追尾巴的小黃，你無聊了嗎？

故事可能是這樣開始的…


主人滿心歡喜的把一隻6週齡大的幼犬接回家，不久發現狗狗會追自己的尾巴，並且帶有啃咬的動作．一開始看著狗狗這樣做蠢蠢的很可愛，也覺得應該沒有什麼就好玩吧！沒有多加理會，但隨著狗兒長大，這樣的行為出現的次數越來越頻繁，狗兒對自己尾巴做出的傷害也越來越大，因此主人決定…
A.       用言語或肢體行為嚇阻追尾巴的行為
B.       都咬爛了，是不是要截尾？
C.       找獸醫排除生理及病理上的問題，再尋求行為專科的診斷及治療
狗狗自己應該會選C，可惜，許多人不知道有選項C，所以這追尾巴的問題並沒有被解決．因此，斷了尾的狗繼續追著縮短（無形）的尾巴，被打被罵得狗則是越追越勤快了…WHY???????Orz的主人臉上真的是好幾條線了…

把追尾巴行為定義成因無聊所致，是過於簡化這項行為的嚴重性．重複行為(repetitive behavior)，如追尾巴及來回踱步的行為，經常被研究於受監禁的動物（野生或馴化），而這樣的行為可能源自於貧乏或不適當的環境因素．不過，造成行為問題的病理機制遠比這樣的原因複雜多了，因為造成此行為的主要原因和持續刺激以維持行為產生的機制往往是兩回事．

行為的異常通常是反映出潛藏的生理疾病，見到犬貓追尾的行為時，一般會聯想到舔拭造成的皮膚病(ALD, AcralLick Dermatits)及精神性脫毛(Psychogenic Alopecia)，但造成追尾的病因目前並沒有一種確切的答案；有些認為是特發性的癲癇(IdiopathicEpilepsy)，有些則認為是屬於強迫症(OCD,Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)的一種，同時也不能忽略由疼痛引起，薦椎或尾椎局部性的神經問題（創傷，壓迫，感染等）．除此之外，特定品系的犬種則有較高的發病機率；如牛頭梗，美系斯塔福梗，臘腸犬，柴犬，及德國狼犬．雖然沒有一項研究表示品系和疾病的正相關性，在基因學的研究中則發現一特殊基因座CDH2與側身吸吮的強迫症(canineflank sucking compulsion)有關聯．病理生理學的研究表示，出現追尾行為的個體在腦電波(EEG)的檢查中發現異常腦波，另外，水腦症，或伴有類似癲癇發作(seizure)的腦波則在重度強迫症追尾的個體中發現．

行為也是可以由學習造成，因此不建議對表現重複行為的動物施以打罵．一旦動物發現表現這樣的行為就會得到關注（不論好壞），儘管當初引起此行為是另有原因，在解決原因之後動物有可能會繼續表現這樣的行為．

怎樣知道你的狗貓是否有可能受害於異常追尾的行為？
偶發性的追尾是某些狗狗正常活動時的表現，但當追尾的活動持續數分鐘，每天或每週出現次數頻繁且失控導致自殘使尾部受傷，或伴隨其他怪異的行為，則要考慮為病理性及強迫性的問題．

This may be the scenario…
You brought home a 6-week old puppy and looked forward to enjoyingthe companionship. Raising puppies is joyful; soon you find it amusing when thepup started chasing it tails, along with some biting and chewing on the tail.This probably looks funny and silly and brings laughter to people, and it islikely for owners to assume that dogs are doing it for the sake of fun. As thepuppy grows up, you being to find the behavior disturbing, the frequency oftail chasing has gone up and some damages to the tail has been done…
now…what options do you have?
Is it ?
A.    Use aversive techniques to reframe the dog fromchasing and chewing its own tail
B.    The dog is seeing its own tail as an alien,let’s chop it off
C.    Evaluate possible medical cause, and book yourappointment with a behavior vet

The dog would beg you to choose C, but not many would have theirwishes granted, so you end up with a tailess dog keeps on chasing the invisible/shortened tail,and dog that got harassed for chasing tail never ever thought about quitting…whatis going on?

It is oversimplifying the problem to call it an act derivedfrom boredom, repetitive behavior such as tail chasing and pacing has long beenstudied in confined domesticated and wild animals, it could be originated frompoor conditioned and inappropriate environments. However, the etiopathogenesisfor these behavior is probably far more complicated, and evidence suggest thereshould be different mechanisms between initiating and maintaining thesebehaviors.

Abnormal behavior should never be neglected for theirpotential in physiological distress. For conditions such as Acral LickDermatits and Psychogenic Alopecia which used to be considered primarilybehavioral, now have a good possibility of being primarily medical. Theetiology of tail chasing behavior is unknown, some considered it a form ofidiopathic epilepsy, others consider it a type of obsessive compulsive disease,and also it should never be overlooked for focal neurological diseasesinvolving in the area of the sacral and coccygeal vertebrae (e.g. trauma,neoplasia, neuroma at tail docking site, infection, etc.) as a possibility thatcauses the abnormal behavior. A genetic cause may be considered in somespecific breeds, bull terrier, American Staffordshire terrier, Daschund, ShibaInu, and German shepherd dog for their high prevalence. No association has beenfound; however, between tail chasing and genetic CDH2 locus, which isassociated with canine flank sucking compulsion. In one study, 7 out of 7affected dogs showed abnormal EEGs, and compulsive tail chasing was also foundcorrelated in one dog that had hydrocephalus, which showed seizure-like EEG.
What do you look out for?
Clinical signs usually first start to exhibit at as early as3-6 months, occasional brief episodes of tail chasing may be considered normalbehavioral activities for some dogs, When tail chasing lasts for minutes; occurs multipletimes per day or per week; is uncontrollable; leads to self mutilation; and/oris accompanied by other bizarre behavior, it is considered pathologic andcompulsive.

What should you be aware of?
An animal that discovers that its behavior results inattention—whether good or bad (e.g.being yelled at)—from its owner may continue to perform the behavior even afterthe inciting cause is alleviated.
 

Reference:

1. Shell, Linda. “Compulsive Tail Chasing.” VeterinaryInformation Network. 23 Apr. 2003. Web. 2 June 2015.


2. Tynes, Valarie V. “10 Life Threatening Behavior Myths.” DVM360. DVM 360, 1 Sept. 2008. Web. 2 June 2015.