CANINE BEHAVIOR
OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER (OCD)
And FLY CATCHER’S SYNDROME
This column is intended to be of practical information to Cavalier owners. It is not
intended to be a comprehensive overview of the field of Animal Behavior, nor to simply
represent a small portion of the complete research that has been done in Behavioral
Medicine. The focus of this column is for information and educational purposes only
and to share this information with other owners of this beloved breed.
Ritualistic and stereotypic behaviors have long been recognized in veterinary medicine
and in small animals, including the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders (OCD) and "Fly Catcher’s Syndrome" will be the topic of
this article by request of many CKCS owners, who are involved with cavaliers with one
or more of these puzzling behaviors.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders (OCD) may include tail chasing, flank sucking
(particularly in Dobermans), wool chewing and fly "biting" or "catching". Most of
these behaviors are annoying but relatively benign in terms of damage to owners and
their dogs. In the past, treatment was usually geared towards physical restraint and
control, such as applying an Elizabethan collar to the dog. Such a device can prevent
the dog from accomplishing the actual behavior, but does nothing to diminish the
desire to commit the behavior as is confirmed when the device is removed. Behavioral
Veterinarians now believe that this is because the disorder is a behavioral one,
rooted in a neurophysiological abnormality.
OCD is characterized by repetitive, ritualistic behaviors, in "excess" of any required
for normal function, the execution of which interferes with normal daily activities
and functioning. It is a behavior that is exaggerated in form as well as in duration.
The behavior can be perceived by a "human patient" as abnormal, and may be controlled
to the extent that the behavior is performed only minimally, or not at all, in the
presence of others. This could possibly be true for domestic animals, such as the
Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Dogs that flank-suck or tail-chase may, after frequent
reprimands and corrections, remove themselves from view of the owners and then commit
the behavior elsewhere. When the owner approaches, the behavior ceases, to be begun
again when no one is watching or when the dog removes himself from view. Not all dogs
fit this pattern, instead exhibiting more or less continuous stereotypic and
ritualistic behavior regardless of companionship. It is not necessary for the behavior
to be continuously witnessed for the dog to have OCD, but it is requisite that the
offending behaviors SUBSTANTIALLY INTERFERE with normal functioning in the absence of
physical restraint.
We as cavalier owners, breeders and exhibitors must view the above statement and make
the determination ourselves. We must ask ourselves this question…"Is the desire to
exhibit the behavior present, despite restraint, punishment, training, or physical
incarceration?" If the answer is yes, and your dog persists in the behavior even
though he has been called to dinner, needs a drink or to go out to the potty area or
company arrives…then it is possible you are dealing with an OCD. In this case, true
clinical OCD can indeed be a serious problem. Potentially relevant human conditions
would be: Autism, Self-injurious behavior (SIB), Tourette’s syndrome, OCD,
Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) and Chronic motor tics.
All cavaliers suspected of having severe OCD should have complete physical and
neurological examinations that include a metabolic screen, a complete blood cell count
(CBC), and serum biochemistry profile, electrocardiography (ECG) and may include tick
titer, distemper and other viral titers. Medical conditions should be ruled out first
before the diagnosis of OCD can be confirmed.
Other behaviors that may have components of stereotypic behavior but are not OCD may
include boredom, attention-seeking behavior and anxiety. Some bored cavaliers
"exercise spin" or chase their tails simply because they are bored. Should the dog
truly be bored, increased socialization time with humans, added toys, music, increase
in exercise and rooms to "view" outdoor activities such as the lawn, trees, cars, or
other activity should diminish or halt the behavior. If this does not occur, the dog
was not "bored". Sometimes a diagnosis of boredom is simplistic and wrong. As an
attention-seeking situation, some dogs quickly learn that if they are not getting the
desired attention from positive, quiet behaviors, they can invariably get it from
behaviors that their owners find much less savory…jumping, barking, howling, spinning,
tail chasing, sucking, ear chewing, and "fly catching". Because the owners find these
behaviors annoying, they yell or attempt to correct the dog. If the distraction is by
good and loving attention such as grooming or play, the dog effects the change it
wants and "conditions" the owner. Cavaliers have certainly been noted (especially at
my house) to do exactly this. Many dog owners have difficulty understanding how a
behavior could be attention-seeking, if physical or verbal punishment is involved. If
the dog gets little attention, negative attention is better than no attention. We
sometimes get in a "rut" with our multiple-dog households and forget to spend some
one-on-one time with each animal in our care. I know I experience this from time to
time, and we must then "regroup" and take a hard look at our situation and MUST take
more time to spend with our animals. If simple modification of our lifestyle improves
the behavior, then you are dealing with attention-seeking behavior rather than a more
serious OCD.
