp when at the dog park (this is where she received the original injury, also), and usually after doing a bit of running about. She will also display the limp when she has the tiniest of debris stuck between her toes. If we are walking in the woods, and a small stick or leaf gets stuck between her pads, she will begin to limp until I can remove the offending particle. So, it could be a devise for preventing the same type of injury that she remembers was quite painful from happening again. In either incidence, as soon as someone acknowledges her & examines the "injury" she will walk away satisfied that she has been attended to, and voila! No more limp. But I have to say that she puts on an excellent "pity me" face. Whether an honest-to-goodness fake limp or small particle between her toes, I always take a moment to examine it, because one can never be too sure whether the injury is fake or real.
Ponies_and_Pups
Posts: 37
Joined: Sun Dec 21, 2008 4:20 pm
Location: South Carolina
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Post by Ponies_and_Pups »

Thank you so much for posting this. I don't have anything to contribute to this but the fact that I actually had a horse that did the same thing. My mare Maggie (a rescue) would occassionally go 'lame' when I rode other horses. The first time I noticed it I was working a horse for a friend and Maggie would trot and limp along the fenceline. I was only 14 so rang my mum and told her we needed to get the vet and farrier out. Well after a few visits from the farrier turned up nothing my mum said she was out of patience and money. That summer she went 'lame' badly and I frantically rang my mum. The vet came and checked again saying it was nothing, so had me swing up bareback with halter and lead and I took her round the place. Walk trot and canter along with back an move in both directions as well as straight and no sign of lameness. As the vet was leaving I jumped on the horse I was working and Maggie darted across the pasture with a pronounced limp. The vet stopped, got out and called over to us laughing to announce much to my disappointment that my mum had wasted money and that Maggie's only problem was NOT physical, it was jealousy LOL.
Thanks again for putting light on the fact that they CAN and DO reason. I love it !!!
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