Animals are weird. They just are. And the more time you spend with them, the more you begin to realize they each have unique personalities, talents and ... shall we say "quirks."
What we're saying is if you own a pet, you're going to end up at least once staring as your pet does something ridiculous and asking "What is wrong with you?"
My partner, kids, and I have always loved animals - so we've pretty much had a small zoo between us. My partner grew up with peacocks and emus (both of which are species deeply loathed to this day.)
Lots of animals means lots of chance for weird. We've had a fish who liked to play ping-pong and be pet and a dog that insists on holding hands while hanging out.
... and then there's Optimus Prime.
He's a 90 lb pit bull that makes Marley from "Marley And Me" look like a zenmaster. He likes to get high on CBD (he knows where it's kept and steals doses) and then let himself out and sunbathe. Yeah, the dog likes to wake & bake. If he were a human, he'd listen to a lot of Phish and smell like patchouli - guaranteed.
But that's not his most "inconvenient" trick. That award goes to his ability to open doors. Doors of all kinds. Gate? Front door? Sliding door? Cage door? None of it has been able to stop him.
When we took him to get neutered, he let himself out of the cage at the vet's office to visit all the other animals... and maybe to pop into exam rooms while the vet was seeing other patients. Thankfully, our vet is used to our "interesting" pets.
Still, that wasn't his most bizarre adventure.
A few days after we adopted him, he let himself out the front door, walked down the street, found an unlocked front door, let himself into a neighbors house, ate their treats, played with their dogs and helped himself to a nap on their couch. We got a phone call from a very confused neighbor wondering why our dog was just casually hanging out in their living room.
So yeah... awkward way to meet the neighbors.
I imagine they sat around watching the Ring doorbell video of a giant dog opening their door, closing it behind himself, and basically throwing himself a puppy frat party with a look on their face like:
GiphyReddit user abasicgirl asked about weird pet behaviors and started a thread you absolutely don't want to miss.
The people who responded kept us laughing - so here are some of our favorites!
Squirmy Wormy
My dog is fascinated by worms - he doesn't eat them or anything, but he gets totally hypnotised by their wriggling and can stare at one for literally hours. 🐛
Usually after he picks up a girthy branch and there are some underneath. So he just stands there with the heavy branch in his mouth for minimum 20 minutes. There's probably something wrong with him but it's hard to tell because is dog
The Rug
When I was a kid, we had this big area rug in our living room. One day our dog kept trying to lift the edge with his nose like he was trying to get under it. As soon as anyone walked in the room he would stop like he got caught doing something bad.
So one day, I spied on him from the stairs and realized what he was trying to do. As he lifted the edge of the rug, he started rolling it up. He kept going until the rug was completely rolled up. He then proceeded to get on it and hump the living sh!t out of that thing like it was his last day on Earth.
I busted out laughing which spooked him and he darted out of the room.
The Lying Faker
My dog's understanding of the 2 window system at fast food drive thrus is that the person at the first window is a malicious no-food-having lying faker a-hole, then the person at the second window is a genuinely nice person who has food. She HATES the person at the first window.
She will be her happy go lucky self until we pull up to the first window to pay. As soon as we pull up, she turns her head away and scowls. She refuses to even look at the jerk in the first window. When I pull away, she immediately goes back to being her happy self.
- opkc
Collared
One of my cats (who sadly passed in 2016 at the age of 11) when he was like 1 or 2 years old went outside of our garden, he was gone for 4 hours and he came back without his collar. About 5 minutes after he came back he leaves again, and he's gone for another 2 hours, he comes back with his collar in his mouth, and drops it at my mums feet.
Cat did the walk of shame and realized he forgot his underwear and had to go back and get it.
- Hock3y
It Fits
My parrot sticks his beak up my nose and just sits there (he's a smaller parrot, so it fits. Ugh.)
Paws
My cat will shove her dirty poop burying paws into any open glass of water and then... nothing, that's it. She doesn't drink it or lick it or anything. Drives my wife up the wall.
Wrestlemania
GiphyMy grandparents have a massive staircase in the middle of their house. It had a little landing in the middle. We used to bring our dog over to their house because he was best buddies with their dog.
Well, one day my dumb dumb dog decided that he was going to climb to the landing of the stairs and then jump down on top of their dog. He wasn't chasing anything or whatever, he was just being a jerk.
Luckily both dogs were both pretty small (no more than like 25lbs) so there were no injuries, but I still think about that little moron every time I see that landing. I miss him.
Green Beans
I don't know if it's bizarre but my cat loves green beans. I'm talking like I buy a bag of green beans and she knows I have them before I even walk in the door.
She acts like a puppy who hasn't seen me in years when I have them, begging me and jumping on me until I dump them into a bowl for her to then sort through them and find the perfect green bean. She then picks one out with her teeth and will toss it around the house for herself like it's a live rat.
She doesn't eat them. Just throws them around the house to play with until it's dead enough that she wants a new one then will howl at the fridge until we let her pick a new one out to play with.
Okay, I guess it's pretty bizarre....
Play Dead
We tried giving my hamster some medicine because he had a small kidney problem and he faked a death , VERY VERY exaggeratedly, like stuck his tongue to the side of his mouth and going limp.
- Zenyk07
Like A Bat
My roommate's cat clings to the underside of my bed, cutting through the box spring with her claws, upside down. She hangs there like a bat and meows loudly until someone gives her attention. When I look under, all I see is murder eyes.
Morning Routine
My alarm went off and I sleepily sat up in bed. My cat who had been sleeping a split second before, suddenly streaked off my bed and out the room. As usual I desperately needed the loo and went to the bathroom. There was my cat, sitting on the toilet seat, peeing into the toilet and refusing to make eye contact. I had to do a credible version of the toilet tango while he finished up and eventually jumped down to demand breakfast as I finally managed to get my own relief.
At least I finally knew why the toilet water was constantly yellow even though no-one else lived there. When I moved to my current home, the new toilet seat was slanted and he went back to using the litter box.
Our family's Maltese/Poodle was a sweet, friendly, thing to everyone in the world unless you did us the service of delivering mail. Then you were a monster and she'd bark her fool head off while shredding letters. But it was her perception that blew me away.
One day I ran a chore and invited her for a car ride, something she loved. Her head was on a swivel as she took in the passing scene. Then we stopped at a light and I heard this low growl. What the fu--? Among all the pedestrians on the sidewalk, she had spotted, across the street, a mail carrier in uniform, waiting in a bus queue.
- carmium
Rude
GiphyOur African Gray parrot, Desi called our Orkin man "fat*ss", and the guy could have been the spokesperson for Bigger & Taller. He only did it once, and it wasn't to his face - but to the guys backside when he was bent over spraying the baseboards.
He also knows when french fries enters the house, and demands tribute.
I could come home, and go front door straight to my office with fries, and he never gets a chance to see me, and I will hear him banging for fries.
- Kukri187
Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.
