Is it possible for a dog to be OCD? Paisley are 3 year old will for no reason start running in circles (around the kitchen table, fire pit, trees, or just go in circles around nothing) Sometimes barking but most times not. Or could it be she learned when she was a pup that she got attention? Boredom ect.?

I've heard of OCD in dogs. I think I remember hearing that a lot of times OCD in German Shepherds takes the form of exactly what you described - tail chasing incessantly. My mom's GSD used to do this a lot, although for him it wasn't severe. I also learned on this board that those laser light toys can cause serious OCD in dogs - where they are constantly looking for a light, even when there isn't one to find...

I'm sure others on this board will be more knowledgeable - I have no idea what causes it in some dogs and not others, or how to treat it...

 Quote: Jim Ward

Is it possible for a dog to be OCD? Paisley are 3 year old will for no reason start running in circles (around the kitchen table, fire pit, trees, or just go in circles around nothing) Sometimes barking but most times not. Or could it be she learned when she was a pup that she got attention? Boredom ect.?

While there can be other triggers for the behavior you describe, it is exactly the kind of behavior that results from frustrated energy (and boredom, yes) and is probably the thing I would address -- immediately.

If you can see similarities between the situations where it happens, you could post back and describe them. Meanwhile, no matter what the problem is (except for a not-so-likely physical problem), appropriate exercise is going to help.

If you give attention to this behavior, BTW, then it will be rewarded, as you say.

But I would step up the structured exercise immediately. I would do plenty of walking, fetch or other games, and also frequent daily short-and-upbeat training sessions. Do you do marker training? Motivational obedience is fun and also both physically and mentally tiring.

Dogs love to be tired out.

P.S. It will be fun to see how happy your dog will be and how your bond will be enhanced by spending time and walking together (pack structure reinforcement) and with upbeat training and rewards.



Edited by Connie Sutherland (05/11/2008 09:37 PM)
Edit reason: p.s.

Jim, Glad to see I'm not the only one. Don't ever, ever, ever play with one of those laser lights. Had one attached to a level and was doing some work inside. Now, flashlights, cars passing by, shadows etc put her in a state of craziness. Not good with an adult GSD bouncing around.

I agree 1,000% with Connie and then some. When she is tired and working at something, things are alot better. Plain walks do not tire her out. When we do some OB, she calms down faster. Also have been using some of the things on the drive and focus DVD. She learns very fast and has been making great progress. Also, try to do some OB at the end of the walk with a ball or toy. Sasha loves it and the "edge" is taken off a bit after the walk so she actually thinks about what she is doing. Usually 10 minutes of this will tire her out a bit.

Good luck!

When I purchased Brix he was a tail chaser/chewer - as soon as I put him on a raw diet it stopped immediately. No problems since. Also, he stopped biting/hanging from tree branches.

Dogs can suffer from OCD but I'd try the suggestions above first. OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) is just that an obsessive compulsion that is almost impossible to resist. I'm no expert in dogs but I do have experience with OCD because I had some of that myself as a child.

If it is true OCD then the above suggestions will not work or will only slightly reduce the behavior. In that case OCD would be indicated. Since dogs can't tell you why they do a behavior a diagnosis of OCD needs to be made by ruling out all other factors.

If you try the suggestions and Paisley still exhibits the behavior you will need to make the decision a psychologist uses when diagnosing a patient. Does the behavior interfere with daily life? People (and dogs) may exhibit many symptoms of a disorder but if it doesn't interfere with daily life it's not considered clinical.

If Paisley does appear to have OCD and it interferes with training and/or her health and happiness then it is usually easily treated with the same medications used for humans.

My vet told me my dog has OCD. He told me this after I called him in a panic when I came home from work to a large patch of carpet missing.

My dog’s main OCD symptoms were obsessive/compulsive eating. He would obsessively eat plant matter and feces when I let him out in the back yard. He would obsessively pick up and eat acorns when we were out walking. He also had very scary acute episodes every few months when he would obsessively eat things around the house. Mostly he would eat pieces of carpet and toy stuffing. One time he ate all the stuffing from a medium sized squeaky toy before I could stop him. Fortunately, he vomited it back up. He is normally a very well behaved dog and I tried every behavioral/psychological/training method I could think of to control him, but I could see in his eyes that he just could not deal with himself. The only treatment I could find that would work was to crate him with a peanut butter kong until he calmed down.

He also had extreme crazy energy. The only way I could keep him sane was lots of exercise. The only thing that would totally wipe him out was a six run NADAC day. Everything else was inadequate.

The carpet event really scared me. Because I have two dogs, my vet had me vomit both of them. As expected, my OCD boy had eaten the carpet. What surprised me the most, however, were the stomach contents of my other dog. More than 9 hours since I had last fed her, she had a stomach full of kibble. It looked just like when I had fed it to her only it was now puffy and soft. This just blew my mind. And I was going to feed her again and add more undigested food to the gut load she already had.

Two weeks later I switched to raw and most of my OCD boy’s symptoms are gone. He is still crazy energy boy, but the extreme edge is gone. He still eats grass, but not nearly as much, and the obsessiveness he had with it is gone. He no longer eats anything and everyplant in the back yard. He no longer eats poop or acorns. I do not have to keep something/anything in his stomach at all times for fear he will vomit stomach juices. The first time I heard his stomach growl, I almost cried. He has only been on raw for two and a half months, so I am still guarded on his progress. But, the longer he is sane, the happier we both get.

Apparently my dog really wasn’t OCD; he was just on a carb high for the past 4 years of his life.

OCD in dogs is quite rare and IMO is usually not a trait the dog is born with, it is a combination of traits and factors that come together and form an unusual behavior pattern or obsession.

Such as high drive, high energy, no exercise, or having a certain behavior rewarded (chasing laser lights for example) Dogs will look for ways to exhaust their frustration and energy and drive. Whatever the dog finds rewarding is reinforced. These are things that can develop without a human encouraging or reinforcing the behavior. Whatever the dog finds the relieves the stress of too much energy, drive, and no outlet.

The higher drive the dog, the longer the behavior occurs, the more difficult it is to fix but diet change(switch to raw or low carb/low grain kibble etc) and lots of exercise should help.

I've delt with rock chewing, light obsession, tree eating, tail chasing, spinning, aggression towards body parts(dog would attack its own feet) and lots of exercised combined with mental stimulation and redirection of the drive and energy at the root of the behavior helped tremendously.

Thanks everyone for their thoughts. I will watch Paisley and see if I can pinpoint what is triggering the circling. I myself don’t think its OCD but is boredom and being rewarded by my daughters calling her and making her stop. Paisley also has severe dysphasia so I try not to over do the exercise.

When she circles, is she focused on her hips perhaps? Nipping or chewing at or licking her hindquarters while circling could be her showing that she is uncomfortable/in pain from the HD. Horses and other animals chew or bite at/lick their sides when they colic/have a stomach ache, dogs will chew at their joints if they are sore as well.