Vaccination Issues?

[Mark Christians]

Hi Everybody,

 

I'm new to the forum, so sorry if this has been covered already.  I just joined and am trying to learn as quickly as I can.  Can dogs have issues with their vaccines?  One of my dogs will never look me in the eye, and I was wondering, can his vaccines cause autism?  I've gone to a trainer, but she was useless.  What do you guys think?

 

Mark

[Natasha]

I think it is common for submissive dogs to avoid eye contact - it is too confrontational. This is discussed in Stanley Coren's book How Dog's Think. It shouldn't be a problem unless your dog isn't listening to you or looking to you for commands.

Is this particular dog more submissive or is he avoiding you (not just your eye contact)?

If this is causing an issue with you for training and/or behavior (for instance, he isn't looking at you for commands), and if he is treat motivated, a trick is to put a treat in your mouth quickly after you ask him do to something simple (like sit) and then blow the treat out so that it lands near your dog as soon as he looks at you after sitting. A lot of trainers use this technique to get puppies to connect with their owners. There are plenty of human friendly treats (we use chicken breast, but there are cookies that are made with human grade ingredients at most specialty shops and, I think, even Trader Joes).

[Mark Christians]

He doesn't seem submissive. He won't make eye contact and seems quieter than the other dog, both signs of autism. The supposed "behaviorist" I met with, doesn't even do a test for autism. Can that be the vaccinations?

Mark

[Adina P]

Dogs and all animals probably resemble autistic people more than they resemble 'regular' people as it is. But I have never EVER heard of a diagnosis of canine autism. I don't think there is such a thing. If there were it would probably be something seen in a dog's social behavior toward other DOGS....

As to vaccines causing autism...that hasn't been effectively proven even in humans so going from a shaky connection in humans to a disease not diagnosed in dogs...I'd say 'NO...your dog does not have autism AND his lack of eye contact is probably not a vaccine reaction.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Amen!

[1xar0x2rcx0li]

The scientific publication that linked vaccines to autism which started this whole nonsense was retracted by the publisher for being grossly incorrect in its study design and interpretation of results and has been thuroughly dismissed by the repuable scientific community for years. The media has not given this side of the story the same publicity.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Yes, I would try training him to focus on you more before you get too worried. My trainer taught us to do this by holding a treat (a good smelly one) in front of Peri and then moving it out to the side. Of course, she turned her head to follow the treat when we started this exercise. When she is looking at the treat and not at us, we said "Peri, watch me" and the second she looked at us, even if it was for a split second, we praised her (or clicked with a training clicker) and gave her a treat. We worked up to longer intervals of making her stare into our eyes for quite a few seconds...then click...then treat. Just a suggestion. Has your trainer suggested anything similar to what I described? We did this every day for the first few months of having Peri. She is good with eye contact/focus on us know and maybe this training helped?

[Patty]

Ooh, I love this suggestion of "Watch me!" One of my two-legged sons is a bit of a dreamer, and sometimes has a hard time focusing on the task at hand. Our phrase for getting him to check back in is HOCUS POCUS, FOCUS! Unfortunately it doesn't work with doodles :)

I'm going to work this into my training with Poe, who is so incredibly distracted by our other dog, our foster, our two cats, my shoes, the sun streaming through the windows... you get the idea!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

The very first command we were taught in beginning obedience "Look at Me" ..... same thing. Take the treat from the dogs nose to your nose and say "Look at Me" .... start trying to get them to hold the "Look at Me" for just a couple seconds, and work up, but NEVER MORE than 7 seconds or that is a "challenge" to the dog!

[Natasha]

We did this as well when Rouser was a puppy and it is a GREAT technique.

[Camilla and Darwin]

Darwin never looks me in the eye, at least not for more than a second. But it's because he's a submissive dog. I think dogs can have serious reactions to vaccines, but it isn't very common, and I haven't ever heard of it causing that kind of side effect...

[Lynda Kamrath]

Yes, dogs can have reactions to vaccines. My 6-yr-old doodle has had liver failure twice and the vet said no more vaccines of any type. We haven't dealt with the rabies vaccine yet, but she said we can have a titer test done if the county will not accept her excuse for his vaccine.
But, looking you in the eye is an issue of aggression with a dog. If you look your dog in the eye, he is supposed to look away in deference to you. If he does not, it is considered a challenge and you may get bitten. Don't expect your dog to do a stare down with you. It is not a part of dog psychology to participate in that kind of an activity with their people.

[Mark Christians]

You guys all seem to think that he is submissive, but he can't be. He shows all kinds of dominance signs. If I tell him to come and he doesnt and when I go to grab him he just lays there and wags his tail like hes laughing at me. He acts dominant and aggressive a lot, when he has a toy he will walk up tp me and growl at me to tell me that its his and I better not mess with him. I know its sounds dumb, but every night I try to pet him as he goes to sleep and say "you're submissive, you're submissive, you're submissive........" over and over hoping that he figures it out. I really need to find a good trainer that has experience with autistic dominant dogs.