DOGS WITH WEIRD HABITS LIKE TAIL CHASING, LIGHT CHASING, POUNCING, OR STARING

There are a repetitive behaviours in dogs which may be a way of getting the ownerıs attention, a habit, an addictive/obsessive habit, or even a brain seizure. Various names are given to these  - obsessive-compulsive disorder, stereotypical behaviour, or just repetitive behaviour.
These are behaviours which with the help of a good dog trainer or a pet behaviour councillor (and input from a vet) you will probably be able to change. An expert will be able to diagnose what is happening and advise on changing routine, diet, exercise, and your behaviour when this thing happens.

Some of the behaviours are quite normal in themselves but are repeated abnormally. A bull terrier might well pounce on a mouse. A collie might well stare at interesting sheep on the horizon. A dog might well dig where it hopes to find an old bone or just enjoys digging. Chasing its tail occurs if a dog has a bit of muck on it or a flea is there.
Sometimes these behaviours are just done out of boredom. Rescue dogs, which have been kept in bad conditions, may have them. They are just habits that have got out of hand like biting nails. A sensible home with sensible clear rules, plenty of activity, and a patient owner and they will diminish and perhaps disappear for much of the time.
Sometimes the dog needs to fulfil its own nature ie collies may pounce or stalk the lawn mower because they have not enough to do. They are bred to herd sheep and they start herding behaviour in the wrong place. It is essential to give the dog something else to do chews, buster cubes, long walks, Kong throwing, etc. Border collies should have a six mile walk daily for two hours, or one hour with a Kong thrown all the way.
Often the habit has been encouraged by your attention and the dog is using it to get your attention. In these cases, you will have to walk away when it happens. Or put it on a house lead, and when it does the behaviour, take it without looking at it or saying anything into another room. Shut it up there, away from you, for three minutes.
If the behaviour is just a habit you can distract the dog, call it over, make it sit, and then play with a toy to take its mind off things. Donıt just give it a toy, - that rewards it for the behaviour. Make it do something like sitting first.
When these behaviours get serious is when they include some of the following - the dog does its thing until totally exhausted; it does it obsessively in inappropriate places; the dog cannot be distracted and doesnıt even seem to hear the owner; the dog seems out of it with glazed eyes; the dog may even bite if interrupted; the behaviour may increase until it is done almost all the time; the dog stands motionless in ecstasy.

Some of these behaviours are part of the in-built predatory sequence of eye, stalk, pounce, kill. This sequence is wired into the canine brain. The animal has got stuck at or hooked on one point of the sequence. They include the following.
a. Trancelike staring or moonwalking. The dog suddenly goes into a stare. This is the eye stage of the predatory sequence.
b. Beetle pouncing only without beetles. The dog pounces again and again at an imaginary being. This is the pounce stage of the predatory sequence.
c. Fly catching. This time the dog snaps at an imaginary being. This is the pounce/ bite bit of the predatory sequence.
d. Frantic digging. Digging is natural for dogs, but this kind of digging happens inappropriately and excessively.
e. Tail chasing. Sometimes the tail is severely bitten.
f. Shrub or branch ecstacy. The dog wanders under low branches and stands there as if itıs transfixed.
g. Light or shadow chasing. The dog is obsessed with reflections, mirrors etc. It may bark at its reflection in a water bowl or try to attack it.
h. Obsessive stalking behaviour.
i. Others such as  flank sucking, licking, spinning.


There may be a trigger for the behaviour. Beetle pouncing can be set off by patterned floors. (Change these!) Tail chasing can be set off by various noises. A dog that attacks its water bowl (and has no other reflection orientated behaviour, may be helped by putting the bowl in a place without reflections. Serious repetitive behaviours, with the dog in a kind of trance, should never be manually interrupted. Call the dog, but donıt put your hand out to it. If it is having a seizure it may bite.
For these situations you need a proper pet behaviour councillor and help with prescribed medicines from your vet. Itıs important to have input from both and the pet behaviour councillor will be able to see the dog in action and evaluate whether it is having a full scale seizure or just doing something to stop it self feeling bored. In some cases this is going to be like treating a drug addict, and an addict in withdrawal needs activities (as well as drugs) that will make him/her feel better! There are various drugs and diet alterations, or even clicker training, which may need to be tried.
Even with proper treatment, if you have children, you may have to re-home the dog since a dog in a seizure isnıt under its own control. But get expert advice as soon as possible.