Zoomies – Day 1080

Puppy Pile Post-Zoomies – Photo: L. Weikel

Zoomies

I think the first time I ever heard the term was when my friend Anita used it. Honestly, I can’t remember if she used it to describe the behavior of her own dog or of Spartacus, but I know I knew immediately what she meant. There’s a particularly unique and specific behavior that the term ‘zoomies’ references, and there’s no question: you know it when you see it.

For those of you who don’t have family members of the canine persuasion, ‘zoomies’ are when a dog gets especially riled up (or excited to see that you really, really did come home and didn’t abandon them to the horrible murderers they imagined would come and take them away while you were at the store) and runs around like a maniac. Indeed, the jubilant celebration that occurs often entails the dog in question taking off and zooming around the yard (or through the house), taking unbelievably sharp curves and tearing about so fast that their hindquarters are almost dragging on the floor behind them.

Zoomies are both hilarious and slightly disconcerting.

Feline Version

Before I get in trouble with my die-hard cat people (and I count myself a member of that group as well), I will admit that kittens and cats have their own form of zoomies as well, and they are quite amusing. But, in my experience, dog zoomies (and especially puppy zoomies) are particularly distinctive.

Seeing a Pattern

It’s only been within the past couple days or so that a pattern’s started emerging. In fact, the first couple of times the pups went on a tear we tried blaming it on their food. Was it the new kind of hard kibble I gave them, which was different than the plain old Purina puppy chow their original family fed them? Better change it. Nope. They seemed to react the same way to a second brand of kibble.

The first couple of instances were also at varying times of the day (hence my connecting the behavior to when I gave them their crunchy food). We also had a day or two interspersed in there when we didn’t notice it happening.

But over the past few days, the zoomies have become an evening ritual. In fact, it hasn’t even mattered that they’ve walked – all by themselves – a full-on walk around (the two miler)! We thought they’d be exhausted after those. But no. It was almost as if walking the usual circuit wound them up like mechanical toys. So instead of falling asleep when we got home, they went bonkers. It’s becoming a 7:00 p.m. ritual.

Capturing the Madness

I desperately wish I could post a video here in the blog for you to witness these bouncing-off-the-walls antics because I swear you’d think these video clips were running in fast forward.

The zoomies seem to last about half an hour. The behavior during these tears runs the gamut of streaking, tackling, tumbling, biting, pinning, and and their vocalizations can border on the terrifying. They sound like they’re going to rip each other to shreds. The cats, understandably, seek higher ground during the onslaught.

It’s been a long time since Spartacus got the zoomies, and he mostly seemed to get them outside, when he was glad to see one or the other of us pulling in the driveway. We’re growing accustomed to how these almost feel like necessary growing pains. Our babies are growing up before our eyes.

Alas, while I cannot share the clips of them mid-zoom (but promise I’ll try to snag some stills mid-stride), I can offer some photos of them once they’ve spent their energy. Yes, eventually they do stop. And it’s often so sudden, it almost feels as though someone removed their battery packs mid-streak.

They’re a total hoot.

(T-31)