OCD?

[ordinaryseawomn]

Hi All!

In February we adopted a 6 month old female, Luna. At the time the time she was very...active--hyper, bossy, hard to get focused, but she settled in and seemed to be doing well. In the last couple of months she's developed an obsession with lights...pin point reflections from her tags, our watches, and big spills of light, like from the refrigerator, or the sun streaming in through a window. She chases shadows as well. I'm out at sea so I'm hearing about all this from my husband, and sensing his mounting frustration. He says she has a "crazed look in her eyes"--not a happy go lucky little dog like Harley, our 2 year old Cairn...

She's in and out the dog door constantly, the mudroom's smudged floor to about 3 feet up where she's bounced off the walls...she's chewing and destroying things...

I've asked him to look up dog walkers--an obvious fix is to get her out and get her mind and body engaged. Are there any other suggestions from folks who've dealt with this same issue? Someone suggeststed to give her Chamomile tea--half the contents of a teabag mixed up with some peanut butter...it's working, taking the edge off--has anyone else tried this?

Will she grow out of this? She's coming up on a year old in August--still young for a Cairn, I know...

Also, she's eating Harley's poop...has anyone tried using a Citrus collar with a remote to try and build a negative association with the poop? I really want this little girl to have a happy life. She's very affectionate and Harley play a lot-- that part seems to be going well...we just need to find a way to turn the dial down on some of these other behaviors.

[lindasue]

My cairn in also a year old in August; can't help with the light but she did have the eating poop thing going on for awhile. I tried pineapples in her food w/no luck, but did have success with NatureVet Coprophagia Deterrent, which I got at Petco. Half a tablet a day in her food stopped this gross habit!

[kjwarnold]

Lights and shadows -- those are Kirby's obsessions also. We deal with it by trying to reduce the lights and shadows that shine into rooms, like turning his collar around so the tags don't reflect, changing lamps so they don't make shadows, etc. We also distract him with games and commands. And if all else fails, there's the bark can or a bully stick. He's gotten better as he got older, so there's always hope...

[Idaho Cairns]

Most puppy obsessions do tend to go as the dog ages so I wouldn't be too worried about what you are seeing now in a six month old. I guess I would advise patience with the little one for the time being, knowing that what you are seeing now is probably not what you are going to see in a year or so. In my experience, puppies tend to model behavior so if you have a calm and collected older dog, chances are that your pup will eventually settle in on similar habits and ways of interaction around the house.

As far as the nasty habit of eating feces--that seems to be episodic and goes away--I've always wondered if the practice fulfills some kind of temporary nutritional need the dog has. I have used pepper and chili powder as a deterrent in the past.

Patience is the key and sometimes that is hard to come by when you have another dog in the house that is behaving in "happy go lucky" manner while the other dog is starring in an extreme version of "Cairns Gone Wild". I always operate from the attitude that there are no "bad" Cairns, only temporarily insane Cairns.

Stay the hand and heart for a bit and give the little one a chance to work itself thru this period--I'll bet she comes around.

[TazTalk]

Gypsy was light and shadow obsessed for a few years and she did outgrow it. It seemed to be intensified when we had visitors for some reason -- maybe too much stimulation for the little girl. I would hold it as much as possible when she got like that to help her "forget" what she was just doing.

Taz was totally crazy at 6 months - which is how I found this forum. I'd had 2 other Cairns and Taz was so different. Way more stressful, so I needed some support! There were times I truly thought he was possessed by the devil. But at almost 2 years this month, he's been done with the destructive phase for months now and he's turned out to be such a sweetie. He also liked his "outdoor snacks" for a while - I think that ended around 10 months old.

So, hang in there and definitely provide lots of exercise - it certainly helps calm the beast, In a short while, you will look back at the craziness with a smile on your face.

