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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Liam Buckler & Barney Riley

Dog has bizarre obsession with fish and shakes with excitement when he sees one

A rescue dog has a strange fascination with fish and will even shake with excitement when encountering aquariums.

Owners Haile Endicott, 30, and her fiancé Cole, from Missoula, Montana, US, are proud owners to eight-year-old Teddy who loves to search riverbeds for fish.

The couple, who are both fishing fanatics, often take Teddy on fishing trips since Cole rescued him from a litter in Seattle as a pup and believe this is where believe his obsession began.

Haile said: "Teddy grew up going fishing with my fiancé and still spends a lot of time on the river with us.

"My fiancé says Ted was about six months old the first time he took him fishing and he was instantly, naturally obsessed with fish.

Teddy has a bizarre obsession with fish (Collab / SWNS)
Teddy loves staring into aquariums (Collab / SWNS)

"I was surprised by the large number of people who commented on my video, even those who aren't fishermen, who said their dogs also look for fish in the water.

"We weren't sure if his obsession was 'nature or nurture,' i.e. whether he learned to be excited about fish from Cole or if he would've had this obsession no matter what."

But when Teddy does get his paws on a fish, he doesn't even attempt to harm them.

Haile added: "He doesn't really do anything to it. H just dances around, whines excitedly and follows the fish after we release it.

He loves to approach riverbeds to find the fish (Collab / SWNS)

"He has never hurt a fish, but a few times in the past he's 'nipped' towards them as if he wanted to 'herd' them.

"He got into trouble for that and doesn't do it anymore.

"We usually just fish for sport and release the fish we catch, but the few times we kept and cooked fish he wasn't interested in eating any."

Despite the quirk being quite funny and interesting, it has soon become a bore for Haile and Cole.

The couple tried to discourage Teddy from his curiosity with fish, but to no avail (Collab / SWNS)
He shakes with excitement when encountering fish (Collab / SWNS)

She said: "We don't understand his motives. When Cole found out Ted was obsessed with fish he realized it was unique and thought it was funny, but eventually, we also found it to be a bit annoying.

"Ted would be so excited that he'd get in the way while we tried to reel fish in. He also makes loud whining and chirping noises when we catch a fish.

"Other fishermen on the river occasionally give us weird looks like 'what are you doing to that dog?' and we imagine the whining might be annoying for friends who are on the boat with us."

The couple even tried to discourage Teddy from his curiosity with fish, but to no avail.

Haile added: "We eventually realised Ted really can't control his obsession and it makes him happy so we just embraced it.

"Now we let him say 'hello' to all the fish we catch."

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