Recognizing Mental Illness in Dogs.

Hello Everyone! And welcome to my first topic post! :D

Today I will be discussing ways to recognise mental illness in dogs, and what tools or resources you can use to help you and your beloved canine in this situation. This topic is one I hold close to my heart, as my family and I first encountered this obstacle in 2018. 

Meet Dexter, a Beagle x Lab who entered my life and changed it forever. It had been a long time since my family and I had a puppy in the house, 16 years to be exact, and we were so excited!

The first time we met Dexter, he was about 4 weeks old. His eyes were barely open and his little legs could barely help him stand. We chose him because he seemed to stand out from the others; when we picked him up, his little paws would tightly grip around our fingers and he would 

​whine; we fell in love immediately, but little did we know, he had already started showing signs of anxiety.

Upon bringing Dexter home, we noticed that he would grumble and growl when he would eat his food. Our initial thought was “look how cute he is”, but his behavior quickly developed into snarling and gorging his meal. We started to feed him by hand, hoping to gain his trust and heighten his comfort level around his food. The “resource guarding” began to spread to his toys and his bed; and it eventually extended to the kitchen and even on occasion, to people. He would often want to be 

close to us, but would wake up from a dead sleep and would begin growling if we so much as moved a toe.  After each episode, he would cry and be very remorseful . He would look just as confused and upset as we did. 

In my experience, dogs who develop mental illness can start at a very young age. Some major red flags of irregular puppy behavior include the following:​​

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• Food/resource guarding
• The inability to go into a deep sleep (where they will wake up in a panic when you make the slightest of movements or sounds, and never truly appear relaxed)
• A reluctance to roll over for you to pet their belly
• They may hold their bodies tense on a regular basis, and/or pace or pant on a regular basis
• They may look at you with a “whale eye”, which is when their head stays straight and they glare at you from the side, showing the whites of their eyes
• Give off a deep growl when you walk by
• They may “look through you” with a glazed over look with large pupil
• May highly rely on a schedule, and has a break down if it changes in the slightest
• Conveys any OCD-like behavior​

• Fearful of other animals, including dogs
• Fearful of odd things such as noises, bugs, stairs, and shadows
• And more.

Using charts, such as the following, may help you in recognizing some nervous or aggressive behavior. The earlier that these signs can be detected, the better the outcome will be for your dog.

Now that you are aware of some of the signs of mental illness in dogs, and may recognize some similarities to your own dog, what do you do now?

Owning a dog with high anxiety, or aggression, can be nerve wracking and scary, but there is help out there! Seeking help from a Veterinary Behaviorist and pairing their knowledge with a Trainer, who is aware of how to handle dogs such as these, could ultimately help you and your dog cope with their condition and reverse some of their fear and anxiety. 

​Start by asking your Veterinary clinic if they are aware of any Veterinary Behaviorists in your area. Once you have a name, reach out to them! They ​

will likely ask you to fill out a questionnaire report and have an extensive interview with you and your dog to help pin-point their exact triggers. In some mild cases, improvement will be seen with some minor adjustments to their environment to make them more comfortable at home, and in some more complex cases, some behavior modifying medication may be required, either temporarily or permanently. In some cases, their diet and gut health can even affect their behavior! All of these areas and more can be developed together with your Veterinarian!​

Many dogs who have mental illness will respond extremely well to positive reinforcement during interactions with people, which is why it is extremely important to find a Trainer who is aware of high anxiety and aggression in dogs. Your Veterinary Behaviorist will likely be able to help you find a trainer that specializes in training methods that will maintain a positive mental state in your dog. 
Owning a dog who has mental illness can often make you feel lost, and helpless. It is difficult to know what to do, or where to go for help. Which is why it is so important for this topic to be brought to light! To help spread awareness and support 

those working with these conditions, I have developed a Facebook group called The Anxious, Aggressive and Fearful K9 Support Group. Please feel free to join and share your own experiences with canine mental illness, and share the resources that have helped you. 

​There are many different ways to handle canine anxiety, fear and aggression, and I hope that what I have learned though my experience will help you discover the best way to handle your situation, or help you to help others you may know who is struggling with canine mental illness.​

As for Dexter, he is currently 4 years old, happy, and keeps us learning every day. As I continue to share and expand my knowledge on canine mental illness, I will continue to share parts of his story as we further explore canine mental illness.

Thank you for reading today’s post! Until next time!

Cheers, 
Christe, RVT

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Image References:​
https://bowwowinsurance.com.au/pet-community/pet-talk/dog-communication-body-language/?fbclid=IwAR2DOs8HxxL4uTiKYUEC2gn9pAoCwr6PyYAcELPqwJWKTqNooMGd9m7v8p4
https://www.animalosteopathycollege.com/blog/recognizing-canine-communication?fbclid=IwAR27cnZmKHi6Ym3rwMDqf6JUKa8RbCMPm0EIIocGLm2FlIYloDtE-sO539o