Trancing occurs when a dog walks incredibly slowly under a hanging object, thus receiving a stimulating experience. This can be anything from a dangling tablecloth to a garden bush.
It is also known as “ghost walking,” “weed walking,” “moon walking”, and the “slow-mo walk.”
The session can last many minutes, and I personally have witnessed an episode lasting up to five minutes, but I have heard of instances where if left uninterrupted, it can last much longer.
So today, I will attempt to answer the questions relating to trancing, as it can be a little alarming when witnessed for the first time and sometimes confused with OCD, seizures and other behaviour issues.
There is no evidence that trancing is anything other than your pet finding a way of providing itself with an intensely pleasurable experience without any help from you. As humans, we get our pleasure in a wide variety of ways. You have yours, somebody else has theirs, and you might think that theirs is a bit odd and vice-versa, but if it is not harmful to others, then it’s considered ok.
Having owned a lurcher (greyhound cross) who exhibited this odd behaviour occasionally, I have seen this first hand. Merrick would approach hanging vegetation slowly, his ears would be flat against his head, and the look on his face was pure ecstasy. Unless he was disturbed, he would keep repeating the manoeuvre until called. He did return swiftly without complaint, but I put this down to him being freely allowed to indulge in this rather odd behaviour anytime he was out and about. Did it concern me? No, I saw no reason to be alarmed and compared it to that strange phenomenon, the “itchy spot.” You know that spot that you scratch that your dog enjoys so much, usually on his back.
Let’s deal with the suggestion that this is a seizure. It is easy to spot the difference. A seizure cannot be interrupted, and the dog will show signs of distress for many hours after a seizure and be totally unresponsive to instruction. A dog trancing will be perfectly normal both before and immediately afterwards.
Is it confined to specific breeds? No, it can occur in any type. However, there are certain breeds that are more susceptible to trancing. These include Bull Terriers, Greyhounds and sighthounds in general. Also, any mix of these breeds. There is no evidence that the condition is hereditary, neither is there any evidence that it takes over a dog’s life and becomes an obsession. Furthermore, it does no harm to the dog. There is a degree of uncertainty about whether It can be “learned behaviour.” There are a number of instances where a second dog in the household appears to copy another dog, but there are not enough occasions to have an accurate picture.
It has been suggested that it is a form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Again there is no evidence that the two are connected in any way.
It appears that trancing is confined to canines, and as far as I am aware, there is no recorded case of trancing in any other species. This doesn’t mean to say that it doesn’t exist, but maybe it has not been discovered.
There are those who claim that it is a neurological disorder. Again there appears that there is no connection. An article in the Veterinary Record concludes it is “apparently purposeless.”
Is it dangerous to disturb a dog that is trancing? It appears not, and I can find no case of a dog having an aggressive response. On the contrary, when interrupted, even guarding breeds show no negative reaction, but it should be noted that any dog in this condition may ignore the first instructions as they are having a very special moment and the pleasure is intense. I am sure, if you use your imagination, you can think of an experience in which you would not like to be disturbed!!
One of the problems in modern society is that people always require an explanation for everything, but unfortunately, there are some events that just don’t have one. This is particularly the case when it comes to animal behaviour. As yet, we are unable to interact other than by observing their body language, which consists of nonverbal communication. Whilst we are able to observe their body language, in this instance, because there is a third party involved (the hanging object), we are unable to truly understand what is happening.
“Dogs are like men, they take up more than their fair share of the bed.”
Anon
With subtitle or not?