BehavioRx Case of the Month
for August 2002

A Fearful Puppy

The client, a 24 year-old single gentleman, arrived carrying his 7 month-old male, intact Lhasa Apso. The complaint was extreme fearfulness of new people, places and objects, such as garbage cans at the curb, etc. He had obtained "Petey" as a 7 week-old from a little of 4 puppies. Petey seemed outgoing and quite a happy puppy. He was quite active as he matured, but at about 5 months of age he started acting "needy" toward George, his owner. He showed this behavior at our facilities: When George put him on the floor, Petey retreated under George's chair and refused to come out when I knelt down to say hello, or when George called him. George was particularly upset because Petey refused to make friends with his new girl friend.

When Petey first started showing extreme shyness, George said he used to scold him and physically carry him to people. Petey reacted by yelping, as if he were being physically hurt.

Petey had been easy to housetrain and had quickly learned to use a doggy door to the back yard. I asked how George played with Petey and what he had taught him. The dog came when called around the house and yard and learned to sit on command. He was always on a leash when off the property.

I asked George to accompany me across our training area so we might see what Petey would do. We hadn't gone 20 steps before Petey was at George's side, the side away from me. We then sat down on the ground and Petey hopped into George's lap. I then got a tennis ball from my pocket, walked away and bounced it slowly toward George and Petey. When the ball got within a couple of feet of them, Petey turned away and buried his head in George's stomach.

I then asked George what he thought we were witnessing, to which he replied, "I think he's scared to death of just about everything."

"But why?" I asked.

"He acts like he's about blind," George opened.

"George, I think you're about right. Let's get him examined by the doctor and see what turns up."

Two weeks later George phoned to say that the veterinary examinations (including brain x-rays) had diagnosed a condition called "occipital aplasia," that is, the part
of his brain devoted to vision had not developed fully. Testing indicated that Petey had little, or no, tunnel vision... only peripheral vision. That was the bad news.
The good news was that George wanted to enroll with his girlfriend in a 6 week remedial behavior program. The great news was that Petey and his new family lived
happily for many years.

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