Behaviour that leaves pet owners baffled

He had four other canine pets and could not fathom the whereabouts of this particular individual considering they were all confined to a very secure, large walled-in property. He was advised to observe very closely the remainder of the dog pack to determine if there were any clues which may reveal a change in behaviour patterns.

After monitoring the dogs from a window he found his Jack Russell Terrier repetitively running to the far end of the garden and kicking up leaves behind a very large oak tree.

When he went out to examine the site of this activity he got a shock. He swept away a pile of leaves that looked more obvious and numerous, only to find that his old Schipperke had been mauled to death and dug into a shallow grave. The Jack Russell was constantly covering the carcass with leaves as most carnivores would bury a cache of food – and as one would expect any dog to behave if it was burying a bone for later consumption.

A Rottweiler pictured at a dog show in Ahmedabad, India on November 8, 2009. AFP

A Rottweiler was confined to a small section on the property of a semi-detached house in a middle-class suburb. This consisted of the driveway and a connecting backyard with a small rectangular patch of lawn. The driveway was paved and the wall adjoining the neighbours was precast. The entire house, externally, was painted a bright white, which required people to wear sunglasses on a cloudless summer day. This dog used to walk along the precast wall, licking off the paint and the plaster. The pattern was repetitive, obsessive and rhythmic.

This continued until the dog had licked a groove along the entire length of the wall from the gate to the garage, until it had the appearance of someone having grouted the wall at the level of the dog’s mouth. The owner thought the dog was lacking minerals and only detected the damage to the wall after a lengthy period of time. By then the dog had ulcerated its tongue and caused excessive scarring. The dog had a glazed expression, was constantly panting and salivating from this exhaustive and painful activity carried out only when no one was in residence.

The release of endorphins in this dog’s brain must have given it sufficient self-gratification to override the discomfort of its tongue. The owner thought the dog was being spiteful but this bizarre behaviour was an expression of stress and claustrophobia by an intelligent working dog existing in a deprived unstimulating environment. While many dogs suffer the same frustration of imprisonment and depravity this is the only individual that has been reported to have licked walls as a displaced behaviour and chronic dementia.

Explaining these behaviours in domestic dogs may have simple instinctive reasons and answers but, in initial presentation, these are highly unusual and open to serious “psychological” debate.