3 min read Q: Why Do Puppies Do Handstands While They're Eating?

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A: A combination of big heads and gravity.

Some puppies just lose control when they get excited, in a very literal way. There are a number of videos across the web showing tiny dogs enthralled by a bowl of food, chomping away happily (and distractedly) until they suddenly find themselves upside down. Certainly these puppies aren't doing gymnastics on purpose -- but what's causing them to do these seemingly accidental handstands?

According to Stephen Zawistowski, an animal behaviorist and science advisor at the ASPCA, the inadvertent puppy handstand results from a combination of physical factors, which might be triggered by an on-the-ground distraction. "Puppies tend to have large heads in comparison to the rest of their bodies -- this is one of the reasons that we find them cute," Zawistowski said. "As puppies lean forward into a food bowl on their front legs, for example, it is like a teeter totter and the hind legs may come off the floor." This is especially true if the puppy is focused on eating; he or she just won't notice the inevitable pull of gravity.