Download Phobias Phobias can be innate or learned. Innate phobias include

Phobias
Phobias can be innate or learned. Innate phobias include those to
thunderstorms, loud noises (vacuum cleaners, gunshots,
firecrackers), sudden movements, and men with beards and/or hats.
Learned phobias can be to certain people, but may or may not be
related to prior abuse. Fear of veterinarians or veterinary hospitals
may be innate or learned. Puppy parties at the hospital are a good
way to prevent this problem.
Some dogs have a phobia to the smell of cooked lamb.
Thunderphobia
The components of thunderphobia are:
Sound of thunder
Sight of lightening
Drop in barometric pressure
Rain
Wind
Treatment is difficult and involves desensitization and medication.
Medication:
Serotonin-increasing medication (fluoxetine, amitriptyline
sertraline). Give throughout the storm season.
Trazodone for PRN use. Try to administer 2 hours before the
storm.
Alprazolam (like diazepam but longer acting). Give before a
storm.
Melatonin?
Desensitization to thunder:
Good quality CD (Through a Dog’s Ear)
Position the speaker over the dog’s head.
Play at a volume that does NOT cause dog to react.
Play the CD until the dog goes into his crate (or other safe
place).
Turn it off as soon as the dog is in the safe place and reward
him with tiny tasty treats for lying quietly.
Increase the volume very slowly and repeat many, many times.
A lazy solution to thunderphobia is to play the thunder CD
whenever the dog eats a meal.
To increase the realism during desensitization, use strobe lights to
mimic lightening and a hose directed on a window or cookie sheet
in the shower to mimic rain.
Gadgets
Storm Defender Cape
Anxiety Wrap
Thundershirt – works best
Adaptil pheromone collar or diffuser
Gunshot Phobia
This can be treated with a box inside layers of other boxes.
Treatment of Phobias in General
Desensitize by rewarding the dog for calm behavior when the
stimulus is well below threshold for eliciting the phobic behavior.
Increase the strength of stimuli very, very slowly. Repeat 10 times
a day at each strength.
Should the owner soothe the dog? Only if soothing relaxes the dog.
Try not to reward anxious behavior. Play may be more effective in
calming the dog than a soothing touch or voice.
Flooding, by definition, is the process of repeating stimuli until the
dog ceases to respond but is rarely used because the dog may
outlast the owner.
Obsessive-compulsive Behavior
Flank Sucking
Flank sucking in Dobermans is the first canine behavior to be
related to a specific gene, the Cadherin gene. Magnetic resonance
imaging revealed higher total brain and gray matter volumes and
lower dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and right anterior insula gray
matter densities in the affected dogs. The affected Dobermans also
had higher fractional anisotropy in the splenium of the corpus
callosum, the degree of which correlated with the severity of the
behavioral phenotype.
Light Chasing
Do not use laser pointers to play with dogs.
Lick Granuloma
A good example of an OCD that has a medical etiology.
Other Examples
Tail-chasing bull terriers
Digging Rottweilers
Circling working dogs (Shepherds and Malinois)
Less Clear-cut Examples
Behaviors with medical complications
Lick granulomas
Tail mutilation by cats
Behaviors that reflect selected behaviors
Ball carrying by many breeds of dog
Comfort behaviors
Tail, paw, or fabric suckling
Associated Genes
Several genes are associated with circling, flank sucking, and other
OCDs. Four genes have an excess of case-only variation in
evolutionarily constrained elements, even after correcting for gene
size: ataxin-1 (ATXN1), neuronal cadherin (CDH2), catenin
alpha2 (CTNNA2), and plasma glutamate carboxypeptidase
(PGCP). CDH2, a neural cadherin, encodes a calcium dependent
cell-cell adhesion glycoprotein important for synapse assembly,
where it mediates presynaptic to postsynaptic adhesions. CTNNA2
encodes a neuronal-specific catenin protein that links cadherins to
the cytoskeleton. ATXN1 encodes a chromatin-binding protein that
regulates the Notch pathway, a developmental pathway also active
in the adult brain, where it mediates neuronal migration,
morphology and synaptic plasticity. All three of these genes are
involved in synaptic formation. The fourth gene, PGCP, encodes a
poorly characterized plasma glutamate carboxypeptidase. It may be
involved in the hydrolysis of N-acetylaspartylglutamate. One
might consider glutamate targeting drugs for treatment of OCDs.
Differentials
Seizure
Painful process
Especially tail chasing and mutilation
Attention seeking
Genuine object to dig for or snap at
Treatments
Tricyclic anti-depressants
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
Methylphenidate (Ritaline) 5-40 mg/dog BID
Circling working dogs
Phenobarbital
Whirling bull terriers
If it is attention-seeking behavior, ignore it!