Excessive handwashing, counting, throat clearing or blinking. These behaviors, sometimes diagnosed as symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in humans, can also be found in dogs and other animals. Of course, a dog can’t wash its hands repetitively — but it might lick its paw over and over, or suck on its flank until it's raw.
For 20 years, veterinary behaviorist Nicholas Dodman and neurologist Edward Ginns have worked to prove there’s a link between repetitive dog behaviors and compulsive human ones. They’ve since found the genetic pathways that drive the severity of canine compulsive disorder and believe their research on dogs will help humans suffering from OCD too.
