Dog attacks herself

I'm not a veterinarian but it sounds like it could be some sort of seizure activity.  Take her to your vet and show the video and describe the behavior.  Good luck.

 I agree with Jackie; it does sound like she may be having a seizure. Your vet should be able to determine what's causing this if it's a medical problem. If it is behavioral, your vet may be able to help with that too. We adopted a 18 month old dog in March. He's very sweet but has significant seperation anxiety.  I consulted with our vet last week and we've been following his instructions and are already seeing some improvement. Good luck and let us know what you learn.

It's possible that she's quite simply responding to an insect bite.  Those pesky mosquitos don't just attack humans

I wish it were just that but these episodes are clearly more than that. You can see it in her face sometimes if it happens during the day and shes been awake.

Hi, I would consult a vet for sure to rule out any neurological issues. I have fostered dogs for the past 15 years and had several cases very similar. These were dogs that were left along for long periods of time and had little to no exercise. That can really affect the brain especially because most of the dogs were very smart and really needed something to stimulate their brains. After we ruled out any neurological issues, I started a daily routine of exercise and training and they quickly improved. What happens the brian finally has an outlet and the body does too, when you combine brain and physical energy it will help the mind so much. Does she get a lot of exercise? What is her typical daily routine?  Are you doing any kind of training with her?  What is her diet? If you can answer these few questions it will give me some more in sight. But overall the most important thing is to make sure that a vet sees her. I look forward to hearing from you.

I've only had her for about 3 weeks but according to her records her owner died and she was left alone in the yard for at least 3 months priors to being taken in to a shelter. A neighbor gave her food of some sort and water when she was able to. I am currently feeding her Wellness Grain Free for small dogs...divide the amount in half so that she gets part in the morning and the remaining in the evening. I do work but I take the two dogs for a 30 minute walk in the morning, and in the evening I take them out separately because she is more active and therefore I can put her on a 25ft lead and let her run around at the nearby track and field so she can burn up some energy. I also run her around in the yard which she truly loves with her toys and balls to work of some energy. She seems to be very smart and learns quickly so I havedn't done formal training sessions with her as yet but I'm waiting till we go back for her vet followup appointment before I do anything else.

Ahh interesting. A dog left alone that long who seems to be as smart as her could develop crazy issues like what she is showing. Like I said I had a few fosters dogs that did similar things. If you can take her on longer walks and maybe get her around people as long as she is ok with that. The food question was sometimes foods have sugars and they can affect behavior, like if we drink too much coffee, if they have too much sugar it can make them a bit crazy too. She would benefit from some kind of training course it will help build a bond with you both and she'll love the attention and enjoy the training. Over the next few days try  longer walks and a new experience, take her somewhere new where she hasn't been, somewhere fun like maybe go to a local pet store that allows dogs, or a dog park if she is good with other dogs. Make the new experiences fun not long periods of time just short to start. Another fun indoor game for her, try showing her a toy, let her see you put it behind a chair, then say "find it" after she understand what you want, let her sniff the toy, don't let her see you hide it and say "find it" many fosters really enjoyed this game. It really makes them work and its a fun game to play inside. I'm curious to see if her getting more stimulation mentally ad physically helps with the episodes. I would still consult my vet to make sure that there are no additional neurological disorders, so you can confidently rule that out.  Please keep me posted and good luck.

Thanks Michele68. I will try to incorporate some of these suggestions over the course of the this long holiday weekend.  I will definitely update you on how things progress with Shelby. Thanks for the advice.

Wanted to post an update on Shelbys vet visit. The vet says its a compulsive behavior disorder. Most likely resulting from all the time she spent alone before getting placed in a shelter. She doesn't appear to be injuring herself when shes biting her feet or tail which is a plus. Vet suggested we could place her on a medication that has been identified specifically for that type of OCD or we can wait it out and see if perhaps it stays at the same level without   getting worse or more frequent. She also instructed to keep doing what I have been in trying to distract her without getting too close when she does have these periods. Her night sleep has been much better without many episodes and  I'm planning to hold off on medication and for right now make sure she gets plenty of exercise especially in the evenings to help tire her out. She loves jumping and running so I'm going to look into a home obstacle course for her. She stated that this type of behavior disorder is one of the hardest to correct and it may never go away...although there's a slight chance that with time it could. Thats what I'm hoping for.

Hi thanks for keeping us updated. I'm glad its not seizures. I think with exercise and some fun activities she may eventually let that go. She was alone and trapped in a way for 3 months. To me it makes sense that if she gets exercise and gets out and experiences new and fun things she will improve. I have worked with foster dogs very similar to her and in time with the exercise and training they got better. I had one in particular that lived in crate for 2 years! She hardly ever got out, very sad but she did come around. Keep the updates coming!