A neurosis may be defined as a functional nervous disorder with no sign of disease of the central nervous system.

Psychoneurosis is described as an “emotional maladaptation” due to unresolved unconscious conflicts, and may also be used to describe the condition of many so-called neurotic dogs. This means, to recognize a neurotic dog, we must identify some defective nervous behavioral functions, while ruling out physical injury or disease, such as hydrocephalus, brain tumors, etc.

This can be done in some cases through neurological examinations. Urine and blood analysis can often indicate internal chemical imbalances which are of an organic cause. On the other hand, they may also indicate the presence of severe environmental stressors. Combined with behavioral information, physiologic examinations might indicate a neuroses or the basis for a psychosis. For practical purposes, a dog may be considered neurotic if he shows signs of a functional nervous disorder combined with behavior that is both abnormal and maladaptive for dogs in general.

But how is a functional nervous disorder described in behavioral terms? The following descriptions are helpful:

* The dog that fails to inhibit the orienting (alerting) response to stimuli that occurs repeatedly and are known to the animal to be neither harmful nor rewarding. These dogs are almost always in a state of anxiety.

* The dog that responds to novel objects, sounds, touches, movements and even odors with exaggerated active or passive defensive responses. These dogs often lack adequate early social experience.

* The dog that fails to retain (in some cases, even to develop) voluntary or involuntary conditioned reflexes. This cannot be applied to the dog’s total behavior, but usually is pertinent to a failure to form and/or retain learned associations involving defense and social behaviorisms.

* The dog that displays hyperkinesis. Signs include excessive salivation, elevated pulse and respiration, abnormally low urine output, and increased energy metabolism revealed through excessive, sometimes stereotyped activity, especially in close confinement.

* Displays fixations on objects, exhibiting ritualized behavior, usually repetitive and with no apparent objective. “Obsessive-compulsive” is the current diagnostic label of choice. While it is often treated with drugs, careful diagnosis shows that these dogs are suffering from frustration due to a lack of function in their lives. They are “making work,” and receiving internal neurochemical rewards.

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Anyone who has worked extensively with dogs has occasionally been confronted by an over-active, sometimes raging, vicious kind of dog, the handling of which has required a heavy duty tranquilizer and several helpers. In many cases, such behavior cannot be explained by improper handling or cruelty and neglect by their owners. When it seems that nothing can be done to correct the problem, then he is written off as “just a plain vicious dog” and relegated to the end of a chain or destroyed as a menace to the neighborhood. Since the early 1970s, such excitable and mean behavior has been identified in some dogs as hyperkinesis.

Hyperkinesis is a behavioral condition that is described as “a hyper behavior that is treatable with stimulants.” by Bonnie V. Beaver, in The Veterinarian’s Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior. Lack of accurate information from dog owners exists regarding this condition, probably because it has recently been given a new label which is “attention deficit disorder.” While ADD, as it is termed, may describe certain aspects of the readily observable behavior of a hyperkinetic dog, it lacks the physiologic symptoms which can be described and measured.

Signs associated with hyperkinesis in dogs are usually displayed when the dog is stressed by close confinement and/or social isolation. Signs include rapid heart rate and respiration, excessive salivation, a high metabolic rate, and reduced urine output. The major difficulty in identifying the syndrome, however, is that there is no apparent cause. Clinical signs may be evident in dogs that are normal in other circumstances. In addition, dogs identified as hyperkinetic do not always exhibit the same behavior patterns or physical symptoms.

Initial symptoms of this problem falls into the following categories: the dog cannot sit still, even for a minute; he never becomes accustomed to everyday situations; he cannot be taught anything (often an obedience school failure); and he salivates constantly and always seems very excited or very nervous. Many experienced, gentle dog owners were bitten, and some of these dogs will viciously attacked other dogs without hesitation, even friendly and docile animals.

In studies designed to evaluate responses to stress, some dogs did not respond to positive reinforcement, and tranquilization were all tried, but did not work.

Typically, such dogs would be eliminated from the study, but because the researchers were interested in the interaction of genetics and psychological environment, they were curious about dogs that appeared unwilling to be studied. Eventually the researchers decided they were dealing with the equivalent of hyperkinetic children.

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A psychosis is defined as a mental disturbance of such degree that there is personality disintegration and loss of contact with reality. The line between neurotic and psychotic behavior is not well defined, even by psychiatrists and psychologists. Two prevailing criteria can be added to the definition of a neurotic dog to describe, for this purpose, a psychotic behavior. These involve circumstances in which the dog’s behavior is dangerous to himself or to the safety of others, and in which the dog appears to be unaware of the behavior during and/or very shortly thereafter his actions.

If only the first criterion were to be applied to biting or self-mutilating dogs, then they would incorrectly be considered psychotic. In fact, many people believe that any biting dog should be labeled as a “psycho” and destroyed immediately, regardless of the circumstances. On the other hand, if the second element applies, and the dog is unaware of his behavior, it would seem reasonable to apply the psychotic label. The dog that appears to have withdrawn from reality or suffers episodes of withdrawal could be either psychotic or physically ill. If the behavior fits the basic neurotic model and is also in some way harmful to life or well-being, then the animal may be psychotic, if otherwise healthy.

Dogs that are defined as psychotic have included the following symptoms: Dogs that suffer “avalanches” of rage for no clinical reasons and do not respond to external stimuli; manic-depressive animals that vacillate between depression and wild activity; and depressed dogs that fail to respond even to powerful stimuli, such as hunger, as when dogs starve to death in the presence of food. These cases have been seen in pet dogs as well as laboratory animals. The rage and manic-depressive states occur mainly in excitable types, whereas depression usually occurs in those with inhibitive tendencies. Some notable factors in the medical histories of apparently psychotic pet dogs are listed below.

* Early distemper (before 3 months of age).
* Serious parasitic infection (before 6 months of age).
* Severe beatings.
* Accidental injury, especially to the spine and/or head.
* Accidental drug overdose.
* Prolonged corticosteroid or other drug therapy.
* Diabetes
* Extreme psychic trauma.

The underlying physical problems are rarely, if ever, investigated with the same dedication applied to humans with similar conditions. As a result, the dogs are generally destroyed, which solves the owner’s immediate problem, but offers no progress toward understanding of the problem’s causes.

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