Behavioral Pathology and Food

4. Behavioral Pathology and Food

Relational Problems

The concept of dietary behavior ritualization enables us to understand the development of relationships in relation to food for the domesticated dog. The ritual must be understood as an essential part of the dog's relationship with the master. To retain contact with our remote friends and acquaintances, at least once a year we succumb to the ritual of sending a greeting card.

The prevalence of rituals increases when the master-dog relationship is weakened and the dog will spontaneously initiate symbolic behavioral sequences. At a certain level, this increase becomes pathological attention-seeking behavior (Overall, 1997).

Dietary rituals are clearly involved and the animal may adopt dietary behavior that is contrary to its primary needs (hunger and satiation). The animal may eat even though it is satiated to show its position or to accomplish a ritual act. On the other hand, it may refuse to eat if the circumstances no longer correspond to a ritualized act (Houpt, 1991). These behaviors are governed by strong motivations and are not easy to change. Denouncing them will not be enough to eliminate them. They express the deep unease of the dog, the master and their relationship (Beaumont et al., 2003).

Anxiety and Displacement Activity

The animal may become anxious due to relational problems or other reasons. The condition will lead the dog to want to be assuaged more than a normal animal and it will seek to maximize its contacts with its owners (it may be impossible to leave the dog alone). The need for contact (secondary hyper-attachment) may leave the animal unable to feed itself if its masters are no longer present (it will eventually die of starvation). Furthermore, an anxious animal will attempt to regain its emotional stability through repetitive rituals ad infinitum.

Bulimic behavior in a dog may be an expression of anxiety. Eating may have become a displacement activity. (© Renner).

Unfortunately, such automatic excessive behaviors (stereotypes) lose their primary function and especially their comforting power. Only a considerable increase in number can compensate for the loss of this function. The ritualized sequence gradually becomes displacement activity.

If feeding is part of the behavior adopted by the dog to regain a calm attitude, disproportional ingestion and a spectacular weight gain can be expected.

Such behavior cannot be eliminated without specific etiological treatment (antidepressant and restoration of a socially-adapted environment).

An active Golden Retriever. Recreational therapy is part of the treatment of dietary behavior problems. The goal is to increase exploration activity to create a positive emotional context. (© Bouschka).

Sick Animals

Owners often tend to wrongly interpret their animal's lack of appetite as a sign of developing illness and encourage the dog to eat even though it is in good health.

It is true that a sick animal - especially one with a fever - will typically lose its appetite. This behavior has been described as an adaptive response (Hart, 1990 & 1991). Interleukin will play a role in the sick animal's demotivated behavior (Dantzer, 1999). Conversely, it is not sufficient to explain a clear lack of motivation to eat without a visible organic cause by saying that the disease is behavioral. Such a default diagnostic often leads to unproductive treatments.

Satiation Problems

The dog's relationship with its owner is not the source of all behavioral diseases. Some dogs are abnormally adapted or may even be suffering from an illness. Some of these conditions are expressed through satiation problems.

Two-Phase Hypersensibility-Hyperactivity Syndrome (HSHA)

In the worst cases, hypersensibility-hyperactivity or a lack of self-control is accompanied by a lack of satiation. The animal becomes unable to adapt its behavior to the internal messages it receives. The sight of food triggers feeding and the sight of water triggers drinking. The dog only stops when he is incapable of continuing or when a more inspiring event attracts its attention (Pageat, 1995).

These dogs are seldom obese, because they expend more energy than healthy dogs. They are often insomniacs and their hypersensitivity leads them to react to stimulation with great energy. Their dietary needs are generally not at all consistent with the recommendations of manufacturers of commercial foods, which are not geared to such energy expenditure.

This disorder rarely resolves without treatment. Anxiety ultimately develops, modifying the initial clinical presentation (Dehasse, 1996). These animals have difficulties learning. It is fairly uncommon for dietary rituals to be established in the master-dog relationship here.

Primary and secondary dissocialization

Dissocialization is the result of bad developmental conditions (Muller, 2000). This disorder can be primary when it is the consequence of major initial deficiencies and it can be secondary when it is due to unfavorable early and late conditions (Arpaillange, 2000).

Patients present various symptoms, which boil down to a poor or even non-existent knowledge of canine social rules. For these dogs, of course, dietary rituals are absent or frustrating. The desired food is consumed and every obstacle against satisfying this craving is fought against. These dogs are sometimes capable of jumping on the table to steal their master's plate. This condition has a wide spectrum of severity, from very poor education to the most violent psychotic behavior.

Knowing that such behavioral disorders exists can help the practitioner to show greater patience in helping to deal with the difficult issues. (© Psaila).

Depression

Emotional problems can sometimes bring about mood disorders. The best known is depression, which can be acute or chronic in dogs. The distinction between these two forms is centered on appetite and sleep. There would appear to be a correlation between the two. In a chronic depression, sleep increases while feeding decreases (Habran, 1998). An irregular appetite may be the first sign of this chronic form. The acute form is more alarming: the dog stops eating and sleeps excessively. In puppies it represents an emergency.

Conclusion

The study of dietary behavior goes well beyond the confines of nutrition. Conversely, you cannot hope to come to grips with canine nutrition without a good knowledge of the psychological value of food and meals, for both humans and dogs.

Clinicians that deal with problems of dietary behavior must consider the elements of behavior to be symptoms of disease. The consultation is used to identify the food-related symptoms and other components to arrive at a systematic description of the disease.

The prescription depends on the disease, and incorporates every etiological aspect of it. An exclusively symptomatic prescription will not have the same impact. If it is to be effective, nutrition alone can target only some of the problems of dietary behavior and the prescription must include all psychological and organic aspects.