# All jokes aside... I really do believe Maui may be retarded. Tonight he was barking at a large rock that has been in the backyard since we moved in. He was terrified of it! He acted like he had never seen it before... it's right by the pens! ---- ## Thread In Behavior · started by brada1878 · 17 replies - **Category:** [Behavior](https://nihonken.org/community/c/behavior) - **Forum:** [Nihon Ken Forum](https://nihonken.org/community/) ## brada1878 (admin) · 2008-05-09T01:23:10.000Z I really do believe Maui may be retarded. Tonight he was barking at a large rock that has been in the backyard since we moved in. He was terrified of it! He acted like he had never seen it before... it's right by the pens! ---- ## ljowen123 (moderator) · 2008-05-09T01:24:32.000Z Poor Maui! *giggle, giggle* ## _dlroberts · 2008-05-09T02:09:30.000Z LOL. Poor Maui. I'm telling him you said that. :-P ## brandon_w (admin) · 2008-05-09T10:29:27.000Z I've seen other dogs do things like this before. Recently Nemo has started to go into the kitchen at night and bark at the back wall. I can't figure out why, other than to get me off the couch to come play with him. ## tsukitsune (moderator) · 2008-05-09T11:45:58.000Z you might think something's really wrong with that picture, but Tsuki would stalk our door frame leading to the kitchen, I even told her to stop because she started barking and scratching at it, a couple days or a week or whatever later, a mouse was found coming from that door frame. He is probably a lot 'smarter' or more in tuned to things than you think! ## kwyld · 2008-05-09T11:52:58.000Z You should paint some eyes and a mouth on it. It can be his pet rock. Just kidding, just kidding, that might really freak him out! Taj likes to stare at the baseboard heating system around the house for hours because she thought she heard a mouse scurrying around under it one day. There's no mouse though, it just makes a clanging noise when the heat kicks on. She does this every day. ## sujewel · 2008-05-09T12:06:09.000Z Maybe there was a little critter behind the boulder?? ## Leonberger (admin) · 2008-05-09T12:33:16.000Z Brad, you're probably being a bit to hard on the little guy. Barbara made a good point, something might be going on with the rock, a critter or something. :-) Just to be sure, you might want to check his eyes next time you go to the vet...wouldn't hurt. ## Romi (admin) · 2008-05-09T15:43:01.000Z Awww Brad - poor Maui. Im sure there was something there... ## diggah · 2008-05-09T16:06:14.000Z What tsukitsune said. You would be surprised at what dogs see. One time Mochi was growling and whuffing “at nothing” in the Jack in the Box parking lot. It took me a couple minutes to figure out that they had painted a nine foot tall silhouette of their beloved leader on the side of the building. Here I was; gawking at thin air and scratching my head, while he was desperately trying to warn me about a hideous freak with a three foot wide head that was lurking in the shadows directly behind me. I try to be generous in estimating the intellectual capacity of my dogs because sometimes I do things which must lead them to believe that I’m about as bright as a box of rocks. ## Ryu · 2008-05-09T16:56:39.000Z Diggah: LOL! ## _dlroberts · 2008-05-09T19:14:33.000Z Hahaha. You've got a good point there diggah! ## brada1878 (admin) · 2008-05-10T14:58:47.000Z I think you guys are being nice to Maui... I really do think he is a little "off" tho. I will take a picture of the rock so you know what I mean. Meantime maybe I should get his eyes checks - good suggestion Rui! I think the painting of eyes on the rock is a GREAT suggestion! lol! ---- ## scarlet · 2008-05-10T17:20:27.000Z lolol too funny Brada. I am sure there is an explanation and it is not that Maui is 'off''. He has his reasons, you just have to understand/find them. Let us know. ## TeamLaika · 2008-08-13T11:51:10.000Z Hahahaha One day we headed down to one of our routine walk destinations. There are some woods trails and a walking path around a small lake. (There are also ducks and geese to harass!) Parked in the middle of the trail was a bicycle and the rider was off to the side fishing. The presence of this bicycle boggled Triepak's mind. He was just not about to walk by it! Ended up dashing around a tree so he could really keep an eye on this scary bicycle and got his leash stuck. By now he is blaming the "clearly not-to-be-trusted bicycle" for his entanglement. So, you might say...the bicycle is scary...to him - big deal. We know as dog handlers, that THE DOG decides what is scary (not us). Here's the thing: I store MY bicycle in the VERY room where the dog crates are set up! He trots by my bicycle EVERY night, and enters his crate for his dinner. It's not a large room. He is quite close to the bicycle. Sometimes I ride my bicycle and he trots along beside it! A distinct reminder that dog's don't generalize very well! ## TheWalrus · 2008-08-13T15:49:57.000Z My first dog was a Newfie mix, with a lot of long fur round his eyes and all. He used to always freak out about this log near the dog park... one day I trimmed the fur around his eyes. He stopped barking at the log. End of story :P ## brada1878 (admin) · 2008-08-13T16:09:59.000Z lol... well maybe Maui isn't a tard after all. :oP ---- ## LoveMyMylie · 2008-08-13T18:27:49.000Z LOL. I say that about Mylie all the time, out of love of course! Shhh don't tell her! But then she always turns around and does something insanely smart to show me up. --- **Navigate:** [Forum home](https://nihonken.org/community/?format=md) · [Sitemap](https://nihonken.org/community/sitemap.xml)