bizarre behavior- HELP!

Question
QUESTION: We have a 3 1/2 year old puggle who will, out of nowhere, start to sprint around the house while barking and sniffing.  He sniffs around everywhere, including up in the air.  He is absolutely frantic when he does this.  He almost looks like he is forever looking for something that he cannot find.  In the past, he has done this for HOURS and even for a FULL DAY, at the worst.  Nothing in particular seems to trigger this, and sometimes it's almost impossible to stop him.  I make him sit and stay for a while, but then he goes right back into it.  He also will do this at other peoples houses and outdoors, so I don't think it's anything in our house.  These episodes started just after he turned 1.  After normal labwork, the vet put him on prozac.  This definitly helped, but he appeared "drugged" and lost his appetite.  We weaned him off the meds and he was great for about a month or so, and now he's growing increasingly worse again.  He has good days and bad days.  (More bad than good now) We walk him 2 miles almost everyday, and play with him as often as we can.  He is otherwise a very good dog.  Also, we have a 19 month old and a 9 week old.  These episodes started just before the first baby came.  We also try to include him in whatever we're doing.  (He's not neglected!)  But we obviously can't give him 100% of our time.  He doesn't seem like he WANTS to act like this, he seems like he almost HAS to do this. Any advice is greatly appreciated!  Thanks so much for your time!

Joe

ANSWER: Hi, Joe,

Thanks for the question.

What kind of games does he like to play? If none now, did he enjoy any games in the past? Do you ever play tug-of-war with him? Did you ever use a laser pointer to entertain him? Does he play fetch?

How long have you had him? How old was he when you got him? Was he very oral as a puppy? If so, how did you manage his chewing and mouthing? If not, did you do something to inhibit his chewing and mouthing? Does he have any doggie pals he can play with?

I look forward to your answers.

LCK

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for the quick response!  As for your questions:
The games he likes to play are tug-of-war,(by far his favorite), likes to catch balls and toys, and fetch.  Never tried the laser pointer, though.  

Our dog was 10 weeks old when we got him, and he'll be 4 in December.  He was a very oral puppy as far as chewing.  He would chew on chew toys for hours per day it seemed, and still loves chew toys.  I also forgot to mention he does a little bit of "obsessive licking" to peoples legs and feet.  And yes, he does have friends!  Playtimes vary anywhere from once a week to 3 times per week.  Every once in a while he goes doggie-day-camp.

Thank you again,

Joe  

Answer
Hi again.

I'd recommend doing a few things for a few weeks or so (maybe 2 mos.) to see if you can break this spell that comes over him.

1st, I'd have him sleep and chew bones only in his crate. If he's to be left alone in the house for any length of time he should be gotten really tired first, then given a 20 min. cool-down period, so that when he goes into the crate he'll quickly settle down and fall asleep. If he doesn't have a crate, you need to get him one and get him used it being his safe haven, his private den inside the house.

2nd, no playing in the house. All play has to be done outdoors from now on. When you play tug with him, always let him win and praise him enthusiastically for winning. You can also play "chase me," where he gets to chase you around the yard. But most of all NO PLAYING IN THE HOUSE. This includes his play dates. We need him to understand that the house is his "den," which means it's only for sleeping, nurturing, cuddling, drinking his water, and snuggling. NO PLAYING INSIDE!

3rd, I want you to hand feed him all his meals outdoors using a pushing exercise, where he has to push into in order to eat. This is fairly simple: you offer him a bit of food with one hand (his kibble or canned food, mixed in with something really tasty), and as he eats you put your other hand gently against his chest, palm up, with almost no pressure at all. If he doesn't like that, pull that hand away and use it to start petting him instead. Over a period of a few days you want to get him used to having that other hand resting gently against his chest while he eats. THIS HAS TO BE DONE OUTDOORS.

Then comes the fun part. Now, as he's eating from your hand, with your other hand resting very lightly against his chest, start pulling the food hand away from his mouth, ever so slightly, so that he has to push into YOU a tiny bit in order to eat each handful. When he's done with each handful, pull your other hand away from his chest. You don't want him to feel any pressure against his chest unless he's also eating at the same time. NO PRESSURE ON HIS CHEST UNLESS HE'S EATING. Over a few weeks you should be able to get to the point that he'll be pushing his chest into your hand as hard as he can, even going up on his back legs, while he eats.

Here's a link: http://www.tiny.cc/SwimUpstream

4th, get him to lie next to you on the couch or even get down on the floor with him at a time when he'd normally be chewing a toy or a bone. Pet him and praise him, then put a finger or two into his mouth and let him mouth your hand as if it were a pacifier. This might be hard to do, he might resist at first. (He may have been punished for doing this when he was a pup, which could be a big part of his behavioral problem now.) But the idea is that if you can get him to enjoy mouthing your hand, if just for a few seconds at a time, that will be very helpful.

Here's another link: http://www.tiny.cc/StopPuppyBites

It's very important to do all 4 of these things. What I think has happened is that whatever reason he's developed a kind of tape loop in his brain which causes him to seek ways to satisfy an internal need that's directly related to his predatory instincts. Since the ultimate payoff for the prey drive is to bite the prey, we want to give him as much oral satisfaction as possible, primarily outdoors so that he no longer needs to seek that satisfaction inside the house through this bizarre behavior. The exception to the outdoor rule is the mouthing exercise, which falls into the category of den/nurturing behaviors.

Finally, when he exhibits this strange behavior don't scold or punish him. Just put him in his crate with a bone or a chew toy.

If you have any questions for problems, please let me know either through AllExperts or by e-mail.

LCK