Are Dogs Thrill-Seeking Adrenaline Junkies?

This post is co-authored with Jessica Pierce.

A YouTube video proclaims, “This adrenaline junkie of a dog has done more base jumps than you!” The narrator tells us that this very lucky dog has participated in more than 40 BASE jumps with his human. We follow along as the man and his dog, who is strapped into a harness on the man’s chest, leap from a cliff and free fall for a terrifying moment until the parachute opens and they float through the air and finally land safely in a field.

Another YouTube video, produced in 2014 by none other than National Geographic, follows along with world-renowned rock climber Dean Potter as he BASE jumps with his dog Whisper. “This joy we have,” Potter’s voiceover says, “is just off the charts … Will this joy lead to harm or death?” (Potter sadly died in a BASE jumping accident in 2015. Whisper was not with him when this happened.) These videos and others like them—of people taking their dogs along on risky, adrenaline-laced activities—are extraordinarily popular. The clip of Potter and Whisper has more than 2.3 million views.

BASE jumping dog videos raise thorny behavioral and ethical questions: Are some dogs “adrenaline junkies”? Do dogs actually enjoy BASE jumping? Is it ever okay to expose our dogs to extraordinary risk for fun?

These are important questions to ponder, because there seems to be growing interest in the phenomenon on Instagram and YouTube. A few days ago, Marc received this inquiry from a film company about a possible documentary: "One aspect that we are particularly intrigued by is we see examples of dogs jumping out of planes, or off cliffs with their owners. We’d like to explore this notion that they seem to have over overridden all sense of instinct in order to have fun with us. Can this be true? Why are some dogs greater risk-takers than others? I was wondering if you had done any research in this area, as I know you have done a lot surrounding the world of play ... It would be great to hear from you ... in regards to these adrenaline junkie dogs."

Marc responded: "I'm sure there are dogs who are risk-takers and those who are not, but it's not the dogs who are the risk-takers but rather their humans. I surely would never do these sorts of things with any dog. I don't see the dogs as adrenaline junkies—perhaps their humans are. Characterizing dogs as adrenaline junkies sends a misleading message about dogs—it's a myth—but says a lot about their humans. The dogs do it because their humans do and they don't know the risks of what they're being asked or made to do. This surely isn't playful for most if not all dogs."

While some dogs might be risk-takers and others be more risk adverse, it's unlikely that any are adrenaline junkies who actively seek out death-defying adventures. While we've both thought a lot about personality differences among dogs and how these variations might be related to their ability to have survive and have good dog-appropriate lives, we've never considered characterizing dogs as adrenaline junkies or as adrenaline averse.

Making dogs engage in death-defying activities says more about humans than about dogs. The dogs can't give consent and say something like, "Sure, it's OK to parachute or BASE jump," and it's highly unlikely that the humans ask them if they'd like to do this or that and maybe get killed. Do dogs actually enjoy the thrill of free-falling or climbing mountains while strapped to a human? It's possible, but of course they don't know about the risks involved.

Making dogs partake in these sorts of thrill-seeking activities is irresponsible. While it might be cool and fun for the humans and attract a lot of attention, the dogs are passive bystanders who happen to be in the company of humans who are trying to fulfill their need for adrenaline. This isn't necessarily a criticism of the humans—they're free to decide what they want to do. But to take a dog along, whether to attract Instagram followers or because of some illusion that the dog likes to fly through space, empowers the human to decide that it's OK for my dog to die if something goes awry.

The dogs haven't really agreed to engage in these adrenaline-packed activities. They're merely unknowing pawns. Recall that Dean Potter sadly died in a BASE jumping accident in 2015 but Whisper was not with him. Had he been, it would have been even more tragic.