Shadows & lights

[edzbird]

Sorry to say, Meg has a bit of an obsession with shadows & reflections. OH has just snapped her out of one such episode (the light reflecting off her ID tag) by calling her to him, and she was able to come and is happily going to sleep on Coco's bed now. @kateincornwall , how did you deal with Nelly's behaviour ?

 

[kateincornwall]

Hi Sue, its a hard nut to crack , we have made headway but Nellys is so deep rooted that we have to keep the curtains closed in our sitting room in the mornings, because the reflections of the sunlight on the walls sets her off and she gets herself into a right old state . Likewise , mobile phones and even watches can start her off if in sunlight, its so very sad . We try to eliminate the triggers as much as possible , with LOTS of distraction ! Picking up a toy usually works , its hard because she is worse some days than others . Out and about we have no issues at all , but we wont use a torch in the garden at night , its moving lights with Nelly , we have some solar lights round the pond but because they are static , she ignores them . I would say yes , call Meg and distract , wishing you loads of luck , it is horrible xx

 

[kateincornwall]

Just re read what I wrote , Nelly must sound horrendous ! She isn't, honestly , she just has issues which are worse in summer ( sunshine reflections indoors ) . She is better than she was, but I doubt she will ever be " normal ", its so deep in her and being so deaf makes it harder to distract . I`m sure Meg will come on leaps and bounds , she has an inhouse distraction , Coco ! xx

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

Poor Meg and Nelly! I didn't know dogs could have this problem. What happens to Meg or Nelly when they get fixated on a reflection? Do they bark ,stand still, can't move?

 

[kateincornwall]

Nelly just gets herself into a frenzy , trying to catch the light , she starts to pant heavily with excitement . She will even bite at walls if the reflection is moving on it . She doesn't bark , just squeaks , it is horrible . It is only indoors ,she doesn't react to reflections outside at all x

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

She doesn't bark , just squeaks , it is horrible .

Poor girl. Sounds like you are helping her to manage it as well as you can, though.

 

[edzbird]

Meg just stands and stares intensely at them. She was doing it last night after we'd gone to bed, watching the shadows she cast in the light of the clock radio. I'd hoped she'd settle along side the bed, but no. She had to get up and lie between us again. We're moving her away from them at the moment and praising for settling elsewhere.

 

[Beanwood]

We have had a couple of fosters that have displayed this behaviour. Notably, Blake who came over from Cyprus. So light movement in the form of reflection, wood burner, curtains open when it was dark were 2 examples when it was quite marked. Of course, the room itself in terms of furniture and scents was a lot to absorb, but flickering on surfaces initially was mesmerising. He didn't seem distressed, but quite absorbed and distracted at the time.
We just closed the curtains, and changed the lighting in the room, gently distracted Blake, then over time reintroduced the normal reflections when he was more settled.

 

[MaccieD]

Hi @edzbird how often is this behaviour occurring? Is it always the same sources of light/shadow or does it vary? How responsive is Meg? How easy is it to distract Meg? Sorry for the questions but I have know a couple trainers/behaviourists who are working with clients whose dogs are displaying similar problems at the moment.

 

[SwampDonkey]

My oh has OCD and his symptoms really become more apparent when he's stressed. Obviously doggies moving to new homes are really stressed so maybe it's not just they find reflections interesting and compelling but are defaulting to some thing they feel safe doing and are rewarded by. The OCD is a symptom of their stress. Repeating the rewarding behaviours lessens the stress and mutes the real stress inducing thing.
I can tell my ohs mental state by what behaviours displaying, maybe it's the same with dogs. The OCD in itself is part of the whole picture and not a thing in isolation. I manage him carefully and when his stress levels lower his behaviours become less OCD. Sorry just thinking out loud you probably know all this but treating the OCD behaviours is not enough the trigger must be identified and looked at.
He would much rather be checking windows and doors than thinking about work. When doggies learn to cope with the new environment the need for these behaviours lessen. Some drugs can be useful in this. Sorry for interfering it's just OCD is something I'm very familiar with. My ohs family all have it in varying ways

 

[kateincornwall]

You aren't interfering at all ! We think Nelly has had stress in her life , three homes before us must have had awful effects on her, plus being deaf . What you say about self rewarding is very interesting indeed and then it becomes a habit which is hard to break . Thank you for the input , always welcome x

 

[kateincornwall]

Adding that, for Nelly ,laser light games have contributed greatly . I am pretty sure that her previous owner used one , I saw one on her kitchen worktop when we fetched Nelly , she had a cat too so maybe it was to amuse the cat but I think not . I do wish people would realise the damage done by using these vile things , it can and does bring the dog to a point of almost fitting , and people think its funny ??

 

[edzbird]

She does it every time she sees her own shadow move or any shadow that's moving. Or reflection (id tag, mirror) It's not too hard to distract her and she''ll come away but goes back quickly. She's quite clearly stressed at the moment as she does a lot of pacing. Thanks for your insight @SwampDonkey I hope as she gets more comfortable with us, our house and it's routines the behaviours may lessen.

 

[MaccieD]

but goes back quickly.

This behaviour does raise concerns. Yes she is under stress at the moment due to new environment , but most digs find kennels very stressful as well. Please keep a close eye on this and management may be key to prevent shadows as much as possible.