This rather odd video, if on the level, show a dog’s hind leg apparently trying to steal its bone, and the dog thinking that this is a real threat and attacks the leg? I’ve never had a dog and wonder what exactly is going on here dog brain wise, and if its normal? I love dogs, don’t get me wrong but are they really this dumb? And what’s at work with the leg- it doesn’t have its own brain, how can it act like that and the dog not be aware?
I get a message that the video is no longer available, FWIW.
Sorry, here’s another link.
I found another copy of it on YouTube. ETA: I do believe there is a string on the dog’s paw and someone off camera is pulling it. That’s why the dog is reacting that way, because it isn’t moving the paw, yet it senses SOMEONE moving in on it’s bone. Some dogs have bad food aggression. Either that, or some kind of involuntary muscle spasm. But I’m betting it’s humans messing with the dog. Not so funny thinking someone’s pulling a string to move the paw, is it? 
Here is a link on food and toy aggression in dogs too.
I don’t think there’s a string involved for the following reason: You can plainly see the muscles working in the dog’s leg and foot (watch the way the toes stretch forward as the foot begins to move). If the leg were being pulled as suggested, the dog’s first motion would be to resist and pull back.
You’re exactly right about the food aggression, though. Whatever the issue with the leg is, the problem at the front end has to do with the dog’s training, and it’s not a funny situation, laugh track notwithstanding. A dog that reacts that way is potentially dangerous.
Knead
Who Loves Dogs, So Don’t Get On Me About that Last Sentence
I thought that had to be it, but the way the leg moves up towards the bone, it twitches and scratches the chest a bit and moves in a way that looks natural, but I could be wrong.
I wouldn’t let that dog into my house, that’s for sure. That dog is a ticking time bomb. I bet it caused the need for stitches in its owners, I just hope it wasn’t a child that got attacked. Stupid pet owners make me sad and angry. :mad: 
Good call, Zabali. To me, it looked like a weird case of Alien Hand Syndrome. Your explanation seems more plausible.
Yup. Whatever the psychology, that’s a dangerous dog.
I agree, bad training for the dog, but the leg just looks weird. Maybe his leg is numb or he has nerve damage, so when he bites it, he doesn’t realize its his own.
I’ve never seen a dog that doesn’t do this! Well, not by itself, but even my current dog is happy to chew on her leg or tail if you put it in front of her face. Not violently like that dog, but just contentedly.
Yeah, but does your dogs leg try and steal food from its mouth? 
I’ll have to check when I get home (Youtube blocked at work) but this sounds to me like a vid that was on America’s Funniest Home Videos a while back.
At the time, my whole family thought the dog looked ill, as though it was having some kind of seizure.
Assuming all 5 of us were watching, there’s probably at least 80 years of dog owning/loving among us. No, that is definitely not normal dog behavior.
Nor, in our opinion, is it at all humorous. Thought it extremely sad that folks were laughing madly as they showed this clip. IIRC, this clip might even have won that week. :eek:
Yeah, I’ve seen another video on AFHV that showed a dog having an odd seizure. I knew it was a seizure but the owners just thought the dog was being funny. I found the video more disturbing than funny.
Like other have said, it’s very probably a neurological problem. I once made the mistake of watching America’s Funniest Animal Video (or something like that) with my aunt, a veterinarian. For almost every amusing behavior, she could diagnose a neurological issue and all the comments about “dead in two months” really took the amusment out of the videos.
My guess is that the dog is moving its leg in to scratch its ear, or some such. While the violent reactions are not normal, the confusion over what is and is not part of its body can be. It looks to me like the same sort of confusion which would cause an animal to chase its own tail (which I have seen, in perfectly healthy and sane (in so far as they can be) dogs and cats.
What Chronos said. Isn’t this obvious? He’s trying to scratch himself. Scratching is pretty much a low-level task in dogs. They don’t give the actual movements much conscious thought, unless they have to.
The other thing that coincides here: See how he makes eye contact with the camera at the beginning of the video? - “Those guys behind the camera are staring at my food. Better watch out for bone thieves.”
Then there’s the itch. (*) Scratching sequence commences. (with quite normal movements at first)
“But wait. Who’s behind my ear? This is my bone! MY bone!”
It’s all going back and forth between the urge to scratch, and the cautious tension of having to defend against an invisible (but very insistent) enemy from behind.
At the end of the video there’s an “Oh. Yeah. THAT foot. Fooled me. Nevermind.” moment. You can see the exact point when he realizes and starts “thinking” about his foot. Everything’s perfectly calm from there.
Anyway, it’s defensive snapping, not aggressive biting. He even tries to defuse the situation by moving the bone away. This dog isn’t dangerous, it’s confused. (albeit slightly stupid…) And not more disturbed than any other mutt who chases his own tail.
But yes, this dog could use some training. (What’s he doing on the sofa anyway!) He should not look at his owners while snarling like that. That’s not a neurological problem. (Or nerve damage. If you watch closely, he isn’t really biting into his foot!)
(*) There’s some distinctive head flinching after the first few bites. On a hunch, I’d check him for ear pain. Triggered by the jaw muscles from the chewing. This might cause an irresistible urge to scratch even at an inappropriate moment like this. Or maybe something’s just stuck between the teeth.
Just another thought on what might be going on. IMO, obviously. IANAVet, dog trainer, just a dog owner.
It’s possible that the owners have encouraged less extreme versions of the behavior, and the video we’re seeing is just the end result. Maybe it started with the dog chewing on his paw, which was reinforced in whatever way. Next the dog started making noises chewing his paw. Maybe they gave him a rawhide. And so on. There may have been 20 different variations on this before the video, who knows.
I’ve inadvertently taught my dogs to do all sorts of weird things. My Rhodesian Ridgeback girl Zilla is a very vocal, intense dog. She play-chews on her paws, legs, and tail a lot, chews her toenails, and she makes some freaky noises when she does it, sometimes including fake growling (it’s really obvious to me it’s fake play-growling, but it might not be to someone who doesn’t live with her). I’ve taught her to play keep-away with the last piece of rawhide, because when she was very young and I wasn’t sure if she’d chew the small bits up, or try to swallow a large piece whole, I’d take it away from her before it was gone. Now I know she’ll chew the thing up, so I don’t take it away anymore, but that doesn’t stop her from hiding a small piece in her mouth, and coming up to me and “asking” me to chase her.
I’ve inadvertently taught my old Norwegian Elkhound Gizmo to do things like sneeze for attention, and pretend to pee outside when it’s raining. He doesn’t like to be out in a storm, but I won’t go back in unless he, at a minimum, pees. On a number of occasions, when we’re out in a bad storm, he’s done a quick hike of his leg or squatted (yes, he’s a girly-dog :)), but not actually peed, presumably in the hopes that I wouldn’t notice and we’d go back inside.
That said, the dog in the video does freak me out a little, cause it looked like genuine snarling to me. I don’t think my hypothetical explanation is necessarily true, just that it’s a possibility.
I’ve seen the video numerous times, and that’s always been my impression. Half the brain is scratching, the other half is guarding the bone. Result–confusion! (And a funny video.)