My newest foster Gertrude...ha ha ha!

So I swapped fosters with the girl who took Elmer, he was doing really well there and her pugs did not have an issue with hm so I now have Gertrude the pug they were fostering.


She is a itty bitty thing, sweet as they come but has OCD, she is in circle mood a lot.
We had a rough start when I brought her home last night but things have gotten a lot better.
I'm not sure how to help her with her circling, any suggestions would be helpful..
My husband is in the other room right now chatting with her so I think she will work out just fine.

Oh she's darling! I'm glad that a switch was able to solve things for you. I suspect it won't be long before she finds a forever home! Give her a hug for me.

she is cute! I hope Elmer is feeling better too.

with her circling - maybe a distraction will work. does she like something to chew one? a toy to play with, etc.

when mine start their OCD patterns (licking, etc.), I can many times stop it by just calling their name, and many times I tell them "thank you" LOL

OMG she is so cute. Love the tongue.

TxAllieGrl wrote:she is cute! I hope Elmer is feeling better too.

with her circling - maybe a distraction will work. does she like something to chew one? a toy to play with, etc.

when mine start their OCD patterns (licking, etc.), I can many times stop it by just calling their name, and many times I tell them "thank you" LOL

Yes, Elmer is feeling much better thank you, I'm so glad things worked out. I was at a breaking point last week.

She will stop if I pick her up but I read not to do that. Right now she is very happily resting in her crate, she took over Viv's so I just put another crate in the same room and they are both very happy now.
She is super sweet, she will be another one that will be hard to part with and I have only had her for a day.

She's really cute. I am glad Elmer is doing better too!

Was she a puppy mill dog? Or just always had the OCD?

what a pretty girl! I'm so glad you worked things out.

I found that the more tired they were the less they did the behavior. Use toys that they have to think about to keep their minds busy. Kongs, stuff like that.

She's so cute - what a sweet face!

She's darling. The circling is not necessarily OCD. In some dogs it is a sign of stress, boredom or an inability to channel that energy into play. IF she is a puppy mill girl, then the circling is behavioural from spending too much time caged.

Amanda's Lucy used to circle alot, I think.

What a darling, and I love her little face. I don't have any advice on the circling. My Tobey is OCD and licks constantly. We just tell her to cut it out, and she does...for a while.

Saira wrote:She's really cute. I am glad Elmer is doing better too!

Was she a puppy mill dog? Or just always had the OCD?

She is a puppy mill girl.
I'm thinking it's anxiety, she was a bit worse when she was at her other foster home because they had 5 pugs, she is a tiny bit better here. I've tried to get her to play with toys with little success or run her around the yard a bit but she just wants to circle.
When I settled down for the night she was able to hang out w/ me on the futon and relax.

She has such a sweet face! I have a feeling that she will settle down with some tincture of time. I so admire you for fostering - no way could I do it with Ms. Thang.

northernwitch wrote:She's darling. The circling is not necessarily OCD. In some dogs it is a sign of stress, boredom or an inability to channel that energy into play. IF she is a puppy mill girl, then the circling is behavioural from spending too much time caged.

Amanda's Lucy used to circle alot, I think.

Lucy still circles but she's a lot better than she used to be. We've tried lots of things for her and have come to the conclusion that it's something behavioral that started with her at a very young age (from being caged too much) and I don't think we're ever going to break it completely.

Did she circle in the first foster home or is it new behavior since she's been at your house?

Gertrude is indeed a cutie. How old is she? I hope she will settle in nicely and learn to do less circling.

Amanda wrote:

northernwitch wrote:She's darling. The circling is not necessarily OCD. In some dogs it is a sign of stress, boredom or an inability to channel that energy into play. IF she is a puppy mill girl, then the circling is behavioural from spending too much time caged.

Amanda's Lucy used to circle alot, I think.

Lucy still circles but she's a lot better than she used to be. We've tried lots of things for her and have come to the conclusion that it's something behavioral that started with her at a very young age (from being caged too much) and I don't think we're ever going to break it completely.

Did she circle in the first foster home or is it new behavior since she's been at your house?

Amanda: you must have missed this from Donna's last post:

She is a puppy mill girl.
I'm thinking it's anxiety, she was a bit
worse when she was at her other foster home because they had 5 pugs,
she is a tiny bit better here. I've tried to get her to play with toys
with little success or run her around the yard a bit but she just wants
to circle.
When I settled down for the night she was able to hang out w/ me on the futon and relax.

northernwitch wrote:

Amanda wrote:

northernwitch wrote:She's darling. The circling is not necessarily OCD. In some dogs it is a sign of stress, boredom or an inability to channel that energy into play. IF she is a puppy mill girl, then the circling is behavioural from spending too much time caged.

Amanda's Lucy used to circle alot, I think.

Lucy still circles but she's a lot better than she used to be. We've tried lots of things for her and have come to the conclusion that it's something behavioral that started with her at a very young age (from being caged too much) and I don't think we're ever going to break it completely.

Did she circle in the first foster home or is it new behavior since she's been at your house?

Amanda: you must have missed this from Donna's last post:

She is a puppy mill girl.
I'm thinking it's anxiety, she was a bit
worse when she was at her other foster home because they had 5 pugs,
she is a tiny bit better here. I've tried to get her to play with toys
with little success or run her around the yard a bit but she just wants
to circle.
When I settled down for the night she was able to hang out w/ me on the futon and relax.

Yes, I did. Sorry. The first night or two, Lucy paced/circled pretty much all night but then, even though she circled a lot during the day, she was able to settle down at night and sleep fine. Now she can settle on her own just fine for the most part but is easily "set off" if one of us gets up, or she hears something outside, etc. Then she spins.

I see this alot with the puppy mill girls. It's like the tigers pacing the cages in the old style zoos. Same cause.

I've posted an article in the medical and well being section on rehabbing the puppy mill dog. Worth reading although it's overly focused on excreting, I think.

[quote="Amanda"]

northernwitch wrote:

Amanda wrote:

northernwitch wrote:

.

Yes, I did. Sorry. The first night or two, Lucy paced/circled pretty much all night but then, even though she circled a lot during the day, she was able to settle down at night and sleep fine. Now she can settle on her own just fine for the most part but is easily "set off" if one of us gets up, or she hears something outside, etc. Then she spins.

This is only the 2nd full day but she does seem just a tad better, she has triggers that will also set her off.
I do have her crated by the side of my bed at night, she is very happy to sleep thru the night, the min I let her out she starts to circle, then when we go outside to go potty she will do very large circles, then again if someone in the room gets up, so it seems to be any change in the immediate environment will set her circling.
I don't know if this is something that will ever be broken, I just fear that whom ever adopts her won't be able to deal with it and will return her, but luckily for her she is very sweet ,cute and loves to cuddle so that will be in her favor.

You just have to make extra sure that they understand why she circles and what helps and what doesn't. I'm VERY careful with the puppy mill girls and make extra sure that the adopters understand the trauma and the significant loss of major developmental steps in mill dogs lives.

Most make remarkable progress with time, love and very gentle handling.