There are actually some really interesting historical accounts of this…
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This may be a little off topic, but since you’re a veterinarian, you might have some knowledge on this…
Do you have any thoughts as to why some dogs (mostly larger breeds eg German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, and English Setters, as far as I’ve seen) like to try to eat bees/flying insects?
Do you think it’s maybe an “attractive nuisance thing?” Dogthought: “Something moving at eye-level, must be something good to eat!” or “thing keeps flying around my face. Need to get rid of annoying thing.”
Or maybe they can smell the nectar on the bees, and it tickles the dog’s sweet tooth? Or is it possibly a protective instinct? I saw this happen numerous times as a kid with my own dogs, and it always felt like they were “fighting the bees” to try and keep my brother and I safe, but that’s most likely projection/anthropomorphization.
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I honestly have no idea. My own shepherd absolutely loves flying insects. The only thing I can come up with is “formerly working breeds, now kept as pets… boredom relieving behavior?”. I would have argued that it was to get rid of something annoying, but I’ve seen my dog actively stalk insects in the yard (as opposed to only snapping at insects that came near her).
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That makes as much sense as anything. Maybe… They learned it from us?
Humans have a documented instinct, from birth, to pay attention to insects. That’s why bugs bug us so much, they trigger alertness and are relentless hogs of our attention, and struggle as we must, it’s impossible to ignore them.
Maybe some of that rubbed off on dogs during our selective breeding?
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