Can dogs be obsessive compulsive?

16 years ago

We have two wonderful German Shepherds, female and male, Ginger and Spooky, both around 12.

Ginger is doing poorly with degenerative myelopathy (DM) (losing control of hind legs, hence problems moving freely up and downstairs, etc.)

But reason I'm posting is not because of the degenerative myelopathy though I welcome comments or advice on this apparently incurable disease.

I'm posting because Ginger is rubbing her face very often (though not costantly) on any chair or bed or rug that is handy. She has had problem with allergies. We had her tested. Nothing conclusive. We tried prednisone but turns out that is not good for dogs with DM.

I've got her on Benadryl which seems to help with her skin (along with the Borage oil I'm giving her).

But there is something about the way she rubs her face and when she rubs her face that I'm beginning to believe she is doing it almost as a nervous habit, something that may have felt good a while ago but now she just does it as a repetitive preoccupation, kind of in an obsessive compulsive way. Am I getting too psychological? Any thoughts?

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Comments (4)

gabro14
16 years ago
Sorry about the DM. They thought my dog had that, but it ended up being a spinal meningioma. My thoughts are with you.

I can totally understand where you are coming from with the psychological thinking behind your dog's issue (and the fear that everyone thinks you're crazy!).

I think my dog has panic/anxiety attacks. I won't get into the stories, but I just know she does. And it presents itself in medical type issues (severe panting, shivering, etc.).

As far as OCD in dogs, I saw a program about a dog (I think it was a rescued doberman or weimeraner (sp?), and the owners would find the dog's stuffed toys placed in perfectly created geometric shapes in their backyard (like triangles or squares, for example). They called in the experts, and they put video cameras up to make sure the owners weren't staging this. Well, they found that the dog was doing it! And not only that, it was putting lots of thought into the placement of the stuffed animals. It wasn't only geometric shapes...the dog would do other patterns too, like putting a group of a certain animal together in a certain pattern (like all frogs), or putting all the stuffed toys face up or face down, and sometimes in positions like 2 animals hugging. The dog would then examine the pattern for a few minutes and fix it if it needed to be fixed!

Has anyone else seen this program on TV?? If that's not some sort of canine OCD, then I don't know what to call it. But believe me, if you saw it you'd know it was no coincidence.
mazer415
16 years ago
Absolutely dogs can exhibit behaviors which are obsessive, they do it just as people do, something traumatic happens and the dog finds a comforting behavior. It usually involves running in a particular pattern or walking in a particular pattern - like pacing.
HOWEVER - There may be something else which is wrong with your dogs eyesight or her gums or sinuses. I would recommend another trip to the vet for a more extensive consult, it might help if you could videotape her for the vet. If you dont find anything conclusive then I would recommend some rescue remedy to help calm frayed nerves, good luck
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cindyxeus
16 years ago
The rubbing of the face can mean something irritating the area in which they are rubbing, or it can also just be a scent thing. Dogs do this to pick up scents off of furniture as well as cover their own.
As far as the DM, are you sure that's what your dog has? Many GSD owners are told their dog has this, when the truth is there are many other reasons for hind limb weakness.
Below is a link all about DM just in case you haven't seen this.
http://www.siriusdog.com/degenerative-myelopathy-spinal-german-shepherd-dm.htm
another good link about DM is
http://www.mzjf.com/main.htm Anyway just throwing some links your way, I have no clue how much you know about DM, you may already have these, but figured if you didn't or someone else reading this might find them helpful.
izzie
16 years ago
OCD anyone. Ever seen a herding breed obsess over a ball or toy. Some breeds have OCD in there genes.It must spill over to other parts of their life and personality. They no longer are true working animals that they were breed for but the traits are still there

Can dogs be obsessive compulsive?

Comments (4)

gabro14

mazer415

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izzie

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