For true clinical OCD, a combination of behavioral modification (primarily
counter-conditioning and habituation as listed in the previous article on
fear-aggression) and short-term medication prescribed only by your veterinarian (I
prefer to begin with Amitriptyline/Elavil or Clomipramine/Anafranil) can work wonders.
Many times the stereotypic or ritualistic behaviors have an underlying anxiety and the
medication will enhance the counter-conditioning and break the psychological trigger
for the cycle. Regardless, all behavior modification designed to encourage relaxation
and competitive inhibition should be used.
ANSWER TO "ASK PATTI" – FLY CATCHER’S SYNDROME
Cavalier Quarters E-Zine Newsletter (Cavalier Quandries, by Patti Conroy)
January 10, 2000
Hello Patti,
I saw your name as an animal behaviorist, and have been looking on the internet for
help for my cavalier’s behavior, but have not yet found anything. We have four
cavaliers from 4 1/2 months old to two years old. They all seem to interact well. My
blenheim male Robby, who is about 7 months old, started about 4 weeks ago to catch
"things" in the air. The very first time I noticed was outside at night in the beam of
an outside flood light. There actually were some little bugs flying around that he was
jumping to catch. I thought nothing of it. Next, I noticed this in the house. This
time he was standing in the beam of sunlight coming through a window. I looked closely
and could see some fine dust particles floating, so I thought O.K. Then whenever he
would run up to the sunroom from the bedroom (where he spends much of his time now),
he would go right to the lighted area as if hoping to find more particles floating in
the air. Then this behavior was noted in the bedroom while we were watching
television. He has even done this a few times in the dark. It is not a continuous
thing and none of our others cavaliers have ever done this.
I was talking with another cavalier person and he said he had seen a few occurrences
in his dogs. Is this something that we should be concerned about or that we could
correct?
Thanks,
Craig
***********************************************************
Dear Craig,
Excellent question! Currently, much debate and research is being done on your
question. I will share with you my own clinical and very personal thoughts. Much still
needs to be learned on this particular syndrome, known as Fly Catcher's Syndrome or
"Fly Catching". This is a vague term that can cover everything from a simple case of
normal butterfly "loving" to the most severe form of obsessive-compulsive disorder
with many levels of involvement in between.
The dilemma as a behavior consultant and as a cavalier lover is that cavaliers are
known by many as "butterfly catchers". Many cavaliers love to chase small moving
objects in their natural and normal state. They can also be excellent small game
hunters due to this natural ability and love of "the sport" of catching small objects,
such as moths and butterflies. So what we need to ascertain is what is NORMAL and what
is ABNORMAL.
My personal opinion is that once a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel crosses the "line"
and begins to be OBSESSIVE/COMPULSIVE about the lights, the dust, the
moths/butterflies, to the point of interfering with normal daily activities, then I
consider the dog having clinical Fly Catcher's Syndrome. To date, this syndrome is
categorized as an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or can be to some degree a
stereotypic behavior.
