Gun Dog Forum

I went and looked at a vizsla that is being surrendered to rescue on Sat. The owner's had told me that the dog had staring spells and would stare at spots on the wall. My first thought was maybe he was having a small seizure but if the dog could be called out of the spells, then it couldn't be it. I asked if the dog had messed with a laser pointer and originally they told me no. When I met the dog, he was frantically looking for a flash of light. I could tell immediately that they messed with this dog using a laser pointer. I asked them again, and they admitted that sometimes the kids did, but they put a stop to it.
Poor dog is going to take some work to break that, as he is constantly looking for flashes of light and a little red dot. He can't settle in.

Has anyone had any experience with dogs having these issues and how did you guys break them of this? Can you? It really has become an OCD issue. I personally feel like it is going to take a lot of work, exercise and trying to find something to redirect his energy. Thoughts?
Man I hate those "bleep" things.

????

I think you know the remedy......... It starts with a "B".

topher40 wrote:I think you know the remedy......... It starts with a "B".

Beating?
Boarding?
Boxing?

Humor those of us who don't know the answer?

Keep fisching and guessing. Seems pretty simple to everyone that has raised dogs.

Neil wrote:????

Laser pointers - Some people would take those little laser pointers and shine a little red dot on the walls and the ceiling. I guess they took delight in watching their dogs chase around this little red dot.
People would use them in presentations sometimes to point out things in their presentations?

These are some examples.

http://www.amazon.com/pointer-laser-poi ... ode=229183

Anyways, this dog is constantly looking around the ceilings and walls for flashes of light, looking for this little red dot. Kroll, that's not an option. Sorry!

The question marks were to question how the laser caused the problem you describe.

I can't grasp how a little red dot bouncing around a room would induce psychotic behavior.

I think there may be another cause.

Did a Google. Seems Petsmart sells the for that purpose, Cesar Milan thinks they are good for exercise. There are a couple articles, like the one from Huffington Post, that proclaim they are evil. But nothing from dog folks that is negative.

But to cure the problem, give him an outside job.

topher40 wrote:Keep fisching and guessing. Seems pretty simple to everyone that has raised dogs.

I'm sorry topher... I must be a slow learner... raised dogs all my life but I don't follow you... please enlighten the less knowledgeable ones here...

V-John... I think like any other problem, patience and a good training atmosphere. The dog needs something to work on. Birds will cure just about anythi... wait... topher... is that it??? B-I-R-D-S!!! LOL!

No doubt... my current EP was an 8 month old mess!.. get the dog on some birds and be patient. Very soft.

Good luck!

Neil wrote:The question marks were to question how the laser caused the problem you describe.

I can't grasp how a little red dot bouncing around a room would induce psychotic behavior.

I think there may be another cause.

When I walked into the vet's office, the dog was staring at the wall. The owners called him out of it, and he started looking at the walls again, the ceiling. He started staring again. They called him out of it. Its not seizure activity. The dog is looking for something. Flashes of light. The owners told me that if they pull tin foil out he is chasing that flash of light on the walls too. While we were inside the dog was frantically looking around everywhere. Outside, the dog was ok.

V-John wrote:

Neil wrote:The question marks were to question how the laser caused the problem you describe.

I can't grasp how a little red dot bouncing around a room would induce psychotic behavior.

I think there may be another cause.

When I walked into the vet's office, the dog was staring at the wall. The owners called him out of it, and he started looking at the walls again, the ceiling. He started staring again. They called him out of it. Its not seizure activity. The dog is looking for something. Flashes of light. The owners told me that if they pull tin foil out he is chasing that flash of light on the walls too. While we were inside the dog was frantically looking around everywhere. Outside, the dog was ok.

My pup does this as well, we haven't done anything with a laser pointer. She will see the light off our cell phones or dust in the sun. She will point the things she can't "catch". I don't really think anything of it, keeps her busy. The good news is that it worked out great when we went dove hutning. She had the same look in her eye when birds were flying because she was locked in, she had great marks and did some 50+ yard retrieves.

Try redirecting to retrieving. You might also try a Click to Calm type program to get the dog focused on doing something else.

