Fixated and Obsessive Behaviors

Humans get addicted to substances and develop OCD. Fixated and obsessive behaviors can be just as damaging to dogs as addictions are to humans.

When a dog gets fanatically maddened by a toy, bone, shaft of light, fetch game or a cat and we laugh at them it is really not much different then laughing at a drunken person falling down. The point is, it is not funny.

The behavior may appear comical in a moment but in reality the dog has no psychological nor physical control over themselves in this moment.

An obsessive behavior to a dog is exactly like an addiction to human and even though you may not perceive it that way a dog can hurt themselves or someone else if this is not resolved.

There are three general steps to take in resolving the problem and they come down to:

1. Identifying Obsession
2. Preventing Obsession
3. Correcting Obsession

Let’s take a look at each of the steps a bit more closely.

Identifying Obsession

• A healthy dog will play well with others. By others I mean you, your children and other dogs. Healthy and balanced dogs may prefer one toy over another but it is only a game and a game does not look like life and death scenario. An obsessive dog will take games very seriously. The play time will have a whole different intensity level to it.
• The beginning of obsessive behavior can be identified by observing the body and facial changes in the dog. The body will generally stiffen. There will be a glaze formed over their eyes. The pupils will become fixated and you can’t distract the dog’s gaze as you normally would. It looks like trance induced behavior. The behavior will generally come with no lightheartedness, no relaxation, and no joy in play.In many ways this is no different then a gambler on a slot machine. Fixated but not having fun. When in this state of mind the dog is blind to everything else around them that should make them happy.

Preventing Obsession

• A relatively simple way to preventing obsessive behavior is to monitor the intensity with which the dog plays. Obviously there is a limit to how intense and un-relaxed the play should be. Play time should be time for enjoyment. Your dog must understand that there are limits whether they are playing with a favorite toy, or chasing the cats. You are the one determining those limits, not your dog.

Correcting Obsession

• Ensure that your dog doe snot have any pent-up energy. That is achieved through adequate exercise. As humans use addiction to compensate for something else, so dogs slip into obsessive behavior to compensate for excess energy that they have.
• It is important that you know your dog well. It is you job to get to know them, not theirs.Learn to recognize when they are in an un-relaxed, disturbed state of mind and body. This will allow you to correct the behavior as soon as it happens which is crucially important. At the moment of correcting the obsessive behavior you must bring the dog to the state of total submission (calm submission) while keeping the object of obsession next to them until they are able to walk away from it voluntarily. Most people will take the object away and say a loud NO to the dog. This can get them to behave even more obsessively because it identifies the object as prey and that identifies you as a target.

These are situations when a dog that is otherwise not aggressive can involuntarily bite you or a family member. It is not their fault. They are not rationalizing the situation. They are merely acting on their impulses.