BehavioRx Case of the Month
for May 1997

A Hyperkinetic Dog

The family arrived with their 150 lbs plus of 2 year old male Great Dane towing the 160 lb, 16 year old son. The kid didn't stand a chance - "Nicker" didn't even seem to notice he was hauling the load and choking at the same time; all he wanted was to get to me and smell my face. He was also slobbering great gobs of saliva on my shirt.

Hyperkinetic means "excessive movement" and Nicker was a classic example of a dog that just didn't seem to be able to control his physical activity. Also, he didn't seem able to pay attention to any single thing for more than a few seconds after he had investigated it. As a result, after he sniffed me he was off to inspect the base of our Black Walnut tree, which probably reeked of urine from a few hundred other dogs.

The family got Nicker as a 7 week old pup. They chose him exactly because he was so active and seemed so regal and confident compared with his litter mates. A scant week later, they realized they had a real one-off; Nicker never seemed to slow down. He had two speeds - all-out and sound asleep. At 4 months he broke a toe on a sprinkler head and had to be placed forcibly into a small, cramped cage to curtail his movement so the toe could heal. While the therapy was successful, the stress in Nicker built steadily. When he was free again, he was nearly uncontrollable.

Nicker didn't survive his hyperkinesis because Professor Samuel Corson's work in the Department of Bio-Psychiarty at Ohio State University with hyperkinetic dogs had not yet been published. We were literally ignorant of the condition in dogs. As a result, although Nicker did show some improvement in his aggressive behavior toward dogs, he burst through a locked gate at his home in Los Angeles in hot pursuit of a stray dog and was killed in the street by a speeding car. The next year Corson's work was published and the following recent case is typical of hyperkinetic dog cases since then.

The client phoned the HelpLine about her 3 year old female, spayed, Cocker Spaniel. The dog had been relegated to the basement at night because she wouldn't sleep. Instead, she whined and jumped on the couple's bed with her toys, bugging them to get up and play with her. Since puppyhood the dog had been crated during the daytime to avoid house soiling and the possibility of destructive chewing, a trait she had never shown.

The client's description of "Sally's" general behavior fit that for a candidate for a simple test for hyperkinesis. Some of the symptoms were:

She had learned quickly to sit, but she could not be taught to remain sitting for more than 5-10 seconds unless physically restrained, which always led to a frantic struggle.
She drank very little water for her activity level, compared to normal dogs.
She was constantly moving and easily distracted by ordinary, common sounds and movements that normal dogs would quickly learn to ignore.

Sally's veterinarian administered a simple test in the clinic which confirmed she was, indeed, hyperkinetic. She was administered a minimal dose of Ritalin [which would make any normal dog 'hyper'] and calmed right down within 75 minutes. She allowed the technician to hold her while her respiration and heart rate were recorded, whereas; before the drug dosage, she struggled wildly as her breathing and heart rate went sky high. After taking the drug these rates were near normal levels for a non-hyperkinetic dog.

Sally was a new pet, able to sit quietly, play with her toys normally during the evening, and sleep like a baby in the couple's bedroom at night. She was never crated again during the daytime and, according to reports after several weeks, she never chewed or destroyed anything when left alone while the couple worked. The Ritalin was phased out after 6 weeks, the normal period for medication in such cases.

The client phoned a few months later for advice about obtaining a new puppy, saying they felt Sally needed company. The new puppy, a male, was left alone un-crated in the kitchen and family room with Sally. He was reliably house trained in two weeks.

If you suspect hyperkinesis in your dog, an appointment with the pet's veterinarian may save heartache for you and discomfort for the dog. In the event the doctor doesn't suspect or discover hyperkinesis, other conditions such as food allergies may be the proper diagnosis.

Previous Cases

April 1997
March 1997
February 1997
January 1997
December 1996
November 1996
October 1996

Return to Case of the Month

Return to the BehavioRx Home Page