[Sam I Am]

I dont want to make light of your frustrations... but I had to chuckle (just a little bit). Jock is nine and still looses his Cairn brain when he sees a light reflect off a wall. Breakfast time is always with the shade down as the reflection off our forks and knives gets him into a state of looney-ness. And the poop eating thing is best handled with just picking up the droppings as they come. So many dogs seem to enjoy "poopsicles" and there really is nothing out there that helps them stop . After all adding something that tastes bad... really what does poo taste like! In my human brain nothing could be worse

One thing I have learned is that every Cairn is different ( and yet very much the same) so as Luna matures she will settle down... a bit. But then isnt that why most of us have Cairns? Their free and wonderful spirit makes them so special

[ordinaryseawomn]

Thanks for all the responses--I should say we adopted her at 6 months old in February of this year. She'll be a year old in August. She was always a little high strung--it just seems that these behaviors have become more pronounced in the last month or so. I know it takes longer for Cairns to mature--a blessing really--and that these behaviors should mellow with time.

I feel so bad for her and for my husband...it's tough when we have the snarky little angel, Harleyman all laid back and doing his thing and Loona-Toona literally bouncing off the walls all crazy eyed. I should be home in another few weeks or so and I'll work with her, get the dog walker (for consistency) and just love up on her in general. She's so sweet and loving, I just want her to be happy.

Thanks again everyone for sharing your experiences--it's so helpful to know I'm not the only one with a little furry nutjob!

[hheldorfer]

"Funny nutjob" is pretty much the norm for Cairns, or so it seems.

[janis]

Hi!

I have a Kirby also - he is very frustrating! And as above, I am very grateful for the support I find here. He did the eat poop thing - mostly solved by picking it up as soon as he did it - and the vet suggested keeping him wormed. The he barks at strange things as well. Thunder and lightning really get him going. Better without the lightning. The really big problem I have with him is he just ignores me and takes off. We live in the country. He has 2 acres to run on - when I go somewhere, I put him in the kennel with my husbands hounds for company. He has taken to slipping through the neighbors fence and swimming in her pond or just wandering around back there. Of course being who he is, he won't come back when I call him - but, he won't poop on a lease and loves to run - so I really don't know what to do - sometimes he stays right with me, other's he just disappears. Today, I had to go to work and leave him in the woods behind the house because he wouldn't come back....of course I'm worried sick - the kennel door is open and there is food and water if he comes back and hubby is going to go look for him when he gets a break. Does anyone know how Cairns do with "invisible fences.?

[sanford]

Does anyone know how Cairns do with "invisible fences".?

I have no experience with invisible fences, but some on this site have described Cairns that are so focused on getting away, that they seem to willingly take the jolt. But once they're outside the fence, they are less likely to return because of the shock.

I would guess that some may have had success with their Cairns and these fences, but I've only read about the ones that didn't work. Hopefully, you'll get some guidance here.

[ordinaryseawomn]

Janis, we had trouble with Harley when visiting my parents and their fenceless neighborhood--what I found that seemed to work was taking an "okay I don't care" kind of stance with him. I'd find him call him a couple of times and then say C'mon, let's go and turn my back to him and walk away--secretly looking over my shoulder to see if he's following. If I could get his attention away from what he was doing, get him to look at me, it would work. But I had to keep moving--if I stopped to wait for him to catch up to me, he would stop too--"oh, okay you're not REALLY going anywhere so I can just go back to doing my own thing..." I swear sometime's he's more like a roommate than a pet...he definitely has his own agenda. I miss him soo much!!

As for Luna...I think the thing that concerns me most is not that she "loses her cairn brain"--it's that there's no Cairn brain there...just this wild obsessed thing. My husband had to pull her down off the couch to keep her from literally climbing the wall chasing a light reflection from outside. I'm not home so I can't help, just make suggestions...I suggested he put her in the crate until she calms down, but according to him she never calms down. The chamomile worked for a couple of days but she seems to be building a tollerance for it. We don't want to drug her, but it's starting to get to that point.

I'll probably get extended out here so it looks like he'll have to continue to deal with it alone...such a bummer. For everyone.

It's not cute, it's not funny...she's not very enjoyable, and I know she's not happy. She's obsessed with light reflections and will do whatever it takes to chase them down.

He's tried to reduce the amount and sources of light coming into the house, tried crating...the dog walker starts next week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Please anyone with any experience with this, please tell us how you dealt with it. Surely there's something we can do to help her out.

Thanks!!