obsessive compulsion disorder

Hi

I wonder if you guys can help out. I think my sisters 5 month old puppy has obsessive compulsion disorder

Before we knew about what damage lazer pens do to dogs, we played with a lazer pen with it for about 5mins. This was about a month or so ago.

The dog seemed to love it. However, since then she chases shadows. Any shadow that moves, she jumps on it.

Our old carpet has holes in it where the dog see's a shadow, jumps on it and yanks the carpet piles pulling them out.

She also goes for relections on items. For example, the PC has a glass door on the front. She does there and tries to bite and scratch the door.

Any advise would be good.

Thanks

James

P.S - Never play with the lazer pen with your dog. Even 5mins can cause problems!

No truer words were ever spoken. I don't know how many times I've gone on boards and found people using these things and then giving them links to articles on OCD and advising that they don't use these. But to no avail in many instances.

Look up online OCD in dogs and there will be some ideas on how to try and counter condition them. But when this occurs, there is something physical going on with the nuerons in the synapses of the brain and sometimes a beta blocking type of drug is helpful.

This sounds really serious, and I don't have any experience with OCD in dogs. While you are researching the OCD, I would try and give your pup some interactive toys like a Kong, a Buster Cube, food balls, etc. to divert her attention and give her something active to do. Fill the items with her favorite treats and praise her when she uses them. I don't know - hopefully this might help until you get some answers for her problems. Good luck.

The only thing that I have found effective in reducing shadow OCD is to just distract them. if my Border Collie gets wound up over shadows on the walls, I put him in his crate for a few minutes so he will calm down. Once he is calm, I let him out again. The key is not encouraging it, and if the dog starts looking at shadows, distract them or remove them from the area. Do not allow them to pounce on or stare at shadows for a long period of time, anything more than a glance is unacceptable. If there are going to be a lot of shadows in a room, give her a kong or something to keep her mind in a calm, focused state.

Better yet, if this is possible for you, redirect their obsession to something healthier. I am working on channeling my Border Collie's shadow/rock obsession to a ball obsession, as I think it's much healthier for him to adore his ball than to chase shadows and chew rocks. He is a very focused dog and will always have his obsessions, but some are much better than others.