A very happy German shorthaired pointer named River was recently spotting showing off a rare and wonderful maneuver known as a “stot.”
Have you heard of dog stotting?
A Tigger’s a wonderful thing
Stotting is the act of jumping straight up off the ground with all four feet. It’s thought to be done by prey animals like gazelles to show off how strong they are—and therefore hard to catch!
Snow stotter
Why do dogs “stot”? We don’t know for sure, but it looks an awful lot like pure unadulterated joy. We can’t help but think of the indefatigable Tigger from Winnie the Pooh.
Taking flight
In Scottish English, the word “stot” means “to bounce,” so Tigger really is an apt fit! Another word for stotting is “pronking,” which is an Afrikaans word that means “to show off.”
Puppy throwback
Whether in play, to show off, or to just be able to see above the tall grass, dogs jumping around like kangaroos is adorable as heck.
Give River a follow on Instagram for more happy hops and smiles in your feed.
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Sources
https://www.jstor.org/stable/4600191?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents (“Stotting in Thompson’s Gazelles”)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stotting