Under what circumstances do dogs exhibit abnormal, repetitive behaviors such as chasing their own tail? Finnish researchers investigated this.

When zoos were much less spacious than they are now, you regularly saw a polar bear, tiger or lion walking back and forth in its cage. But many dogs also display this kind of repetitive behavior. For example, they run after their own tail, bite their hind leg, stare at shadows or gasp at the air. Behavior that can affect the animals themselves, and that can have an adverse effect on the relationship between dog and owner.

But under what circumstances do dogs display that kind of behavior most often? That’s what professor of veterinary biosciences researched Hannes Lohic and colleagues from the University of Helsinki. They had the owners of 4436 dogs complete a questionnaire and are now publishing about it in the scientific journal Scientific Reports†

German Shepherds

A selection of the results. Dogs that received little exercise were more likely to display repetitive behaviors. The same was true for dogs that had been neutered or spayed. Furthermore, this type of behavior was more common among young dogs – and in dogs older than eight years.

The race also matters. For example, German Shepherds, Staffordshire Bull Terriers and Welsh Corgi Pembrokes show repetitive behavior quite often, while Jack Russell Terriers and Collies show relatively little. In contrast, there was no difference between male and female dogs.

Inexperienced owners

Furthermore, there is a connection between how inexperienced the owner is and how often a dog bites itself, gasps in the air or whatever. The outcome surprises a behavioral biologist Claudia Vinke not from Utrecht University. “Less experience can mean that as an owner you don’t know and realize what your dog needs in terms of physical and mental challenge. In addition, inexperienced owners are more likely to subconsciously reward repetitive behavior because they do not realize what is going on.”

Also Karen Soetersincluding founder of animal welfare organization House of Animals and AnimalsToday.nl, is anything but surprised by this connection. “It is extremely important to prepare well and to read well, so that you know what kind of animal you are bringing into your home. What are your dog’s natural needs? What are the breed-specific traits? Responsible keepership goes further than buying food and putting down a water bowl.”

Yeah, duh?

Furthermore, dogs in a larger household show more repetitive behavior than dogs in a one-person household, the study shows. “That may be because in a large family, a dog is treated less consistently. There is always someone who rewards the behaviour,” says Vinke. “Another aspect is that a large dog has less time to meet the dog’s behavioral and mental needs.”

A bit of a ‘yeah, duh’ research, all in all? Not really. For example, the link between how inexperienced the owner is and how often a dog exhibits repetitive behaviors has not been proven before in scientific research. Previous research on Staffordshire Bull Terriers just pointed out that these dogs are less likely to chase their own tails in families with children, while the number of adults in their household made no difference. Also showed other research see that male dogs are more prone to repetitive behavior than females.

No causal links

However, it is good to keep in mind that the new research involved voluntary questionnaires. “It can always be the case that certain types of people do respond, while others do not participate in this type of research,” says Vinke.

Furthermore, on the basis of this type of research you can say ‘dogs on average behave like this more often when the circumstances are like this’, but not ‘dogs behave like this more often because the circumstances are like this’. Or, as Vinke puts it: “You cannot extract causal relationships from this type of research.” This requires research that is designed differently.