Abnormal behaviour in young rescue dog

[keeperscottage]

Some of you may recall my post a couple of months ago about my poor little rescue springer x lab bitch who is almost two years old. She was literally skin and bone when she was given to me by a friend of a neighbour. She is absolutely adorable - kind and loving, gets on so well with my other dogs, and is quick to learn. However, several weeks ago, she started running around a tall laurel hedge in my garden (hedge is about 25 foot long). She runs up and down, around, through it, stands on hind legs and looks up into it......she's worn away all the lawn around it........and, if I left her in the garden long enough, she'd do it for hours! Just paces up and down. She was kept crated before she was given to me and has no hair on the end of her tail either as a result of her banging her tail on the crate, or biting her tail through stress or boredom. Vet said it may never grow back, and certainly hasn't shown any signs thus far. Is this behaviour a result of her earlier life? She only started it a matter of a month or so ago and I've had her since August. Once she's in the house, she's fine. No problem in my "dog room" and now happily sitting next to me on the sofa. Any ideas how to break this habit? My other four dogs are so "normal" and easy - I've never had a problem dog before and would really like to help her!

 

[Dry Rot]

I'm guessing this is what is called "stereotypical behaviour" and more common in high drive/active dogs. Max, my young working strain German shepherd, will occasionally chase his tail and dig, throwing up dirt behind him, then turn quickly and try to catch it. Play "gone wrong"? The lion pacing in the zoo is similar example. I once had a pointer that spent it's time chasing small birds in it's run and even ignore food to do it, so it became emaciated.

Sadly, cure is very difficult, if not impossible. I have curbed Max's behaviour (or rather channeled it in another direction) by giving lots of hard exercise until he is exhausted and supplying plenty of toys and bones. Fortunately, I have the old GSD and the two play continuously which does help a lot.

I suspect your dog has at some time seen a bird in that bush and is now fanatically searching for it. Some working breeds are (a) hyper, and (b) fanatical, and it is those qualities that make them exceptional workers. Probably the fine line between madness and genius! In another life, your rescue would probably have made a very good gundog. I am sorry for your situation and I am sorry that I probably haven't been of much help. Someone has clearly done what is all too common and simply passed the problem on to the next unsuspecting owner.

 

[keeperscottage]

Dry Rot, that's exactly how it started! One morning, she saw a bird in the hedge and chased after it..........but she's still looking for it several weeks on!!! Like I said, once in the house, she's a normal, loving little dog.

 

[twiggy2]

I train a lady whos springer chases leaves and shadows, she has only had the dog about 7 weeks and the behaviour has reduced but will crop up if he is left to think (or not) for himself-so if we stop to discuss something whilst walking or training and he is off lead or if he is put in the garden without supervision. he had not been regularly walked for over a year in his previous home and was often shut out in the garden for a few hours at a time and due to excess energy/stress he began an obsessive behaviour.
It can also be a stress only behaviour and not easy to stop depending on how severe it is but the things you can do to reduce it are plenty of exercise both physical and mental, so lots of walks/runs in many different places, retrieve work, search work, food/treat/toy finding in the house, stuff a kong with some really smelly treat/food and go and put it in the garden away from the hedge, take her out there on a long line and encourage her to search-to make this easier to start with take her out with you on a line show her the food/treat let her see you place it on the floor and move walk away from it taking her with you, then give her a command 'go/search/find' and let her go to the food then increase how far you move from the food, once she finds that easy then leave her indoors where she can see you in the garden so she can watch you place the treat and bring her out on line to find it. you can do this in the hose the park the woods etc everywhere. the idea is to break the cycle of negative behaviour by positive encouragement/redirection'. so never reprimand her for the obsessive behaviour but redirect her, ideally prevent it happening, so don't just let her into the garden, give her a job to do out there and physically be in control of her without 'dominating' her.

good luck

 

[Booboos]

Try Adaptil collars/diffusers and Zylkene tablets. Both tend to help stressy dogs and while I appreciate you say she is otherwise happy, the obsessive chasing seems like stress.

 

[Laura2408]

Hi,

I have a dog with severe obsessive compulsive behaviour which was caused by a lack of socialisation and stimulation in early life. I got him at 10 months old but the damage was already done and I have never been able to stop his behaviour. He mainly obsesses with shadows although dust and anything that flies are also fair game! He also did similar to your dog and ran an exact circle around my garden, it looked like a UFO crop circle it was so precise!

