can dogs be ADHD?

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Ibblebibble

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as title:confused: my sons JRT is a hyperactive demon!! He can relax at home if it's just family but if visitors come he bounces like a ball and struggles to contain himself, outside he is on high alert, anything that moves will catch his attention, even a leaf blowing will have him fixated until something else moves and takes his attention. i can distract him but he just can't seem to give me his full attention, something will catch his eye and you can see he is torn between wanting to do as he's told and watch the much more interesting blowing leaf or crisp packet.
we tried training classes and perservered for months until the trainer told me politely that she didn't think we could progress with him!!:o we never actually joined in the training just sat in the corner trying to get him to watch and calm down, he never did:o he would bark at anything that came close and tie himself in knots trying to watch everyone at the same time, the only good side was he would be absolutely knackered mentally when we got home and fall asleep for a few hours!!
I feel sorry for the poor chap as his life seems quite stressful as he never seems to be able to relax, unlike my other dogs who are so relaxed i have to check they're still alive sometimes!
 
Sounds like a pretty rubbish training class and a trainer who didn't know what to do with a dog that isn't textbook :o

What's he fed on?

He might need an occupation, terrier racing, scurry, agility etc?

What age is he? I have heard diagnosis of ADHD/ADD but to be honest that is a human diagnosis and something that people often use to take the heat off themselves as trainers or the owners behaviour (don't take offence BTW you sound like you know something can be done :))

I'd be asking for attention before ANYTHING he wants to do - eat, go outside, play ball, etc. I would also try hand feeding him, so whatever food he gets from a bowl, tip it into the pockets of an old bodywarmer and feed him in the house or out on a walk whenever he is silent and giving you attention.

Obviously in a training class with lots going on, looking at other dogs is going to be more exciting than you sitting at the end of a lead.

I did have a female who was very nervy, on edge all the time, never switched off and I agree her life did seem very stressful, I don't know if it is something you can ever totally fix in some dogs but you can try!
 
Try agility, he just needs something more challenging for his brain. Try finding a trainer that may do 1-2-1 sessions in the environments he is in?
 
What CC said!

the trainer sounds very poor... He isnt particularly close to you, but a trainer like steven havers (google him) would be the ideal kind of person for you, he's not cheap, but i rate him very highly and deals with the kind of behaviour you're talking about very well - i dont go to his classes any more as my JRT wasnt really the kind of dog that got the best from him, so i was paying money and not needing much attention from him - so wasting money and time!

My friends JRT sounds very similar to your sons and he did sort him out - sadly my friend didnt continue the hard work, but thats a whole other story - one thing he did do, was tie said JRT's lead to something solid, and basically told everyone to ignore it, because it was tied to something solid, and not to a person, it was getting no reaction down the lead, or from other people in the class, as soon as it was quiet it got some fuss and attention... this continued for a loooooong time, and requires real patience, but did seem to work after a while.
 
One of mine used to be like this - we were fine at home or even some places outside but as soon as she saw a person or, worse, a dog that was it, I could not get any attention from her, she would tie herself in knots to get to a dog way down the other end of a field, lunge, howl, scrabble to get to whatever shiny dog/person/thing had caught her attention.

Now I only have to say her name and she gazes at me adoringly. She can even ignore super hyperactive dogs passing by that previously would have sent her into a frenzy.

It was a lot of what CC has said (and said at the time :p) - she had no interest in toys and little in food but I basically forced interest in treats by keeping her hungry before training and feeding her from my pocket. As soon as she was old enough we ramped up the canicross/dog sledding type stuff and introduced agility for when it was too warm to do those. It was only ever meant to be an extension of the general obedience/attention classes we'd been doing but over a year later we're still going and I hope to actually compete her at some point.

Anyway, point being that with all these 'jobs' she was mentally and physically tired out, saw and did a lot of things in different circumstances, was constantly exposed to the things that made her crazy and so everything ceased to be quite so stimulating any more. Even something as small as taking her with me on a lead to turn out and bring in the horse every day helped immensely, she will now remain calm and on a slack lead around horses, cattle etc. whereas she used to ping up and down and scream at them.

FWIW I have a diagnosis of ADHD and often think that someone feeding me nice things when I paid attention would do wonders for my concentration span. :p
 
thank you BC that is very encouraging, :)
in answer to your questions CC he is now 3 and fed on skinners duck and rice. in the house i would have no trouble keeping his attention on me,getting his attention off me can be the problem indoors!! with or without treats he likes to be really close to me, if I'm not available then OH .
when he was little he used to sleep on sons bed but we stopped that about a year ago when we moved house. He has been worse in his behaviour since he spent 6 weeks living in my stable when we were made homeless:o
he is not neutered and TBH i know think that was a mistake, i was against it after having my Shiba done at 6 months old and him getting mounted by other dogs everytime we took him out. when i spoke to the trainer about the JRT and mentioned he was entire she said neutering could make him worse as in her opinion he was nervous aggressive:confused: i keep thinking about having him done but am not convinced it would help now:confused:
 
Skinners is a good food but maybe something with a little less protein might help? It's a good food for working/very active dogs for a reason!

I don't think neutering would do any harm TBH. My older dog is also nervous aggressive/insecure and together with lots of training, neutering (he was done relatively late) did actually help.
 
