My question has to do with dogs and their love of water hoses. I draw your attention to the picture here:
http://img141.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1227076930573pm7.jpg
What causes a dog to go berzerk like that? Every time someone turns on a water hose the dog tries to swallow every last drop? Both my childhood dogs used to do it and it appears to be a common behavior.
Anybody?
It feels good?
. . .
I got nuthin’.
Wow, that’s hilarious! I literally LOL’ed.
But I’ve never seen a dog do that. Most of my dogs were indifferent to hoses or ran away from them because they associated them with getting a bath.
Just a WAG: maybe the shape of a hose triggers some inborn snake reaction? Is the dog aggressive to the hose or playful?
Both my dogs - and again different breeds, different time periods, different parts of the world. The hose itself they didn’t pay attention to. But as soon as I turned on the water they became very excited and tried to “bite” the stream of water. If possible they would position themselves directly into the stream, and as that picture shows, try to gulp down and swallow every last drop (not realizing I had an unlimited supply of water). Sometimes barking, usually coughing. I would have to stop so they wouldn’t get hurt or drown, but it never failed. 
I have seen lots of this, primarily in larger water-retrieval dogs. You know…they like being wet. And it’s always in a playful manner, with lots of bounding around, with a high loose tail. A lot of them bite at the water jet. I imagine it is just like any other toy to them; something to bite and play with that feels fun.
I did some quick googling and came up with nothing. I’d speculate that hoses attract dogs because it excites their hunter instincts. Dogs play behavior is based on their being predators: instinctively they want to chase, pounce, and then tear something up, which is why they like playing fetch and tug of war. It’s also something creepy to keep in mind when your dog tears up a stuffed toy or your sofa.
With a running water hose they see something small (albeit long) moving fast and they want to attack it. They do and all they get is a face full of water, and if your dog likes water that just excites them more.