My dog does not seem distressed and professional advice has been to leave him to it and egnore the behaviour where possible. I have also been advised calmers and sedation which I have not tried!
Things that I have found helped are lots of excersise and using loads of brain working toys-puzzles,kongs, treat balls. I also do a lot of training and always take him out and about with me, even riding in the car for 5mins to the shop breaks the cycle and allows him to think of something else. I take my dog to work with me too but this isn't possible for everything but he has really improved with having a job to do and a strict routine!

Fingers crossed your dog stops soon, but as my trainer put it as long as he isn't hurting himself he isn't doing any harm!

 

[Alec Swan]

…….. . Is this behaviour a result of her earlier life? …….. !

Almost certainly, and if she's only started doing it with you, and relatively recently, then the change of environment as an influence has probably worn off and she may well have reverted back to her previous behaviour patterns. Can she now be stopped? Possibly, but the pattern which has set in is now so well engrained that it will call for real self discipline from you, and stopping ANY attempt of hers to slip backwards. It won't be easy!

Her behaviour is probably a bit of a 'comforter', or she may see it almost as a 'duty'! It's a form of addiction when animals behave in such a fashion, and perhaps creating a routine for her, a 'game'(?), or a 'job' to do, perhaps may help. The one thing that I wouldn't do is to rely upon any form of medication. Even if it worked, it would need to be lifelong because her addiction is set in place. Established behaviour patterns are rarely eradicated and the best that one can do, is manage them. I'm sorry that I'm not much help.

Alec.

 

[SadKen]

My little gsd is also very high drive and his stress relieving behaviour is chewing. This is less annoying for humans as he can chew toys, but he'll also chew the dining room table when we are out :/ it releases endorphins just like exercise, which relieves stress.

I'm currently trying to break the cycle with redirection as others have suggested. He is playing 'find it' where I hide a tennis ball and he has to scent it out, and we do a lot of bursts of obedience, and I am training a lot of new tricks, scenting, all sorts. Putting him into a loop of tricks (different every time) gets his mind going and he becomes very focused on me straight away. He relaxes and will usually go to sleep happily after that. I also got a Nina ottoson toy which we use to deliver his tea. I have another gsd that he plays with too. It's tough but I think unwanted behaviour can be redirected although not 100%.

Having a high drive working dog is extremely challenging, as they need a lot of interaction. I've never had one before, but once I realized what I had, teaching him has become very rewarding for both of us. We aren't anywhere near where I'd like to be, but it's so worth the time taken. Good luck!

 

[Clodagh]

I have never had to deal with this, but would it be any help if you could fence off her 'run line' ? Or put obstacles on it. I don't know if having to stop and look for a way round might break the cycle? Poor little dog.

 

[twiggy2]

I have never had to deal with this, but would it be any help if you could fence off her 'run line' ? Or put obstacles on it. I don't know if having to stop and look for a way round might break the cycle? Poor little dog.

It is thought that preventing an action just increases anxiety and compulsion, a bit like telling someone with OCD that they cannot clean

 

[Clodagh]

Fair enough. Makes sense. None has ever had to tell me not to clean.

 

[Equi]

Springers are very high energy and unless they are worked to a level they can cope with thy will find other ways to cope. If its just the lawn that looks a bit naf i would let her get on with it - think of this, exercise you don't have to make her do! as long as shes not barking and annoying people and not hurting herself there is no issue. Better than spinning in circles which a lot of them do.

 

[Alec Swan]

It is thought that preventing an action just increases anxiety and compulsion, a bit like telling someone with OCD that they cannot clean

That would be correct, 'sometimes'. The dog, for instance which is 'prevented' from pulling on a lead by the use of a halti, isn't the dog which has learned how to walk to heal either on or off a lead. The halti 'prevents' the dog from doing what it wants to do, and achieves nothing. Clodagh's suggestion that the dog's 'route' (the dog in question) could have obstacles placed in it's path, would be an interesting approach. I suspect that a determined dog would simply find another route and one which goes around the obstacles. I use 'obstacles' around which to artificially 'steer' dogs and have them learn how to move away from sheep and how to help develop an 'outrun'. That's all by the by!

Imposing our will on dogs, and having them accept the discipline of that, can often have the effect of having the dog abandon its previous behaviour. There will be huge variations, obviously. The aggressive dog will be unlikely to be altered by discipline, but the dog which self-harms or has what appears to be manic and self entertaining behaviour patterns, when offered an alternative route for its energies or focus, will often be the most likely to respond in a positive fashion.

