A Rational Explanation for the "Dog Suicide Bridge"

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Any pet owner would understand that dogs do not commit suicide.  There is, however, a bridge near Dunbarton, Scotland from which more than 50 dogs have jumped to their death.  These are not cases in which people maliciously throw dogs from bridges - the dogs have jumped over the edge while in the presence of their devastated owners.

This video appears to be a brief excerpt (intro and conclusion) of a longer television documentary, and has some overly dramatized narration, but the point it makes is an important one for dog owners.

Spoiler/explanation:  A dog does not fully comprehend the nature of a bridge.  If it cannot see what is on the other side of the railing (solid stone in this instance), it will assume that what it sees is a wall, and that the ground on the other side of the wall would be level with the bridge surface.  If something attractive to the dog (a sound or scent) is on the other side, there is a risk the dog will leap over the edge to investigate.  In the case of Overtoun Bridge the lure may have been the scent of mink, but the same basic principle could apply anywhere in the world.  Dog owners should consider keeping their dogs on a leash when crossing such bridges.

Link with supplementary text, via Dark Roasted Blend.

Addendum:  Kurioso found an article in Spanish about the bridge, with a photo showing how the bridge looks to someone (or a dog) walking over it - like a garden path with waist-high walls.  Photo source.

Had a dog that got excited one day and jumped a short wall on our deck. Unfortunately it was a 7-foot drop to bricks below. Poor dog was stunned but seemed unhurt. It was a few years later (when she got skinny) we noticed a lump in her chest where she must have broken a rib. So, yes, they don't realize the danger.
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I thought some statements, from witnesses, told how dogs that initially survived the jump would run back to the top and repeat the jump until death occurred. If this is true, the hypothesis does not cover all incidences.
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@L-bot - Those events are still compatible with the original hypothesis. Those particular dogs after surviving the jump (perhaps after leaping over a railing of the bridge toward one end or the other), run back to join their masters, detect the scent again and, not having been injured the first time, jump again perhaps from a more central part of the bridge.
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Sorry, but that science was rubbishy. Dogs get excited over all kinds of things. The dogs in the field were only showing some interest. None were wildly excited. To say they are somehow scenting mink---Where? on the bridge? Down below? And are rashly jumping up and over the bridge--which they must know? Doesn't work. Maybe there's some dog hater with a dog whistle--that's far more likely than this really awful experiment that proves nothing about a dog getting so worked up it goes up and over the parapet. That can't be something they normally encounter.
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We have a similar problem here in UpState NY. There is a wall around the State Museum that dogs have gone over, not realizing the drop on the other side is more than 30 feet. It's ghastly. A few people have jumped/fallen off it too.

Your 'feral cat problem' would be fixed with spay and release programs you disgusting in-compassionate moron. Donate money to your local Humane Society and ask them to get involved.
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Most Scottish people consider jumping off a bridge 6 days out of 7 anyway. Suicide rates in Scotland are almost double that of England. Have any of you ever been to Dumbarton? The dogs got the right idea.
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This is very true. Our little Chihuahua jumped from our elevated driveway down into the back yard, a drop of almost 4 meters, while I was shaking out a beach towel. Time slowed as I saw him running toward the wall and launching himself over the half meter brick wall that keeps us from backing off the drive. As our little guy flew over the wall and into thin air he realised what he had done and started to twist and paw at the air. He landed in soft grass with only a grunt, turned looking up at me as if to ask, "How did you get up there?". He will still to this day walk along the wall with out a worry, but now knows what is on the other side. Keep your dogs on leashes people when close to areas like this.
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I really didn't like the video's conclusions. They blamed it squarely on the Mink. The Mink had nothing to do with the issue at all. If there were no Mink, but a strong Squirrel smell, many probably still would have jumped. Maybe they were just curious. The fact that a Mink, or a squirrel, or any other animal leaves in the vicinity of a bridge doesn't really face the problem itself, which is a cliff that looks like a fence to a dog.

The problem is the bridge itself, and targetting the Mink, through really bad testing and jumping to conclusions, really only avoids the issue entirely with a terrible solution.

Instead they could actually either educate and put up signs and warnings, as well as make leashes mandatory in that area(easy), or even use structural additions to the bridge to make it much more difficult for a dog to jump over(hard).
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