This syndrome and the research being done on it are very personal to me, since I had a
cavalier female with a mild form of this syndrome. She did not display any signs of
fly catching until she was around 6 months of age. My son used to love to take out his
laser light and have the dogs run after it through the house. I discouraged this
"laser light exercise" not knowing how it would affect my cavaliers. But my one girl,
still "looked for" the light, even though my son was not home. The others were
unaffected. As she matured, this looking for lights continued to worsen. In the
evening in the summer, I had great difficulty getting her to come back inside because
she was obsessed with the moths in the light. She would stare at anything moving, no
matter how small. It began to interfere with breakfast and dinner time as well. This
is where her problem became in my opinion, ABNORMAL. I used her situation to
"experiment" on modifying this behavior and began by reprimanding her for chasing
lights, shadows (became a real problem...everyday shadows) and I found that she was
young enough to be responsive to my reprimands. I also put her in her crate for "time
out" if she would not stop the behavior after my demand for her to stop. This helped a
great deal. Was she "abnormal"...I think so. Was she severely affected? I think only
to a mild to moderate degree, but she was responsive to my modification of her
behavior.
Severely affected dogs will look for lights that are "not there". You will find them
staring at walls for hours, (or staring at other things) waiting for something to
happen. In other cases, extremely severe cases are noted where the dogs snap in the
air constantly (OCD) as if there is a fly around their heads, but there are no flies.
Some research has been completed on this disorder and some opinions are that it, in
its severe form, is called "psychomotor epilepsy" which is a neurological abnormality,
believed to be inherited, and mode of inheritance could be autosomal dominant. Some
human OCD’s are also known to be autosomal dominant with variable penetrance. It would
stand to reason, because we do know that cavaliers severely affected have been known
to pass this syndrome down into some of its offspring (known to run in family lines).
I would give serious thought as to whether to breed such an affected cavalier.
Personally I would not consider breeding any animal with a known OCD. Also before
purchasing a cavalier, I would always ask if either of the parents have exhibited any
form of Fly Catching Syndrome (or other OCD’s).
Now, to your own situation. Your blenheim youngster should be reprimanded or scolded
for "catching things in the air" or "staring at an area". Each and every time he does
this, he is "rewarding himself" and his behavior may worsen. I would let him know this
behavior displeases you, so he begins to associate it as a negative thing, instead of
a positive thing. This may slow it down, or even cease the activity after some time.
If you find him staring at sun beams I would get him interested in something else and
motivate him to move away from that activity. I would never use flashlights, laser
lights, and watch crystals in the sun… around your boy and I would never encourage
this activity. When he does this activity in the dark (he is going after shadows from
the TV lights) I would growl at him and tell him "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO" in a low growling
voice. If it continues, in the crate he must go. Consider this inappropriate behavior
and let him know this. It is unfortunate that you should do this, but it is necessary
and it may help. Coupled with this new form of reprimand, I would spend a generous
amount of time with him in positive playing and exercise time.
The level of severity will not be known until he is older. By the time he is two years
old you should know if he is only mildly affected, moderate or severe. Serious
behavior modification and possibly short-term medication may be the answer if his
condition worsens to a serious level.
Please keep me posted as to his response to your reprimands combined with extra
exercise and fun time. Ongoing research is being done on this syndrome (which I am
closely following) and I am very interested as to how you make out with him. If this
little boy is a breeding prospect, I would give serious thought to not breeding him.
If he is bred anyway, I would certainly NOT breed him to any dog that is known or has
any siblings or parents that are known to have the same problem. There have been
cavaliers that are so terribly affected that they have had to be put to sleep and you
must avoid doubling up on gene pools. I do however, feel that you may have a great
deal of control over the situation if you start to train him NOW that this is
unacceptable behavior and you do not like it.
Please keep me posted and I will continue to do research on this troublesome
syndrome.Sincerely,
Patti Conroy
Any further questions on OCD and/or Fly Catcher’s Syndrome in cavaliers should be sent
via email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or click on the "Ask Patti" button.
Next month’s article will address "POSSESSIVE AGGRESSION…On The Rise" in the Cavalier
King Charles Spaniel?
written by:
Patti Conroy
SOVEREIGN
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Animal Behavioral Studies
Cornell University
Certified, June 1996
Education Continuing
Patti Conroy
SOVEREIGN
24 Doorstone Drive South
Latham, NY 12110-3727
Tel: (518) 783-7987
Mobile: 369-6479
Home Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Work Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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