Again, you're right, 'Prevention' doesn't actually achieve much, beyond that! Offering an alternative, 'May'!

Alec.

 

[Dry Rot]

It is my impression that this behaviour is strongly influenced by genetics. Otherwise, why are certain breeds more prone to the disorder than others? I suspect it should only be tolerated when other positive characteristics make up for the deficiencies.

I knew a breeder who used to sell a lot of gundog pups to pet homes, stating that he would happily buy them back at any time for the original purchase price! That way he got someone else to rear and socialise the pup at no cost to himself and got it back at just the right stage for field training! Yes, it can be done but I doubt whether dogs like that would ever make good pets -- which is why I always advise that the true working dogs should be outside in a kennel (….says he with his two working GSDs asleep in front of the fire….but they will be going out later! ).

 

[RhaLoulou]

I hope your little dog gets over this behaviour it sounds quite distressing for you. I got my rescue at 10 months, no history whatsoever, she was a malnourished stray. She dug a lot of large holes in the garden, was extremely anxious about going to toilet and ate her own poo, I am pleased to say that all this behaviour ceased when she became settled. Good luck.

 

[keeperscottage]

Thank you everyone for your replies - lots to try! Giving her toys/bones etc to occupy her is a problem because I own multiple dogs! OH has suggested standing by the hedge with a "Corrector" spray (works wonders with Molly Springer's barking!) and my daughter has suggested "blocking" her as she runs around the hedge. Strangely, for the first time, today she was been exploring other areas of the garden rather than incessantly running around the laurel hedge! I don't know whether many of you have seen the original photos of her, but here is a link:

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?677379-Poor-little-dog!

She was such a poor little scrap and, Rhaloulou, like your rescue dog, she used to eat her own deposits, although this behaviour has now stopped.

Like I said, once in the house, she's a lovely little dog. Her tail never stops wagging, she's happy and friendly with both people and other dogs, not food aggressive, doesn't bark - just adorable! Walking on the lead is like having a puppy(!) and her recall off the lead is non-existent despite being 100% in the garden. I've accidentally "lost" her a couple of times - she picks up a scent and goes deaf, although has come back to me after about twenty heart-stopping minutes so I'm now ultra careful with her and keep her on a lead!

My oldest friend (who owns my Large Munsterlander's brother) has a rescue collie x lurcher. She's seven now and was born deaf. When my friend took her on at five months old, she had already had FIVE homes!! She was very stressy and shadow-jumped. My friend has worked hard with her, teaching her sign commands etc, but I'm not sure whether she has ever overcome the shadow jumping - I must check with her!

So, I've just peered over the dog room baby gate and she's happily curled up in her crate (the door's open) and now she's in the sitting room with me - calm and chilled.

I think I have my work cut out, but I'm open to any more suggestions! Thanks again, everyone!

 

[deb_l222]

The best I ever achieved was to 'manage' Buddy's obsessions - he was a light / shadow chaser. He did get slightly better over time but he was by no means cured.

What he had done was basically create his own entertainment / stimulus and then it became so ingrained as normal it was virtually impossible to distract him. He'd also learnt to grumble and nip to get his own way but that was a piece of cake to sort out!

I did sometimes just leave him to get on with it but on really bright sunny days, he would literally run himself ragged, chasing nothing at all so I didn't do it often.

Very sad really as, from what I know of his early years, he had a 'proper job' to start with and lived with a gamekeeper. Things then deteriorated and he got passed from pillar to post, confined to kennels for long periods and very little exercise or mental stimulation. Mine was his 8th (and final) home.

Distraction (food or toys) may work but what I found with Buddy was just proper, regular exercise and a normal routine lessened his anxiety in general, which in turn calmed the shadow chasing but it never stopped it completely.

 

[keeperscottage]

Deb1222, from what I understand, my little dog was kept crated, never walked. RSPCA weren't interested as she was no longer suffering once I homed her.

 

[deb_l222]

It's awful isn't it? You just so wish you could have got to them sooner before these behaviours got so ingrained.

All you can do is give her time and she will come good.

I've got a totally daft dolly at the moment that hasn't got a clue how to walk on a lead!! She does the doggy equivalent of box walking and weaves from side to side. Off lead she goes in a straight line but she was kept tied up in an outside toilet hence the on lead weaving.