Can dogs have OCD?

Question

We have a 2 year old female Great Dane who constantly sweeps her food dish around with her nose and packs the food in the bowl down with her nose. It doesn't matter where the bowl is placed, the area around the bowl is cleaned and disinfected daily, we've tried getting a raised feeder bowl, nothing seems to be helping. She's an indoor dog, but one day while we had guests we placed her bowl out on the back patio and she scraped the end of her nose completely bloody and still kept at it whimpering all the time. She does this over and over all day long for 20-30 minutes at a time if she's not stopped.

We take her to the military vet and he has never heard of a dog with OCD.

Answer 1

Yes, dogs do /can have OCD... I work at a dog day care/boarding kennel, and see alot of it.
For my own dog that did this, I found a plastic lids, at a thrift shop, just smaller than the food bowl, and when I fed him, I put the lid over the bowl. When he got hungry, he could flip the lid off.

What they are after is hiding the kibble, so others can't get it, or predators can't find them by its scent.

They must think we are crazy, just leaving all that food out in the open, which could attract lions, jackels, or tigers, and for just any old dog to steal...

Answer 2

Yes, absolutely and I'd say that your dog HAS it. Try feeding her smaller meals on a flat plate and pick the plate up the instant she's finished. A good vet may be able to prescribe anti-anxiety meds like Prozac - but I would only use them on a short-term basis.

Dogs can do a lot of peculiar things - constant licking or spinning in circles. And they can be obsessed with balls, rocks, pots and pans and other strange objects. One of the best ways to fix it is strenuous exercise. A lot of these behaviors come out in dogs that don't have enough activity in their lives. Danes are athletes - when full grown, you'll need to take them for daily thirty minute runs, not just a casual walk around the block. If you're not a runner, try a bicycle or rollerblades or ball playing or anything that really gets the dog panting. You can get her a dog backpack and gradully fill it with more weight to slow her down some - hiking in the hills is great too. Also, keep her brain busy - teach her some new stuff. Read:
Dog Tricks : Eighty-Eight Challenging Activities for Your Dog from World-Class Trainers by Haggerty and Benjamin

And snake_girl85 may not be an expert, but she gave you great advice!

Answer 3

poor thing!! I'm not positive but I'm pretty sure dogs can have phsycological disorders as well. Great danes are large and you said she's an indoor dog, is it possible she developed this habit because she's bored??? I'm by no means an expert, but you could try diverting her attention by starting a training regimen or something... I suggest getting a second opinion from another vet, or contact a trainer who may know more about dog behavior.

Answer 4

Watch "the Dog Whisperer" on the National Geographic Channel. He has a lot of episodes involving dogs with behavior problems and how to fix them. Yes, dogs can be OCD. My parents' Jack Russel Terrier has to run around the dinning room table twice each time she passes through the room, without fail.

Answer 5

Wow, someone elses dog besides mine does that! One of mine does...it does drive me crazy, but she is only allowed 10 minutes to eat her food. I think she does it as a burying technique because at that moment of feeding time, she isn't really hungry. Or I think she does it cause she doesn't like her food at that moment. I don't really call it OCD. Just her quirk. Sometimes she only does it for a couple of minutes and then eventually eats.

But mine also uses her nose to bury her treats or bones into the carpet. So I think that is all it is...something to do to save for later. Course, I haven't seen the treat/bone thing lately since I adopted another dog. Probably cause she knows it won't be there later for her.

Answer 6

Yes they can. My parents had a golden retriever that when nervous (often), used to claw and claw and claw at the door to the kitchen. He did well on meds that were slipped into a piece of cheese.

I have OCD. Like the dog, I am a higher mammal. I believe that under stress, repetitive compulsive movements are possible.

Answer 7

My dog used to cut himself on our old fence, and he would lick his cuts until they became a bloody gash all the way up his foreleg. I don't know if it's OCD, but my dog went through the same thing.

Answer 8

have you tried changing the bowl? Maybe she's sensitive to particular colors. Be sweet to her. i can imagine this is quite frustrating for you.

Answer 9

Our Basset Hound does that when we put her in her kennle, I dont think there is any thing you can do.

Answer 10

I guess in your situation, yes.