CCD

[critters]

Canine Compulsive Disorder Gene Identified in Dogs Gene Shares Family with
Recently Targeted Gene for Autism
http://www.newswise.com/articles/canine ... for-autism

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

This is such an excellent article. Compulsive disorder can be described for folks like me as any repetitive behaviour that you cannot stop. Any behaviour is just behaviour until it becomes compulsive. It is OCD in humans, and of course, CCD in dogs. It can manifest as 'tail chasing' spinning, throwing the head back and barking barking barking, front legs back and forth back and forth back and forth. I would even bet that some of the compulsive biting and chewing we see may be linked to CCD. There are options out there, but the BEST option is behaviour modification. STOP the behaviour as soon as you see it. In our case, it was so severe, when practicable, Possum was on lead in the house for easy access to stop her spinning (on an fho atrophied hip).

CCD is serious. It is dead serious. I had a neighbor stop by my yard one sunny day as Possum was spinning spinning spinning. She said Possum's amusing herself. I said no, she is losing her mind. Possum was deaf and blind, but that had nothing to do with her CCD. She had a very bad history and was doomed the moment she got here. However, we DID try for a year and 7 months to rescue her from her demons.

To know there is something going on in the brain helps one deal with this. It really does. For us it was an agonizing journey, but I would nto have missed it for the world. We learnd SO much from this tortured little soul who only wanted to be loved. She deserved happiness. We found at the end, that happiness could only be found by turning off her little brain.

If anyone finds themselves facin this, I would be happy to share. But the MOST important thing is to STOP the behaviour. Once it is hardwired in the brain, even drugs usually won't help.

[kodiblue]

My St Bernard/ aussie mix has CCD, he takes prozak and so far it seems to help. I have to watch him around people though, he's so big with erratic behavior he scares people. He is an incredible hugger and cuddler and I would never give him up.

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

Poor Possum never had that opportunity. She was too far gone by the time she got here. She maybe 10 times ina year and a half looked for a pat and that lasted about 5-10 seconds. Poor Possum, that is the REAL heartbreaker. She never had a chance, despite all our work, too many visits to vet to count and fighting with them to try, TRY.

Poor Possum is the poster child for STOPPING REPETITIVE BEHAVIOUR. Once it is hard wired, it is hard wired. She was on too much to list, but you can visit her story under seizure. We all here thought it might be a misfiring seizure like causation. Never will know.

We started the Possum library at:

http://www.s8.createphpbb.com/lethalwhi ... lwhiteauss

which reminds me, I have to link this article.

Crossed to our LWARC group and our OCD member is printing out to take to her doctors.

[kodiblue]

I always felt for Possum, I know she is happy now and pain free. My gus was kept in a small crate in an apartment for 8 to 12 hours a day till he was 11 mos. old. Then his owners took him to the shelter because he "got too big" for the apartment. What part of St. Bernard did they not get??? Is CCD more prevalent in Aussies? My boy is heartbreakingly beautiful and guards my every move from everyone but my son. (strangely, my son has some strange ability to calm animals) He also has arthritis in his hips from the crating and takes a pain med for that. He seems to get worse as he gets older, is that normal? I am hoping that the move to Wa. will help. He will have 2.5 acres in seclusion to just be himself.

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

CCD is a hard wired effect of obsessive behaviour. Any dog with a job to do, any dog that is high energy and bred for a single purpose WILL exhibit obsessive behaviour if not given an opportunity to burn it off. ANY dog. Some dogs and especially if you read the article you will see the breeds are prone. Aussies aren't on the list, but they SHOULD be, like BCs. Highly intelligent, high energy. Your Gus' story has me gasping. THANK GOD HE HAS YOU!

Any dog can develop CCD if the conditions are right. ANY BEHAVIOUR CAN be interrupted and MUST be. In any dog. Bostons have tail chasing, a lot of dogs have behaviours. They MUST be interrupted before the hard wiring beings. Once it is hard wired, well, some dogs may recover. Some may never recover and regress, as dear Possum did. Every dog has a chance to recover. The chance is in getting to your recovery point in time. Meds and constant veterinary supervision didn't do one thing for Possum. That is why she never had a chance. It was too late by the time she got here. We didn't know that, and that's why we tried like maniacs to 'cure' her. I learned so much with Possum, our late and great Possum who deserved happiness BEFORE any thing else, and by god, we TRIED to give her that, she had a few moments a couple of months of almost normalcy for what she was dealing with (not normal by ANY NORMAL DOG'S dictionary, but normal by Possum's) we find some comfort in that and that we tried every single thing on this planet, to save her.

I have to tell you, HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR THIS BOARD, I would have been completely lost. The support, the research (which I cross to this day) I can never thank you all enough and it gained us some ground here and there. As each of us knows, it is the miniscule things that no one else would ever notice that mean the WORLD to us.

