Canine Autism

CANINE AUTISM – is it a real thing? Am I making it up? Have I lost the plot?

Autism in humans is something I’m sure you’ve heard of .  It’s something we are starting to understand more and more these days, thank goodness, but what exactly is it?

Autism is a spectrum disorder (meaning that it has a wide variety of symptoms) that effects the person for all of their life.  There is no cure – just coping strategies and methods to help manage the condition.  In a nutshell, it effects the individual’s ability to understand and communicate with the world around them, be that people, animals, sounds, movement, new, familiar or different situations.  As with anything, everybody is unique and it’s certainly not a case of “one size fits all” so we find that different people react differently and have an array of sensitivities or triggers.

So is it just humans that suffer with this condition?  While the science is as yet unproven, there is a building acceptance that other animals can experience it too from Mice to Apes and really when you think about it, why is this surprising?  We ourselves are, after all, merely another species of animal.  When I mention canine autism to people initially, their first reaction is usually to laugh and assume I’m kidding.  I’m not.  And when you begin to see the signs and symptoms mirrored in your own dog, you do start to question the various behaviours they are exhibiting as possibly not just “naughty” but perhaps a learning difficulty of sorts.

Dogs learn very early on in their little lives – we tend to say the key initial “learning window” is between about 8-16 weeks of age.  At this stage your puppy is like a sponge; learning new things every minute of the day and familiarising himself with people, places, noises, activities etc all the time (be that a washing machine, a TV, a knock at the door, noisy shopping trollies at the supermarket etc etc).  To socialise your dog and introduce him to lots of new challenges early on can make such a difference in his mental development and his ability to cope in later life.  If dogs are NOT introduced to such stimuli in this early stage of development, it can very often result in a fearful, timid, aggressive or reactive dog.  Often, we may assign a dog’s “naughty” behaviour to a lack of socialisation and while it MAY indeed be the case, sometimes, there is a little more to it – your dog could actually be suffering with Canine Autism.

There is lots of talk and conjecture about just what causes autism (both human and canine autism for that matter) and the jury is out as to whether it is genetic, causal (linked to things such as vaccination), autoimmune problems or even environmental factors.

As I say, each dog is different but symptoms can be things such as being over or under reactive to sounds.  Perhaps the slightest bang sets your dog off, puts him on edge or, conversely, perhaps he actively seems to ignore sounds seeking the safety of turning a blind eye to them rather than facing whatever they denote?

Maybe he appears overly aggressive or pushy when playing – I’ve heard it described as like having no “off switch” and not understanding where the boundaries of play end and those of aggression and violence begin, with a desire to WIN at all costs.

Sometimes, it’s the movement of the dog that can give the first clue that there may be problems.  Are they clumsy, tripping or slipping more than you would expect?  Do they seem uncoordinated in their movement with a seeming disconnection between the activities of their front half and their back end?

Do they struggle with touch, eye contact or closeness with people or other animals?  Often they may seem at ease with a person or situation and then suddenly get a look in their eye that tells you they are not coping, are unsure of what is going on and then freak out to get away from the situation, seemingly for absolutely no reason at all.

You may find they are very reactive and then suddenly the moment has passed and they are not at all reacting to the situation, a little like they’ve forgotten what they were worried about.  This can be very confusing for them and for us.  One minute they are perfectly happy with a new dog or playmate but the next time they meet, they can have a completely different reaction to the self and same dog.

Also, as yet unproven, there appears to be a possible link between those dogs who exhibit signs of Canine Autism and those who develop epilepsy – the incidence of the link does appear to be quite high.  Some CA sufferers report an incidence of gastro-intestinal problems too, especially “leaky gut” syndrome.

So, are there ANY upsides? Well, it can be a double-edge sword.  Many people report that their special C.A. (Canine Autism) dogs are super clever, being able to learn and carry out tasks after being shown just a few times when “normal” dogs would need much longer.  This quick ability to learn and take things in is quite a talent but it is also worth noting that the short term memory for other things can be quite debilitated too.  For example, a new person comes to the house and you carefully introduce them to your dog until he seems happy enough with the situation.  The person is in your home for say, an hour, mixing and talking to your C.A. dog and then pops to use the toilet, leaving the room and going out of sight.  Two minutes later when he returns, your dog may well have absolutely no recollection of who the person is or that he has, in fact, ever even met him, resulting in you having to reintroduce them all over again.

All the above is just an over view. As you’d imagine, it’s a very complicated and involved subject but something worth baring in mind if you have seen these type of behaviours demonstrated by your dog.

Below is a “Diagnostic Tool” you might wish to have a look at, compiled by Petra Dance, to give you an idea of the sort of behaviours we are looking at.

Further Reading
The following article was written by Angela Stockdale and from about half way down the page, she begins to talk about autism.  If you think any of the points raised above sound familiar to you and your dog, have a little read through Angela’s article as it really does explain things beautifully.  It might be that rather than trying to correct or “cure” your naughty dog, he may simply need a different approach and the implementation of some good coping strategies to help him (and you) adjust and deal with the world around you.

Finally, I will say one thing.  Challenging as a C.A. dog undoubtedly is … the rewards are massive as you develop a bond, an understanding and a relationship to rival all others.

http://www.dogpartnership.com/articles.htm