“What’s Wrong With Your Dog?”: 45 Funny Pics Of Dogs Being Goofy And Weird (New Pics)

Bored Panda also contacted the moderator who created this fun online community to hear the story behind the /r/WhatsWrongWithYourDog subreddit. "I created this subreddit when I found a picture of a dog with an awful grooming job. I figured that dogs being the silly goofs they are, folks would have plenty of images to share of the same. /r/WhatsWrongWithYourCat was similarly inspired. My favorite part is a reason to visit the sub daily."

When asked what types of dog pics are their favorites, the admin said: "All kinds, really. My favorites are dogs caught in the act and dogs trying to hide their guilt when caught." How about yours? Let us know in the comments!

It's no surprise that the admin loves dogs, as they are a dog owner as well. "I have two dogs, a pom and a shi tzu and they are perfectly normal and never do anything weird. Ahem." ;)

We also reached out to Alison Carpenter, a qualified and certified dog behaviorist, to talk to her about where we might find the line between quirky and problematic behavior. When we asked how owners could try to identify behaviors that might require intervention, she offered some expert advice:

"At a very basic level, behaviour is about either gaining access to something the dog wants or needs, or avoiding something he doesn’t want. If the dog performs behaviours that don’t seem to have any apparent function or occur out of context such as spinning, tail chasing, snapping at invisible flies, staring at reflections or lights – the owner should seek advice as these are signs of several possible behavioural or neurological concerns, from environmental stress to seizure activity."

"Similarly, dogs who perform a breed specific behaviour continually and obsessively but out of context (think Border Collies running the fence line chasing traffic) probably need some adjustment to their daily schedule!"

Alison also helped understand when normal behaviors might become problematic. "Every dog I see is performing perfectly normal dog behaviours! (For example, barking is how dogs communicate; Digging, chewing, shredding, chasing – all part of the sequence of how dogs naturally acquire food.)"

"The problem usually comes when the behaviours are excessive or inappropriate to the context. I specialise in aggression cases, so most people reach out to me because their dog growls or barks/lunges or attempts to bite other dogs or people."

"Humans hate it when dogs growl, and many people will tell their dog off for doing so. But growling is important information. The dog is communicating that he is not comfortable – so we should treat it as a signal to help the dog and make changes e.g. put some distance between the dog and the child that is pulling on its ears."

"In the vast majority of cases I see, the aggression is out of proportion to the context in which it happens because the dog is simply over-whelmed and does not have alternative coping strategies (and behaviours) to draw upon."