siezure related behavior?

Question
I purchased a 6 mo. old yorkie that was not in a great environment, he was fairly neglected. He is doing well, & has been vet checked. I have become aware that he will walk the inner boundaries of our home, kind of like a roomba, pointless, continuous roaming, head down or to the wall. He will come to me, in passing, to make brief contace, and continue on. He is like a little motor that cannot stop. He is like this sporadically and it lasts for hours. He does not eat while he's like this. He is my only yorkie experience, I am guessing siezure because he cannot control this need to roam. He's very sweet and it makes me sad to see him like that. Any advice?

Answer
Charlotte,

Bless his little heart. From what you describe I am inclined to think that it is something other than seizures that is causing this behavior.  Since you stated that he was neglected, and that you had him checked over by your vet and he was given a clean bill of health, I believe that it is probably psychological.  Dogs who are neglected often are placed in cages and left alone without human contact or love.  Because of the small cage he probably learned to walk around it as a form of entertainment or as a way to break the monotony of being alone.

It is a very sad and heartbreaking thing to see what some people do to dogs.  They require so little from us and are so easy to please that when one is neglected to the point that they show psychological damage it just breaks my heart.

Now, I know you said he was vet checked but have you discussed the pacing with your vet?  In order to help him get better you really have to know for sure what the cause of his behavior is.  In order to make that determination you are going to have to rule out any possible physical reasons for his behavior.  Dogs suffer from the same illnesses as humans.  It is possible it could be a brain tumor, or diabetes, or he could even have problems with his eyesite.  You need to revisit your vet explain what is going on and then have them check for the problems I listed above.

If the vet then says that he has none of the problems I listed I would feel confident that it is psychological.  Unfortunately, if it is psychological the process of reversing it is a long one. Don't loose hope though because with some loving care over time he should be ok.  After you have had him checked out by the vet please write back to me and we can discuss behavior modification techniques to help him adjust.