And for that I am eternally grateful. Possum's life and quality were extended as a direct result of everyone's relentless research and work. Because of everything you have all done for her, I am so educated. In all rage, in many misfiring seizure like presentations, well, in every single thin. I was trying two nights ago to find Tina's wonderful POSSUM earchin.description because I had neglected to add it to our new board. I was sobbing and had to stop.

[kodiblue]

I 'm gonna try to attach a pic with Gus in it. From the left, Gus, Chelsea (jacks sister), and General.[attachment=0]me n dogs.jpg[/attachment]

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

I have been an emotional basket case and time bomb for a while now, and your photo has me in tears of absolute JOY! Your baby is so responsive, so loving, so excited by YOU, that I am flattened with sheer emotions at Gus' love for you. Possum was too far gone by the time she got here.

Angel Tillman would show signs just like your Gus, when he finally realized, hey people are GOOD, NOT scarey! He too would climb in my lap and get knocked over by the others.

As he went to sleep on Saturday, I spoke with the tech and the doc about dementia and canine alzheimers. That's going to be my next field of study. Angel Tillman suffered from some neurologic disorder, but I feel certain either he had the sense knocked out of him by a 4,000 lb. car or he suffered from the above. Doc agreed, when I described his symptoms. His doc has left that hospital and is practicing closer to home, where there are a lot more patients. So.

[critters]

As he went to sleep on Saturday, I spoke with the tech and the doc about dementia and canine alzheimers. That's going to be my next field of study. Angel Tillman suffered from some neurologic disorder, but I feel certain either he had the sense knocked out of him by a 4,000 lb. car or he suffered from the above. Doc agreed, when I described his symptoms. His doc has left that hospital and is practicing closer to home, where there are a lot more patients. So.

Well, you know, he could've had his sense knocked out AND have dementia too. Sadly, they're not mutually exclusive, and, in fact, the head trauma might even make dementia more likely.

So you think that's why Angel Tillman didn't eat? It makes sense.

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

critters, you know how a human alzheimers patient has no idea what food is or for? Neither did AngelTillman and I by god tried every tasty thing 3-4-5 times a day, this didn't work, let's try that. His last morning he ate a few bbq chicken bits, so I waved up some more for his last meal, and he pretty much turned his head. Had no idea what this delicious smelling stuff was for. He was clueless in so many ways, and so tormented (his crying and screaming accelerated hugely by Wed. and I made the call on Thurs to euth on Sat, to give him a few days to turn around), my heart would break watching him turn his nose as his spine came right up out of his fur. He wasn't going to suffer ribs showin as well. The screaming killed him, but the starvation was a huge factor. I would NOT let him starve to death.

He occasionally ate, obviously, as he kept himself alive for a year, but it petered out in the end. I felt for a while hey, he WILL eat this or that, he is choosing not to! And then I was slammed by the fact he had no idea what to do with food. That's when realization hit me. My others are now getting the stashes in my fridge and freezer, cereal bits with kibble, chicken and fat saved, rice & veggies sauteed, you name it.

I picked up a can of dog food that he had eaten one time, so I got some more. Lifted the can after he died, thinking the others are gonna love this. There was a penny under the can. As you dn't know, pennies are signs from the deceased. My son finds ways to get pennies to me. Or at least that is my delusion. There was a penny under th can. It is still outside on the shelf where I had put the can when the bag broke.

[critters]

critters, you know how a human alzheimers patient has no idea what food is or for? .

Yes, my grandma was that way. I'd feed her a bite, then clap and holler, and even play "the train game" (the spoon was the train), just like she was 5 months old. It worked for her, though; I was the only one she'd eat for. I figured if she was in her 2nd childhood I may as well meet her there and enjoy it!

Similarly, you did everything you could to tempt your boy. It seems like not only did he not know what food was for but he was also actually adverse to eating it for some reason. Crying and screaming would do it for me, too; I wouldn't be able to take that either.

[kodiblue]

karen, I don't know how you keep going but thank god you do. You do so much good. I think dogs can get dementia and keep us informed about what you learn. My rescue dog Angel Baby has been acting disoriented when i let her out to potty. She stands and looks around almost lost and I waited at first for her to come back to the door to come in. She seemed to forget where she was supposed to go. So now I lean out the door and call her name and she gets all excited and comes in. ???? Sometimes I even have to wave and tap the side of the house for her to find me. Like she forgot what to do. And I'll admit i'm afraid to ask the vet, I can't bear to have her sick too, she had a hard life and doesn't deserve it. Like all our babies. Yes gus is very loving with me and mistrustful of everyone else. To have stitches removed it took a muzzle and the vet and two techs to TRY to hold him, so i asked my son to try. he held Gus head and said it's o.k. they wont hurt you and he sat there good as gold and got his stitches out. I think my son is blessed with a gift for communicating with animals, he helps with H.E.A.R.T. our rescue. All the critters feel safe and calm with him. i worry every day that I might lose him. I wish i could make some of your hurt better.