I get this question regularly. Full disclosure, I am not a trained medical professional; we are going to keep this section short and sweet. We can get a lot of the same conditions such as flu, allergies, acid reflux, torn ligaments, certain cancers, epilepsy, kidney disease, diabetes and other conditions. But some genetic conditions are unique to humans or dogs. The difference is in the chromosomes. Humans have a total of 46 where dogs have a total of 78 chromosomes. Because of this a dog cannot have Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Let’s look at Canine Dysfunctional Behavior. The symptoms are poor communication, trance like behavior and episodic aggression, obsessive compulsive disorder, inappropriate responses to situations or stimuli. How we work with a dog with CDB is we manage their environment, give them structure and routine, identify their triggers, and help them live a happy life being the dog that they were born to be. Does this sound like autism spectrum disorder? Let’s look at a case study of a dog with Canine Dysfunctional Behavior.
Case Study
I first met Doug when he was 10 months old at a boarding kennel, where he had been left because his owner no longer wanted him. I went there to evaluate him for a local rescue. I witnessed the owner of the business hitting the side of his kennel every time he growled. This is not appropriate, we never want to correct a dog for communicating, yes even growling. So, I approached his kennel, he stayed at the very back, growling and barking. I was not surprised based on what I observed a few minutes before. The moment I spoke to him, he would lunge toward the front, barking aggressively.
Recognizing that the confined space indoors was making things worse, I moved to the outside run and used boiled chicken to try and coax him forward. Every time I moved, though, he would dart back to the far end of the dog run. After about 15 minutes, he finally trusted me enough to stay near the front. As soon as I opened the door, he bolted out, but not before I slipped a lead on him.
Doug was a big 80-pound boy for his age, overwhelmed and completely out of control of his emotions-running in circles, pacing, barking, growling, and jumping. He was far beyond threshold, making it an extremely challenging situation. Normally, I aim to keep dogs under threshold when working with them, but in this case, it wasn’t possible. Eventually I was able to settle him just enough to evaluate him, and we arranged for him to leave the boarding kennel and enter foster care with a rescue. No surprise if you know me-I became his foster home.
Within just a day or two, I realized Doug had severe behavioral challenges. He displayed obsessive compulsive behaviors, often fixating on objects that weren’t even there. He would chase invisible targets for 15-20 minutes, completely unaware of his surroundings-running into trees, poles, and walls. If he spotted a single drop of water, he would dig at it obsessively with his paws and nose until he injured himself. Since he was over threshold, I could not get him to respond to cues, let alone stand still long enough for me to catch him to slip a lead on.
I quickly learned that he could not be off leash, even in a fenced yard, as his fixation on movement made him unpredictable. Over the next few weeks, I focused on identifying his triggers and keeping him sub-threshold so I could teach him to respond to cues. I worked with a veterinary behaviorist at the University of Pennsylvania, and we started him on several medications to help him with his anxiety, OCD and other conditions. After a few months, he improved enough to safely exercise in an off leash fenced area that just so happened to have a large 15×22 foot dog pool in it. What a great way to work off the built-up energy and get a good aerobic exercise. But unpredictable environmental triggers-like blowing leaves or raindrops-could still set him off. I adjusted by taking him out at night to exercise on windy days. June came and we had a whole other problem with lightning bugs. This poor boy couldn’t catch a break.
Helping Doug was a constant learning process. I had to identify and manage his triggers awhile teaching him how to settle before reaching a full meltdown. When he did go over threshold, I used Dr. Karen Overall’s relaxation protocolhttps://www.arl-iowa.org/webres/File/Protocol%20for%20Relaxation.pdf to help bring him back down. It took time, patience, and a lot of adjustments, but we kept working together to help him find some peace.
At about a year and a half old we thought Doug was ready to find himself a new home. He was going to be difficult to place but we knew his family was out there. He needed a family with patience, understanding of his situation, one that would love him and be able to offer him a low stress environment. A few months later Doug started to have seizures that lasted 5 minutes, this is a long time and was very risky to his health. So back to the doctors we went. After trying several medications, we finally found the right combination that wouldn’t give him anxiety burst. The first 3 we tried made his anxiety creep right back up. Knowing stress can bring on seizures we thought it was in Doug’s best interest to keep him living with us. Little did we know if was in our best interest to keep him as well!
Doug has seen me through a divorce, a new marriage, and a lot more life. Doug will be 10 years old this summer, no longer on anti-Anxiety medications, his seizures are under control, and he is a happy boy. He still has triggers like when the sun hits my cell phone and a bright light appears, when the cash register sounds play when listening to Pink Floyd, “Money”, firetrucks, trash trucks etc. But we can manage these situations, bring him sub-threshold to reset. He listens to me probably the best out of all our dogs. He loves his daddy with his whole 110-pound body. He is a very special boy, one that we love very much and all the efforts we put into him is well worth it. Douglas D Dawg we are so blessed to have you as our boy!
If you have the pleasure of successfully loving a dog with Canine Dysfunctional Behavior comment below.
If this sounds like your dog and you need help, contact us and we would be happy to help you.