Do Dogs Commit Suicide?
In the past six months five dogs have fallen to their death off a bridge in Dumbarton, Scotland. This fact does not seem to be disputed. What is controversial is whether or not the dogs fell because they committed suicide. Or did they think they saw something and accidentally leapt? In the most recent case a woman claims that she was out walking her dog when it suddenly ran away from her "vaulted over the parapet and plunged 40ft to its death."
Some animal behaviorists are dismissing the notion that suicide was the cause of the dogs' deaths, arguing that dogs never commit suicide. Personally, I'm not sure what to think. I did once hear about a dog who was so despondent after its master died that it walked out to some train tracks and lay there until a train ran it over. However, I'll concede that this story may be an urban legend because I can't remember where I heard it. And I doubt that five dogs in a row would commit suicide in the same place. However, this bridge in Dumbarton does have a spooky history. In 1994 a guy threw his two-week-old son off of it, believing that the child was the Antichrist. So believers in the supernatural are having a field day with this case.
Some animal behaviorists are dismissing the notion that suicide was the cause of the dogs' deaths, arguing that dogs never commit suicide. Personally, I'm not sure what to think. I did once hear about a dog who was so despondent after its master died that it walked out to some train tracks and lay there until a train ran it over. However, I'll concede that this story may be an urban legend because I can't remember where I heard it. And I doubt that five dogs in a row would commit suicide in the same place. However, this bridge in Dumbarton does have a spooky history. In 1994 a guy threw his two-week-old son off of it, believing that the child was the Antichrist. So believers in the supernatural are having a field day with this case.
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I have a little dog that when my husband is gone he gets so depressed that I have always said that if he could commit suiside he would. He drags his tail on the floor and when he walks he is barely picking up his feet to take a step. Won't eat. Just sits in the window watching for him, I have had alot of dogs but never one that gets that upset. I just lost my female lastnight. I went to the store to get something for her I thought might help her and when I got home she was dead. I am so upset she had to die by herself. Maybe it was meant to be that way. We were going to take her to the vets and have her put down this morning . I think she would have wanted it the way it happened her dying at home and not injected with something There's no telling what they go through when they give them that. She probably had thought of suicide the past couple of days who knows. She will be GREATLY messed. we loved her for 13 yrs. In a way its a big relief she's gone . but so quiet and a lonely feeling in the air.
Posted by Teresa on Wed Apr 25, 2007 at 10:33 AM
My dog has repeatedly jumped out of my second story window. Suicidal?
Posted by Mo-Jo on Tue Jul 24, 2007 at 07:58 PM
My dog is 6 years oldand has jumped out of the window manytimes. she has torn out the screen and even broke the window. one she fell 20 feet to the ground and the other times she gets out onto the roof ledge and wais until we get home. I am going a little crazy.
Posted by Mo-Jo on Tue Jul 24, 2007 at 08:04 PM
I had an 18 year old poodle who hated the lake, and when she got sick we found her dead in the morning in the lake. Last week our 14 year old Collie, who was having continous strokes, was also found in the lake in the morning. We have not idea how he was even able to walk down there. I do believe these two dogs knew their time was up and they took their own lives.
Posted by Kathy Thomas on Mon Sep 24, 2007 at 08:00 PM
The Phenomena of the dog suicide bridge entails the supernatural. Overtoun is a double sided coin consisting of religious fervour and dark spirituality. What is uniquie is its power to encapsulate both of these opposites in the same place. Good and evil co-exist in the extreme on the Overtoun Estate.
Posted by Utopias Crawl Shine on Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 06:18 AM
No No No... The answer is very simple. I used to do this all the time for fun. Great time waster for homeless people.
You simply sit under a bridge with a silent whistle. You blow it 2-3 quick times and the dog comes running. It works on 5 out of every 7 dogs.
My next question...... Who walks there dog across a bridge without a leash???????
Posted by Big Tender on Mon Sep 10, 2012 at 02:30 PM
You simply sit under a bridge with a silent whistle. You blow it 2-3 quick times and the dog comes running. It works on 5 out of every 7 dogs.
My next question...... Who walks there dog across a bridge without a leash???????
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