A North Carolina woman is wondering how best to explain her rescue dog’s unusual habit to any prospective pet sitters.
Emily Pearcy took to TikTok, posting under the handle emilyyheide, to share several clips of her dog Finn engaging in his favorite outdoor activity: playing with a cinder block. In the clip, Finn can be seen happily lifting, pushing and rolling a cinderblock along the ground.
According to Pearcy, his passion isn’t reserved solely for cinderblocks. He also likes to roll rocks and bricks. However, the shape of a cinderblock does lend itself quite nicely to such activity.
The exact reason why Finn fell in love with rolling bricks and rocks around is unclear. “I adopted him from Toledo Ohio Humane Society about six years ago,” Pearcy told Newsweek.
“He didn’t start playing with bricks or rocks until he was about five. But previously we were living towards the coast, so there weren’t really any big rocks to play with. Now we live near the mountains and he loves it.”
Pearcy has got one possible theory though. “I think maybe he’s a herding breed mix,” she said. “I need to do a DNA test on him to find out.” One thing is certain, however, Finn loves playing with his rocks and bricks over pretty much everything else.
“When he has the choice he will choose playing with his rocks and bricks over anything. Including fetch, herding balls,” Pearcy said. “It’s just his weird little hobby.”
Finn’s “little hobby” may even border on an addiction. A 2025 study published in the journal Scientific Reports found the way some dogs behave towards their toys mirrors that of behavioral additions in humans when it comes to activities such as gaming or gambling.
Scientists examined data from 105 highly play-motivated dogs. Using a combination of information gleaned from behavioral testing and owner-led questionnaire, they found 33 of the subjects exhibited behaviors associated with addictive-like tendencies.
These included an excessive fixation on toys, reduced responsiveness to alternative stimuli, and persistent efforts to access toys. Whether Finn’s love of bricks, cinderblocks and rocks falls into this category is a matter of debate, but his behavior has left Pearcy facing a predicament when it comes to leaving her dog with a pet sitter.
Every time she does, she has to explain his quirky habit, which goes a little beyond just moving rocks around. “I tell them he loves to do that and scream while he’s doing it,” she said. “I tell them if they hear weird noises coming from him, he is fine, he’s just playing with his rocks.”
Ultimately though, Finn’s hobby does no harm to him or anyone around him and certainly keeps him fit and happy. It’s weird but Pearcy is content to embrace it.