I wouldnt take any notice of your trainers views on neutering as their views on other things is not good and they probabley wouldnt know fear aggression if it bit them on the bum. I have never had any dog trying to mount my neutered Dobes and think perhaps you were unlucky with your Shiba. I think 6months is a bit young I would prefer them older so they are physically and mentally mature.

As others have said he needs a job to do to keep his mind and body occupied.
 
any ideas on lower protein food off the top of your brilliant head:D, the mastiff has to have the skinners because of his delicate tummy:rolleyes: and it has been purely for convenience that the other 2 get it too.
 
Funny you asked that as at work one of our psychologists has two books she uses for presentations on autism.One is called "all cats are autistic" and the other is "all dogs have ADHD".This is really a set of books about stereotyping and dogs and cats are used as examples as suggested by the respective titles,but guess there is some element of reality somewhere.
 
I think so! We've always said that one of our Dalmatians has! He's completely unhinged!!!

- Easily Distracted - Yes!
- Poor concentration - concentration lasts a nanosecond!
- Nervousness - not really
- Poor judgement and decisions - yes!
- Separation anxiety - ridiculously!

We have 2 Dally's, they're brothers and we've had them from pups. They're 5 now. The one is on the whole fairly obedient. The other - not so much! He needs telling at least 3-4 times to do something, sticks near you like a limpet. Has an awful habit of 'guarding' you if he's lay near you and the other dog hasn't been in the room for a while. His seperation anxiety is awful. He has to be where ever you are all the time. If we buy them a bone and put them in the garden, his brother will happily stay out there with it for hours. Buddy picks the easy bits off it then comes back in as he'd rather be in the room where you are. I think its partly cos he's terrified of missing out on some food! Its also a nightmare if his brother needs to go to the vets. If i'm not at home then OH has to take them both as he goes mad howling. He still does it if i'm there but isn't as bad if he's left with someone.
He also HATES smaller dogs. Don't know why but he really doesn't like them. The kennels and the vets affectionately refer to our 2 as 'the nutters'! They're very full on! But lovely dogs and LOVE people.

I think even Caesar Milan would pass up the chance to train Buddy as i don't think he'd succeed!
 
CaveCanem said:
I don't think neutering would do any harm TBH. My older dog is also nervous aggressive/insecure and together with lots of training, neutering (he was done relatively late) did actually help.
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One of mine, I believe, has fear aggression, but is nevertheless booked to be chopped. I'm hoping it will calm him down slightly and stop him being a mad thing as described by Blackcob below-just like him!

blackcob said:
One of mine used to be like this - we were fine at home or even some places outside but as soon as she saw a person or, worse, a dog that was it, I could not get any attention from her, she would tie herself in knots to get to a dog way down the other end of a field, lunge, howl, scrabble to get to whatever shiny dog/person/thing had caught her attention.

Anyway, point being that with all these 'jobs' she was mentally and physically tired out, saw and did a lot of things in different circumstances, was constantly exposed to the things that made her crazy and so everything ceased to be quite so stimulating any more.
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I so agree with this! If we can take Zak with us everywhere and keep him occupied with training, new experiences, a new walk, seeing other dogs, even watching Dog Whisperer (!!) we're sorted. New things tire him out and he just needs more to do than what we expected when we got him. Our previous/current older dog were/are calm, as happy with ten minutes up the road as an all day walk. Zak is not! Hard to keep him occupied when he has HD, but mental is as good for him as physical stimulation.
 
I think there is a danger of saying 'Oh, my dog is ADHD' and not actually then putting in the work, training, because you believe the dog has a condition which you can do nothing about. Rather than ADHD, I think a lot of dogs are just 'suffering' from and are being bred from high/bad nerves. JMO x
 
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I agree, I think a dog more prone to need to work/have a job/display excessive behaviours/do what they where bred for can come over more highly strung. My bosses terrier being a prime example and you still cannot get it through to her that just because he is little and in her eyes "cute" he should act more like a little cute dog should, he is perminantly wired (he needs to killing stuff):D I think a good days ratting would see him sleep and calm. She thinks a long walk and playing with his plastic string sausages will do the job:p
 
In my professional experience most kids and people diagnosed with ADHD have an underlying disorder or are simply not channelling thier energy physically,but sat for inordinate amounts of time in front of a tv,computer or a games console.The same must surely apply to dogs which have ben bred for a purpose and need somewhere to burn of their energy.Some breeds are more exhuberant than others and need more exercise and brain work.
 
I don't know about ADHD, but our jrtx seems to have a learning disability!!! She's got a wonderful nature and good recall, but just cant grasp that sit means sit, and that down does not mean roll around on your back! Back to dog training for another crack at it! Btw our other dog is very obedient.
 
I'm sure mine is - took him to agility which blew his brains and then tried him on sheep which were dreadfully boring! His concentration span is minute!
 
CAYLA said:
I think a good days ratting would see him sleep and calm.
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hoping to one day get our little loon ratting, the way he fixates on moving things he should be bloomin brilliant at it, just got to wait for the ducks and duckling to move out of the barley barn so we can get the dog loose:D

he had a bit of a set to with the mastiff the other evening so i have now stopped the JR from getting on the sofa, trying to reduce his 'status' a little bit, he's not impressed:)
 
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