# Left circles?



## lindsay (May 18, 2008)

My pup from the shelter loves to do left circles. It's really strange, when he runs around the room, gets excited, goes for walks, just wanders around he'll walk and then do a random left circle. Does anyone have any idea why he'd do this?? The vet didn't see anything wrong with it so I doubt it'd be a brain thing because other than the left circles he's normal as can be. My grandma, who hasn't met him, just hears about the circles swears he was a show dog since he prances around when he's on his leash and trys to do the wide left circles more so on the leash but I HIGHLY doubt that.. hahaha.


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## casa verde maltese (Apr 7, 2007)

Well, if your vet has ruled out ear infections.. then I don't know..
but if he is normal otherwise - it might just be a quirk?? I hope you get some other answers!


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## luvmyfurbaby (Feb 11, 2007)

Mia does spins when she is happy. She now has P doing spins too. It only happens when someone walks into the room that she likes. Snoopy my Bull Terrier does it when he is bothered by something ie: the lawn mower, loud music, barking dogs


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## Max & Rocky (May 20, 2004)

A lot of Maltese spin if they are excited or happy.

However, our rescue girl Frisky carries it to another whole level and hopefully this is not what you have. Frisky will run in a circle for an hour or more at a time. For he, it is a serious compulsion and causes issues in other ways. She is nearly untrainable at this time simply because she can not focus attention on anything. I've heard from another vet that they have something which is essentially doggy prozac and I plan to get a vet appointment this next week and check on this. I was not 100% clear from your description of the problem if you see it as something serious or not.

I'm sure that there are many reasons for this ... I think it is very important that you take your pup for walks and that you provide doggy chews and toys for you pup which can help occupy their time and perhaps keep this from becoming a serious compulsion.


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## Nikki's Mom (Feb 13, 2008)

There was a dog on "It's Me Or The Dog" show that ran in circles all the time. The trainer worked to distract the dog and it seemed to work most of the time.


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## CeeCee's Mom (Sep 14, 2006)

CeeCee will make a few turns if she is excited such as me asking her, "Do you want to go outside?" Otherwise she is fine. If the vet seems to think everything is alright healthwise, I would chalk it up as a quirky behavior and not worry. Most Malts do this when excited.....


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

This is just a thought, but maybe he's been so used to being in a confined area (kennel at the shelter, or even kenneled before that) and he spins like he's turning around to walk the other way, a bit like pacing back and forth, just not constant.


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