Can dogs have a form of autism .................. the reason I am asking is we have 2 dogs who seem to be over sensitivity to sounds, touch, smells, light, altered routines, just like my ex sister in-law's daughter is who as autism. We are having the drives, footpaths & car-park resurface at the rescue home, but we are having problems with the 2 dogs who don't like having their routines changed, hate any noise, certain smells upset them & they don't like being touched unless they can see your hand first, they are George a beautiful Mastiff & Hetti a lovely Collie Mix. They went on their normal routine walkies this morning, but while they were on their walkies the heavy machinery arrived & parked up half on the "in" path to the dogs kennels, so they at to returned back to their kennels using the "out" path, but both dogs stopped dead & refused to come back down the "out" path, they also refused to walk down the "in" path because of the heavy machinery had their orange flashing lights on, we at to get both dogs in the van to bring them back to the kennels, again both dogs kicked off as it was not in their normal routine. So I am wondering if dogs can have some form of autism, George will jump & looks startled if he burps & Hetti will looked wide eyed & frighten if you jingle the kennel keys.
I would think it is possible yes, Tina. What are the dogs backgrounds? The formative few weeks are really important - if the dogs had little to no socialisation in that time they could well be very nervous around such things..
Well George was handed in to a rescue home up in Scotland, because he was no good as a guard dog since then he been rehomed several times but always escaped & made his way back to the rescue home he was adopted from, he came to us after being on death row. Hetti well she's a different story she was a working farm dog, but she attacked some of the sheep when she was around 2 years old, she was turfed out by the farmer & picked up by dog warden, she came to us from another rescue home in Lincolnshire. Both dogs love playing with other dogs, but they are very shy when it comes to humans & don't like being fussed over, but once they get to know you then they are very loving, we have a family room/ kitchen at the home were we assess the dogs, both tried to hide as soon as washing machine, hoover started, when the tv was switched on, even the ping from the microwave made both jump & run to get under sofa, we bring them in regularly to try to get them use to the noises from the family room/kitchen, but its the same each time, we tried having them in the reception area but that was too much for George he started panting heavily spinning round in circles & his eyes were getting wide, so we removed him & stayed with him in his kennel until he had settled back down again.
They sound really nurvouse to me. We get dogs like this at work some times and phoebe is a very nervy dog. Cant handle change very well. We walk the same walk 3 times a day (zzzz) a few weeks ago the school put a new banner on the fence that spoiled our walks for a few days. Bin day is murder as she cant handle the sudden appearance of all the bins. A house had a huge flag up during the olympics and she was terrified of it and still isnt happy about walking past. In our old village we had to cross the road when we got to the working mens club as she wouldnt walk past and i always said it was the smell of the beer. When i got my new car was fun as she refused to get in and i can hardly lift her in so spent about an hour running round the carpark taking run ups at the car till she finally jumped in. She dosnt like change atall even if i move furniture around. Ive accepted all this so phoebe lives a very regimented life. At the kennels she has the exact same kennel every time even if they have to move another dog a she cant cope going any where else. Took weeks to get her used to staff so no new staff are allowed to handle her. Basically any change no matter how small upsets her right down to the time i changed washing powder. When shes already upset she becomes hyper sensitive so things that normally dont bother her will do and shes really jumpy. They sound just like i would expect phoebe to be in that situation.
Yes sounds like George anything new he can't stand, as to be same routine day in day out, he acts just like my ex sister in -law daughter who as autism, so is there's such a thing as autism in dogs or are they just plain nervous dogs ?
