BehavioRx Case of the Month
for September 1997

The Poodle with the Chronic Cough
Or... when is reinforcing an unwanted behavior causing the problem?
And... when can reinforcing treatment cure the problem?

The 77 year-old owner of a 3 year-old spayed female miniature Poodle, Penelope, went to the veterinarian because the dog spent most of its waking hours coughing. The veterinarian thoroughly examined the dog, took all sorts of blood tests, and after several weeks, even anesthetized the dog and observed the lungs with a bronchoscope. No physical signs of illness.

Serendipity enters this case, which was related to me by a good friend and surgeon who assisted the veterinarian in brochoscoping Penelope. It seems that the problem developed because, when the dog first started coughing, the owner would stop whatever she was doing, pick her up and speak soothingly. It only took a couple these experiences before the Penelope learned a neat way to get all sorts of attention whenever she wanted it. However, after preliminary exams and blood tests showed no illness, the coughing was beginning to irritate the owner. Even when she quit positively reinforcing it and ignored the dog, the cough persisted.

My surgeon, a horseman with little behavioral training, but lots of human savvy, offered advice was intuitively right on target. He asked the veterinarian to tell the owner that her dog may actually be cold. She should get a doggy sweater and put it on. It was August and hot in Southern California at the time. The owner was advised to take off the sweater each time the coughing stopped. The problem was resolved in two days.

The serendipity in the case is that, just by chance, Penelope disliked having to wear a sweater. She had never before worn one. We have successfully used other mildly aversive, or obnoxious, stimuli in many cases, especially with pesky dogs. None of these involve pain. The first case we heard of was from Don Arner, editor of OFF-LEAD magazine, who told of a clever German Shepherd owner whose dog pestered him to get up and feed him an hour early after the clock had been set back in the fall. He put the nail clippers under his pillow upon retiring for the night. Next morning, when the dog woke him with a paw to the cheek, which he countered by grabbing it and clipping a single nail. Problem solved.

Previous Cases

August 1997
July 1997
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April 1997
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February 1997
January 1997
December 1996
November 1996
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