Here’s a dog that’s supposed to be protecting his fallen comrade from vehicular danger:
At first glance, this doesn’t seem too unlikely. After all, dogs do form relationships with one another, and have even been known to guard each other. That would kind of make this video true, right?
However! If we look more closely, it becomes clear that this dog isn’t guarding at all. He’s humping. Right at the start we can see the tell-tale way he’s moving his hips. He’s not entirely got the whole “what goes where” question sorted, but that’s really a side-issue.
This doesn’t necessarily mean the dog is actually trying to mate with roadkill, although it is a possibility. It could also be that dog is feeling really anxious and confused; something scary just happened, and now his companion isn’t moving.
Humping is one of a suite of displacement behaviors we see when dogs are stressed about something they can’t escape from. They’re the canine equivalent of picking our nails or chain smoking before a job interview. Not exactly noble, but understandable.