SHORTFAT wrote:

topher40 wrote:Keep fisching and guessing. Seems pretty simple to everyone that has raised dogs.

I'm sorry topher... I must be a slow learner... raised dogs all my life but I don't follow you... please enlighten the less knowledgeable ones here...

V-John... I think like any other problem, patience and a good training atmosphere. The dog needs something to work on. Birds will cure just about anythi... wait... topher... is that it??? B-I-R-D-S!!! LOL!

No doubt... my current EP was an 8 month old mess!.. get the dog on some birds and be patient. Very soft.

Good luck!

B as in bullet.

Cajun Casey wrote:

SHORTFAT wrote:

topher40 wrote:Keep fisching and guessing. Seems pretty simple to everyone that has raised dogs.

I'm sorry topher... I must be a slow learner... raised dogs all my life but I don't follow you... please enlighten the less knowledgeable ones here...

V-John... I think like any other problem, patience and a good training atmosphere. The dog needs something to work on. Birds will cure just about anythi... wait... topher... is that it??? B-I-R-D-S!!! LOL!

No doubt... my current EP was an 8 month old mess!.. get the dog on some birds and be patient. Very soft.

Good luck!

B as in bullet.

Thats the dumbest thing I have seen posted on a K9 forum.

Brazosvalleyvizslas wrote:

Cajun Casey wrote:

SHORTFAT wrote: I'm sorry topher... I must be a slow learner... raised dogs all my life but I don't follow you... please enlighten the less knowledgeable ones here...

V-John... I think like any other problem, patience and a good training atmosphere. The dog needs something to work on. Birds will cure just about anythi... wait... topher... is that it??? B-I-R-D-S!!! LOL!

No doubt... my current EP was an 8 month old mess!.. get the dog on some birds and be patient. Very soft.

Good luck!

B as in bullet.

Thats the dumbest thing I have seen posted on a K9 forum.

You must be new to this forum thing...

Just submitting my guess in the What Does B Stand For game.....

Cajun Casey wrote:Just submitting my guess in the What Does B Stand For game.....

Gotcha. I was directing my comment toward the bigger picture in case you are right in what the "B" means.

It depends on what you expect out of the dog. Mine was a cull. She would have never made it in trials and she is not what you want for the breed standard. I would not have blamed the breeder for putting her down. But I was looking for a family pet that will go hunting with us in the fall... with some work and patience, she fits the bill nicely... neither "B" answers are completely wrong depending on the dog and what you want out of it. As to the OP's original question... I think birds will turn the dog around to a workable hunting companion...

First I wonder why the dog was re-homed?

The laser pointer is most likely just a symptom of the way the dog was treated. If they didn't know the laser pointer was a bad thing why would they not do it?

I am going to take a guess and say that B stands for Birds.

The dog is a bird dog and I have to think at this stage of the game the dog has only been around the laser pointer. It's genetically wired to hunt, stalk and point.

The dog's senses kick in at the light flash tell him that the light is his objective. With bird work I would believe that the dog will lose a majority of this behavior. It just doesn't know what it is feeling is supposed to be related to birds.

You have a dog that has been moved to a new environment. One that does not have laser pointers flying around the wall for an hour a day. Give it time and get the dog on some birds.

Some vets will prescribe medications but if I were you I would not do this. It will just mask symptoms and not cure the problems.

You might try a BLUE Kong, also, to redirect. We know dogs can see blue and are attracted to it over red through research.

Funny, there was a Dog Whisperer show lastnight about a couple that trains and works shepards for rescue work, who had a couple shepards that were obsessed with shadows. They claimed that it started when they started using a laser pointer to tease and play with the dogs. Essentially, the fix Caesar recommended was redirecting the dogs focus by corrections and different activities.

Keep the dog in an outside kennel with plenty of sunlight and exercise, training and attention.
Never let anyone around him with a laser, and try not to shine a flashlight around him.

Over the years when our kids were young they would play red dot with some of my wife's house dogs, dachshunds, yorkies, etc, and they would behave the same was as you are describing. But after a while of no red dot they would settle down and forget about it. You just need to get your dog to focus on birds and people, and no flashes of light. He should be fine, just remove the distraction and the dog will be alright.