My Aspy Dog
When Samson was a puppy he loved going to dog parks—he’d get the big dogs to chase him, then roll over and do the tiny-dog rip-out-your-belly attack, so that he’d inevitably come home caked with dirt and slobber.
In the last few years he hasn’t been nearly as social. When we visit a dog park, he mostly keeps to himself. First he makes a full round of the park, methodically sniffing and marking each landmark, and then he plops himself down next to me and waits until I’m ready to leave. Occasionally he’ll spot something interesting and trot off to check it out, but soon enough he’s back at my side.
Can dogs be autistic? Sam’s definitely abnormal. Sometimes I wonder what made him the way he is. It’s probably something from the first year of his life, before someone picked him up off the street and brought him to the shelter. We’ll never know.
Now that the weather’s cooling off, I brought him to a new dog park for the first time in several months. And for once, he seemed genuinely interested in the other dogs. Several times he threw himself into the pack with gusto and really tried hard to be social. I don’t think he understands quite how to play with other dogs, but it was adorable to watch him make the effort.
It’s hard to paint a picture of his misguided enthusiasm, but I’ll try one example. In this park there’s a tree with a bench built around it. A little dog and a big dog were playing, and the little dog ran under the bench. The little dog was crouched down under the bench, and the big dog was crouched down outside it, and they were lunging and play-growling at each other. Sam hears the commotion, evaluates the situation, and starts sprinting in circles around the outside of the bench. Each lap, as he darts between the two dogs, he throws off a bark. “I’m playing, too!” “I’m playing, too!” The other dogs ignore him.
The whole scene was hilarious, and a little sad, but mostly I felt proud of him for trying. As if Sam were my “different” child who didn’t quite understand why he always got left out on the playground, but today, gosh darn it, he was going to play like all the other kids. And maybe he didn’t exactly succeed from their perspective, but he had fun, and that’s what mattered.
And now he’s sleeping soundly after all that exercise, and that matters, too.
September 6th, 2010 at 7:23 pm
As a long-time dog owner and an aspie and a veterinary nurse, i can tell you that lack of socialization can produce an awkward dog. However, autism has not been scientifically documented in dogs and your dog may be bored w one dog park group and strangers w another group of dogs. As they age they get health problems that slow them down and the hormones that cause your dog to mark everywhere also causes him to take life more seriously. Puppies have a special smell that tells other dogs to go easy on them; when the lose that smell the best behaved dogs just ignore strangers in their territory. As an aspie i take what you write literally; so, if you’re joking somewhat, sorry for not laughing and replying in a serious way.
September 8th, 2010 at 9:13 pm
I was being mostly serious, except that I don’t think my dog literally has autism like people do.
I’m going to try taking him back to this same dog park a few more times, so that hopefully he can get more comfortable there. I’m excited about the progress he’s made so far from ignoring other dogs to at least giving them a few sniffs.
September 10th, 2010 at 4:36 pm
Gidget wants to play! (We know what happens when Klause plays…)