Help with 4 yo rescued EBT--he is obsessed with lights and shadows

RolensMom2021

Hi all. I rescued a 4 year old male EBT from an SPCA 4 months ago. I was told that his owner passed away and the owner's family "didn't have enough time to take care of him". He's a typical EBT as far as I have read (I am an experienced dog owner but it's my first EBT). He has some anxiety/obsessive issues. The most challenging is his obsession with lights and shadows. Every night, when the sun starts going down, he starts obsessing over shadows on our walls in the house. He will stare, bark, and bite at the wall. He has almost bitten a hole through the drywall on one particular wall that reflects a computer screen at night. When he is in "the zone", it is very hard to distract him. Even with treats. Sometimes, I will crate him if he is getting too tweaked (he is crate trained an actually loves his crate--it clams him down). I just don't know how help him get over his obsession. We are working with a trainer on general commands and behaviors, which is going well. But I think his obsession with lights and shadows are over my trainer's abilities. Any suggestions?

jur45

Hello
Look I don’t know much about training etc but I would try to divert attention to maybe a torch or key light to make it a play thing firstly. Your ebt may like this or get distracted initially until you move onto something else. You too may have fun as well. I know cats like this entertainment so maybe give it a go!
Good luck

that1Boomer

If this EBT is obsessing over lights and shadows. Keep the light coming into the house to a minimum for a few weeks. put a towel over the monitor or tv that is stressing them the most. McKenzie has a thing for chasing the light that reflects off of her own collar. So we changed the tag to a non reflective type. It helps, but she still gets OCD about it all. The laser lights push her over the edge. It is great for cats but not so much for an EBT, they become completely overwhelmed and obsess even further. McKenzie is in recovery from it all, when she even hears the click of the button to turn on a laser light, she goes insane. We just don't use it around her at all. You are on the right path by getting yours out of the stimulation (crating). The quicker you can get them out of the thing that they obsess over and into a calm place, the better. I sometimes just pick McKenzie up and hold her. Redirect her attention to something fun and safe. I do believe this obsession could lead to some type of brain disorder.

So block out the sun just in the evenings or mornings, the rest of the day is fine to let the light in. Let them understand that there are better things to do (distract) and if needed, pick them up and distract them. Finally, use the crate to calm them down. Just don't do the crate if the shiny lights or shadows are around them. Just a nice covered darker calmer place. After a few weeks, yours will be less reactive to it. You need to be even less reactive about it as well. They feed off of all of us. our emotions are taken on by them. No reaction is the best reaction. Of course, yours has to have something them enjoy, like a walk, a run in the woods, walk on the beach. Use one of those as a reward for good behavior. It's a lot of work, but totally worth it.

All the best of luck.

RolensMom2021

Thanks for the advice. I agree that I think the laser will make him nuts. When he sees a reflection of of someone’s watch outside on the ground, he literally goes crazy. Tonight I tired to distract him when he started with the wall. It worked for a little bit. I think I just need to try harder. Just sucks because night time is when I want to relax, lol! Hopefully with more distraction it will work. Good idea about covering the crate too. I think he would feel even better if it was darker. Thanks!

that1Boomer

The more you correct the behavior, the better and easier it will get. Getting him to be what you expect will be a battle of who's will is stronger. I have to laugh at the relax time. You are a bully owner, they will have none of that!