[MandiesMom]

Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly

It's an OCD type behavior that dogs can develop as a displacement activity when stressed or unsure and don't know what to do with themselves, kind of like when we tap a pencil over and over on a desk or chew our nails or swing our foot. Nervous habit.

This little dog will benefit unbelievably by work, lots of good, patient obedience training to give her a sense of accomplishment, impulse control and self-confidence. She learn to look to you as her team leader or pack leader during this training and grow to love the mental challenge of working to learn new tasks and games and commands.

The very best way to help a troubled dog of any kind is to get it vetted and healthy, feed it nutritious food, begin housebreaking training and then give it a challenging and very active life working and learning many things and how to live as a pet. Your love and patience will be called on continually but the dog will repay you 1 million times over. Simple, basic obedience simply works wonders for problem dogs, as does buying interactive, challenging toys for them to eat meals from and giving them lots of physical activity. All of these things working together will help your dog not feel the stress that has caused this habit.

Once you are training your dog in obedience, one of the things you will teach her is "No", "Enough" or "Leave it", all commands that you can then use to help your dog stop the circling once she relapses into it at times of excitement or stress. Redirecting her by taking her outside or giving her a kong toy filled with kibble treats to play with can distract her when she starts circling, as can a walk outside but overall, the whole training and activity program will just help remove the stress and lack of confidence or fear that causes this OCD, displacement type activity as she grows to love and trust you and enjoy her life in a whole new, wonderful way.

Thank you for giving her a new start.

All the replies are dead-on. It's anxiety driven based on being caged for so long. Read what Jeanie wrote ^ carefully and a few times. Maybe even print it out. She is very well versed on dog behaviors and the like. Take what she wrote to heart and give it a try.

Bless you for taking care of this baby now. She will grow and thrive under your loving care.