A real behavior problem.

[judgemenot]

I have a problem dog that I'm working with from Brother Wolf Rescue. The dog is a Basset/Black Lab mix named Indy. He is 3 years old. The dog has had his tail removed, possibly in a questionable manor. Not sure on that one.
So the dog has a pretty good demeanor about him. He is very sweet and loves attn. Great with other dogs, good with people. Not too submissive and no dom showing.
Heres where it gets weird: He chaces the ghost tail. He is vicious enough about it that you might get you hand bit if it were anywhere near. He goes at it with incredible passion and scares many of the folks that have previously adopted him. I have noticed that he seems to do it only when he is being given things or rewarded. Other than those times he also goes at it pretty hard in the crate so if he's in the house you not getting any sleep.
The last person that adopted this pup was a Vet who dopped him up with valume and took him back within 6 hrs! Cmon! A damn Vet!

So I think this is a very good thread to get the pro's in here with their thoughts. Don't be scared!

[Jerry L. Lyda]

This is a compulsive disorder. That is why the tail was cut off by whoever had him before. They possibly hoped that this would get him to stop. I could be wrong here but I bet I'm not.

[judgemenot]

Could have been the reason they took it. He can control the behavior though so I believe its just something he started for whatever reason and can extinct. I watched him a few days and he would stop when told to. When I put a dummy remote collar on him he cut it out completely, (which also told me someone used the collar before). Im sure with enough time and redirection he should habit out of it. Giving him strong OB will do most of the work. When he came a week ago he was doing it every 5 minutes. When I let him in off the collar now, he dosn't start for several hours.

[Jerry L. Lyda]

It's kind of like Dog agression or people agression in a dog, you can control it while you're with him but never when you're not with him. That's why it's important in dog training to train correctlly for if he learns bad habits he will always revert back to those when a problem arises. If this dog sees anything as a problem or something he's not sure of, he will chase a tail that is not there. He chased the tail before he lost it because it was there and he had a way to relase stress.

[judgemenot]

Well actually in this case I am able to control it even though I'm not there, with a bark collar as he growls and get the stim. So the plan is to create better habits and diminish this one in the six weeks.

[Jerry L. Lyda]

I wish you luck, let us know how it turns out.