Hyperactive-dog

Hyperactive dog

Hyperactivity in dogs is part of what is called developmental disorders. These are disorders that arise as a result of development in an unstimulating environment or the absence of the mother during key periods of development.

Today we are going to focus on hyperactivity disorder because I think it is important to develop this behavioral syndrome because it is often misinterpreted, often trivialized and often misdiagnosed.

Hyperactivity in dogs has had the same "popular wave" as hyperactivity in children. Clearly, for a few years now, it has been "easy", in my opinion, to say that a child or a dog is hyperactive, and there is a tendency to use this term in all sorts of ways!

And yet, hyperactivity is not something to be taken lightly, it is a real disorder with sometimes catastrophic consequences and it is not just a characteristic that can be attributed to this or that living being as soon as it is a bit fast.

And yes, you should know that hyperactivity disorder, almost like a disease, is diagnosed by a veterinarian and can/should also be confirmed by a behaviorist dog educator.

It is considered that developmental disorders are detectable from the age of 4 months in the puppy because, before that, it is considered that it is still possible to make some readjustments in order to "catch up" with the bad development.

But, let's not lie to ourselves: shortcomings during the first weeks of the puppy's life are difficult to "catch up" because you can't go back on what wasn't done when it should have been done (you will understand later and in more detail what I mean by that).

 

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Hyper-Activity Syndrome

Let's get right into it, the "technical" name for hyperactivity-related developmental disorder is: Hyper-Sensitivity and Hyper-Activity Syndrome (HSHA). The two "hyper's" are often linked, and you'll see why:

What is hyper-sensitivity?
This disorder is the direct consequence of the absence of the mother from the third week of the puppies' life. In fact, from the third week of life, the puppies naturally start to explore their environment in a star-like fashion, i.e., they slowly try to explore their environment while always staying around the litter and coming back to their mother to feel secure.

If this learning is not done, the puppies of the litter can then develop what is called a sensory filter defect, i.e. hyper vigilance and therefore hyper sensitivity because they will not have had the opportunity to "discover the world" serenely.

What is hyperactivity?
This disorder is the direct consequence of the absence of the mother from the 4th week of the litter's life. Indeed, from the 4th week of the puppies' life, naturally, the puppies of the litter will start to play with each other and thus to use their jaws. The mother's role is then essential because she will teach her puppies to "dose" the force they put in their jaws during games.

This is what we call the learning of the inhibited bite and if the mother is not there to carry out this learning and thus regulate the interactions between her puppies, they will have self-control defects. This creates a great difficulty, even when the dog is an adult, to return to a stable and serene emotional state because he will always be in the "more" state. It is often because of the consequences of this "non learning" that the masters are alerted and discover this disorder.

Do not label your pet!
But be careful, I insist! It is not because your dog is a bit "crazy" and that you cannot control him that you should label him as hyperactive and see this as a fatality!

On the other hand, sometimes the possibility of this disorder is dismissed because we know for sure that the mother was present during the whole development... However, it happens that the mother is too immature, too tired, simply a "bad mother", or that she is herself affected by developmental disorders and that she has therefore not done all the learning. Hence the importance of always being well informed about the kennel you choose, even if it means going to see the puppy regularly during his first two months, etc.

 

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How to avoid this disorder?

To avoid this disorder, the best solution remains (as for a multitude of problems encountered by masters) prevention! Therefore, you must :

• Always wait for the legal age of sale, estimated at 2 months. If a breeder (or even a private individual) offers to adopt a puppy before he is two months old: there is a whale under the gravel! • Before reserving a puppy in a kennel, make sure that the mother is well-balanced, that she has not just "finished" a previous litter, that she does not have any behavioral or developmental problems and that she is sufficiently mature. Do not hesitate to visit the kennel... If a breeder refuses to let you come, it is suspicious!

 

How to solve this problem?

By definition, a developmental disorder cannot be "fixed" but it can be mitigated. Indeed, beyond a certain age, the puppy will not be able to catch up in any way. And as I mentioned earlier, there is no going back on failures during the puppy's developmental period.

A dog suffering from hyperactivity is not as "adjustable" as a dog that would have learned to walk on a leash badly, for example, or that would have learned to manage his frustration badly. Behavioral problems are quite "simple" to solve because it is enough to put in place different axes...

On the other hand, as far as developmental disorders are concerned, we can only mitigate their effects simply because the dog is not physically and emotionally able to assimilate what we ask of him.

You will have understood that it is very difficult to make the consequences of this disorder disappear, but it is possible (with a lot of work) to attenuate the effects:

Tip #1: A dog diagnosed as HSHA must be followed by a veterinarian with possible medication. In most cases, without treatment, "HSHA dogs" never manage to find a balance.

Tip 2: Don't hesitate to call on a dog behaviorist who will be able to guide you in the different steps to be taken and especially help you adopt the best possible attitude.

Tip #3: Since your dog has not been taught to bite, he can cause a lot of pain by "biting" because he will not control his jaw and can severely injure. So be sure to weigh all the risks, especially if your dog is a large breed or if you have small children. Of course, I am talking about a possible placement in a more suitable family and not about euthanasia.

Tip #4: Avoid ball games at all costs. Remember that for a "normal" dog, these games of throwing are very exciting and especially very intense and it is sometimes difficult to make them understand that the game session is over! So imagine a dog that doesn't have the physical and emotional capacity to "come down"!!!

Tip #5: Always have a very consistent attitude for your dog by establishing a very clear routine (food, walks, etc.) and a very clearly assertive attitude (be sure of yourself so that your dog trusts you and doesn't feel fear or stress on your part). For example, you should always initiate contact: choose the beginning and especially the end of each activity you undertake with your dog (petting sessions, play sessions, educational sessions, walks, etc.).

Tip n°6 : When you want to calm your dog, getting angry at him or trying to force him will not be a solution, on the contrary : prefer to ignore your dog, that is to say not to look at him, not to touch him nor to talk to him. Indeed, if your dog understands that his attitude allows him to get your attention (even if it is to scold him), he will repeat this behavior because it is what he wants.

Tip #7: Similarly, since hyperactivity often goes hand in hand with hyper-vigilance, when your dog is afraid of anything, don't try to "reassure" him or you'll unintentionally reinforce the behavior that stems from his fear.

You must also ignore your dog when he is in extreme states (of fear or excitement) and if this does not work, it is the whole environment, the rules of life and the educational bases that will have to be reviewed and put (or put back) in place, and this will be the subject of a future article.