I don't think dogs fear height, my dog used to go right up to the edge of a quite tall bridge here (that I wouldn't even walk close too) but he never jumped.

Maybe they are answering a high pitched whistle.

It's those damn sadistic blind bungee-jumpers. They can't resist scaring the shiat out of their dog.

Probably something to do with your dog wanting steak

Solution: Stop throwing burritos out your window while driving.

/jack black

Your dog wants to basejump

Why is the web page title "Sharon, Abbas to Meet Bush in April for Peace Push"??

When they heard Omarion felt badly about the bombings in England, they became suicidally depressed.

Obviously, generations ago, the dogs of Scotland interbred with lemmings. There can be no other explaination.

pshaw:

Dammit, beat me to the lemmings reference.

I was sure "Your dog wants to end it all" would have been at the endo of this headline

Dogs do not commit suicide. They have a strong fight or flight response

I guess fighting was out of the question then.

After looking at the home page of that site, I want to jump off a bridge too.

best thing at the end of TFA..


Folklore claims that Overtoun House is a place where angels and gargoyles keep company. The former home of Lord Overtoun, the owner of a huge chemical works, it is now being renovated as a Christian "centre for hope and healing".

Your dog wants wings:

Theory - the bridge is conducting heat or electricity which people in shoes don't feel. The dogs do, and jump to get away from it.

Is this tied in any way to the Boffin Zombie dogs that I read about on the links home page.

/it isn't a big deal considering I heard somewhere that all dogs go to heaven

And-1
Why is the web page title "Sharon, Abbas to Meet Bush in April for Peace Push"??

They're planning to push him off the bridge! Alert Secret Service!

Hmmm the heat conduction idea really fits as a possible scenario. Red hot bricks make rover jump.

Look after your dog, and he'll look after you.

Maybe some rotten scamp figured a way to affix steaks beneath the bridge? Off with his wank! Cruel and unusual punishment is justifiable in Europe- especially for hypothetical villains!

Obviously the first dog was just stupid and didn't know it was jumping over the edge of the bridge, all of the other dogs were just following its scent.

Or maybe the first dog pissed on its way off of the bridge and the other dogs smelled it and were attempting to claim back the bridge.

Yep that's it!

Great amswer delset Holmes.

Aphostile
Off with his wank!

wank
1. v. masturbate

2. n. one who masturbates, see also "wanker"

Well, all the other dogs are doing it...

Maybe they're just trying to practice for the next Alcatraz race.

The next terrorist threat: "Lucky" the Suicide Dog Bomber


Fortunately "Lucky" ended his own life binge partying at a titty bar the night before

Well Doggone!

Aww look honey, theyre evolving. Should be a real riot to see if your idiot dog passes the "Rover's Leap" test.

Your dog wants therapy.

Maybe they were just leaning over to spit, and leaned too far?

Or maybe they were going to be exposed in the media by this guy:

Dog suicide hot spot "nonsense"
By Gillian Harris, Scotland Correspondent
03 March 2005

ANIMAL workers have rejected suggestions of a spate of dog "suicides" at a 40ft bridge.

Five dogs have jumped to their deaths in the past six months at the bridge at Overtoun House, Dumbarton, according to locals. The most recent was last weekend when an owner was unable to stop her dog leaping over.

Joyce Stewart, an animal behaviourist, said the deaths were abnormal as dogs were usually able to gauge the heights and depths they could jump. "If they know they are going to die they might go into hiding but I have never heard of them taking their own lives," she said.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said: "Animals do not commit suicide. (This) shows the need for dog owners to keep their dogs under control. There is perhaps something over the bridge attracting the dogs attention."

The bridge, over a tributary of the Clyde, lies within the grounds of Overtoun House, an A-listed baronial building currently run as a Christian centre. It was the scene of a family tragedy in 1994 when Kevin Moy threw his two-week-old son to his death believing him to be the Antichrist.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1508499,00.html

What? A dog can't survive a 40 foot drop to water?

WTF...

Mystery solved

Why did the dog jump off the bridge

Jerry Falwell: Because the dog was gay! Isn't it obvious? Can't you people see the plain truth in front of your face? The dog was going to the "other side." That's what they call it -- the other side. Yes, my friends, that dog is gay. And, if you eat that dog, you will become gay too. I say we boycott all dogs until we sort out this abomination that the liberal media whitewashes with seemingly harmless phrases like "the other side.

Martin Luther King, Jr. : I envision a world where all dogs will be free to jump off bridges without having their motives called into question.

The Sphinx : You tell me.

Aristotle : To actualize its potential.

L.A. Police Department : Give me ten minutes with the chicken and I'll find out.

Albert Camus: It doesn't matter; the dog's actions have no meaning except to him.

Immanuel Kant : The chicken, being an autonomous being, chose to cross the road of his own free will.

Your dog has lost the will to live.

Don't blame yourself. It probably has nothing to do with all the times he's seen you naked.

Your dog wants a salmon steak?

Jalapeno - Guess it all depends on how deep the water is. If it's rock down below, no one would survive.

A Rottweiler survived a dive off the Sunshine Skyway Bridge a few years back while her master didn't, and they say it was the compact, dense body type that allowed it. BTW, the owner committed suicide, and the dog was just following her master.

Maybe there's some kind of dog-only optical illusion.
Someone with a black and white video camera set at dogs-eye view should check it out.

PS: One guy looking at the monitor, ONE GUY TO KEEP HIM FROM GOING OFF THE BRIDGE!

Wow... This story is yonks old and has been on fark before. I think it was one of the first threads I've ever posted in.

/I had advocated the whistling theory...

methodlynx

"Lucky" the suicide bombing dog looks an awful lot like a real life version of the X-15 Cruise Basselope:

And yet all of these poor dogs would still be alive if only the owners had that new trendy great thing called, a "leash".

/unavailable for comment

Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase 'Animal Control'.

nbrfwhoooo - a train completely submerged in water? haha, thats awesome.. and also why i hate the ocean. never know wat the hell is under all that water :P

One time I was out hiking with my dog and I was at the base of a small cliff, probably about 15-20 feet. My dog was up top sniffing around and I called him down...he just stood on the edge of the cliff for a second, then looked down at me and jumped down. I was TERRIFIED, but he just landed with a yelp and got right back up without any other visible effects. My point being, if a dog wants something and it thinks the safety level is reasonable, it'll jump. Maybe the dogs just thought it was safe?

er, crane..

Maybe there were cruel owners?
or just owned dumb dogs.
Ok, is there a dog that is not dumb?
Never see a cat do that!

a dog won't step in it's own shiat, cats will, then lick their paw...
a dog will eat cat shiat, but not step in it.
a dog will eat cat shiat and then lick your face...
9/10 times, you'll let 'em do it...

who's smarter?

I read about this months ago. Allegedly the view from the bridge creates an anomaly that makes it very difficult for an animal to accurately gauge the height. It has something to do with the way the trees overhang the ravine, or some such thing. The dogs think it is but a short distance to safe ground, and then they find out the hard way that it isn't. Sounded reasonable, anyways...

Cats ant that smart ....

http://www.filecabi.net/host/file/1120142995/wmv