My 7 month old pup is doing this wierd behavior--he lays on his side on the wood floor and furiously paws at the wood floor--almost as if he's riding an "air" bicycle. He wouldn't stop doing it last night in the middle of the night--I had to put him in his crate. What is this? Does he just want to play? His nails are not too long, so it's not that. What could it be? Thanks for any help--my floors thank you, too!

Hi there I have a 5 month old that does the same thing and often wondered why myself.

Are his eyes closed when doing this? This is a common thing for dogs to do when dreaming of running or chasing something....their legs move as if running. My dog does this every day once she starts dreaming herself.

It is certainly nothing to punish or make negative and this will only further confuse your puppy if you are crating for this reason.

Instead, simply purchase rubber backed mats, rug, or otherwise thin cotton sheet under him to sleep on so he doesn't scratch anything.

Blankets and thick beds will likely be avoided as Berners like cool hard surfaces to sleep on....so a thin cotton sheet or thin mat is all it takes.

But he definitely isn't sleeping when he does it. In fact, sometimes he does it standing up--sort of like a Spanish bull pawing the ground. But he only does it on our wood floors.

Ok...try to take a picture of it and post it here if you can....that would help us all see the true behavior.

Is he doing it any where on the wood floors or in a particular spot? Does he only do it in the middle of the night? Or any time of day? Any other patterns you see?

Our dog Bowser is almost 2 and he has done this since 6 months. Mostly on the tile floor where his bed is kept, occasionally on the hardwood in my room. He seems to do this when he is about to lay down too. Not sure why either.