I have a female westie, 8 month old, and she is completely obsessed with shadows. My husband and I have tried to distract her by playing retrieve or just playing ball but to no avail. She is not even interested in her favorite treats. It is as if she is hyponized by those shadows that she sees. I have tried to show her what they really are but she does not pay attention whatsoever when she is in that state. I have been told that we should just completely ignore her but it is quite difficult as it becomes more and more annoying. The only way to get rid of all shadows here would be to shut off all of the lights in the house and that is not really interesting for us. So what should we do? Is this a phase that she will grow out of? It started about 3 weeks ago and seems to be getting only worst. We are worried about this behavior.

Thanks.
France
France@entouch.net

From memory. Didn't Jan Fennell deal with a similar problem in her TV programme? Maybe you could have a look in her book (The Dog Listener) in your local library and see if her suggested techniques help.

I think the general gist was ignore the dog when it reacts to shadows and praise it when it has stopped and is calm again.

HI there

I don't know a huge amount about this, but I agree with the advice of ignoring her, as it may,just may, be due to attention seeking. (Make sure she has lots of toys and chews, though :) )

However, from the way you have described her beaviour, there is a possibility that she has, or is developing, obsessive compulsive disorder, which may need more expert advice. For me, the first step would be the vet, and depending on what he or she thinks, you may then need to be referred to an experienced and reputable behaviourist.

Some breeds are prone to chasing shadows and becoming obsessed with them, but I haven't heard of it in Westie's before.

Good luck anyway :)

Lindsay

Thanks to all for your replies.

My husband and I are both trying hard to just ignore Molly. Lord knows she does get plenty of attention when we are around and we are around a lot. Anyway, last night she seemed to be a bit better. Let's just say that her "hypnotized state" did not seem to be as long as usual and we were able to distract her and play ball and have some fun with her although every so often she would kind of stop to have a look at them shadows. She was quiet about them though.... just looking and checking them out and then would return to playing ball with us or come and kiss us. In any case, we will try to just ignore this for a while and praise her a lot when she is with us. If that does not work we will have to look for a specialist as my vet told me that terriers are prone to becoming obsessive.... vet told us to indeed try that ignoring her technique so we will keep it up for now hoping that she gets better. Just wanted to thank you all for your help.

Thanks again.
France

If it was the westie on the tv programme, Jan Fennel didn't actually cure it! The owner did using her methods - allegedly.

Helen

Hi all, I can remember the Jan Fennell prog on tv, but can't remember the westie, there was a springer who was obsessed with chasing light beams, I think its covered in her second book 'the practical dog listener'. julie:)

I have a dog with an OCD and there is a very good article in the November issue of 'Your Dog' Magazine that addresses stereotypical behaviour. It might be worth a read for you.

Sorry, I meant the December issue of Your Dog.