I'm pretty sure my dog has autism.

Well, I've known for almost as long as I've had her that something is mentally wrong with the Tube. It was abundantly apparent when I first brought her home, and she seemed to be physically incapable of not licking every single person she ever met. On her first visit to the vet for her shots and a general checkup, the vet was in with us for less than two minutes before asking me if I realized that there might be something mentally wrong with her. Like I said, you get what you pay for when it comes to Craigslist.

I got to thinking about what was really wrong with her in the head today when my dad picked her up and as he was rubbing her belly, she did everything she could to avoid looking him directly in the eye. And from everything I know, that's one of the big signs of autism in children. The way I figure it, if kids and monkeys and rats can have autism, why can't dogs? So I did a little bit of research, and discovered that she does, in fact, have a few of the signs of an autistic child.

"A majority of autistic people are either hyper or hypo sensitive to light, sound, crowds and other external stimulation. Some have both hyper and hypo sensitivities. This often results in autistic people covering their ears, avoiding or reacting negatively to brightly lit areas, or -- on the other hand -- crashing hard into sofas and craving strong bear hugs."
Callie has always had a ridiculously over exaggeration to the slightest  bit of pain or discomfort. If you poke her the wrong way, she screams like you've broken her bones.

She shakes violently and presses herself into you as close as she can when there is a thunderstorm (common in dogs, I know, but I've never seen a dog shake so hard in my life - its like she was having seizures from fear).

Additionally, and probably one of the most conclusive pieces of evidence supported by this quote, is her insatiable desire to be as close to my boyfriend as she can physically be when she sleeps. Over New Years, she got to see him for the first time in almost 3 whole weeks, and upon getting the chance to sleep with him, slept between his legs. She pressed off of one leg into the other so hard that he actually had a paw shaped bruise on his leg when he woke up the following morning.

Callie also has an obsession with being under the covers as often as she can be. She's actually turned it into an art. She'll paw at whatever blanket she desires to be under, then paw at whatever body part is nearest to her (it's really fun when it's your face being pawed at), and then repeat until you lift up the blanket and let her go under.

"Young children with autism usually have impaired language development. They often have difficulty expressing needs (i.e., use gestures instead of words) and may laugh, cry, or show distress for unknown reasons"
Going back to the whole screaming thing? She likes to randomly scream when no one is touching her, or even anywhere near her. She's done it in the middle of the night, laying on the sofa during the day, while running around playing. It's always incredibly unexpected and a little bit terrifying when it happens. People hear this and ask if I'm beating my dog, and I was two rooms away watching Star Trek (don't judge me). 


"Autistic children do not express interest in other people and often prefer to be alone. They may resist changes in their routine, repeat actions (e.g., turn in circles, flap their arms) over and over, and engage in self-injurious behavior (e.g., bite or scratch themselves, bang their head). "
So this gets to my favorite part - the repeat actions. Until I made my diagnosis of autism, I always just explained away Callie's strange behaviors as odd nervous ticks. However, this explains them perfectly. 

She is constantly licking the air, for absolutely no reason at all. We decided that she licks the air like a lizard. Its part of how she checks out her surroundings. It's like a little barometer reading every time she licks. "The air is now 75 degrees F, with a humidity of 55%. It also tastes like Nala downstairs has peed on the carpet again."

Totally not kidding that she licks ALL THE TIME.

She has the strangest desire to shake every single time something new happens. It'll always happens when she gets up on the bed, gets up from laying down, gets down off the bed, arrives at a new place. Anytime something in her environment changes, her immediate reaction is to flap if she isn't already screaming.

Possibly our favorite activity of hers is her absolute desire to nest in every surface she wants to lay on. She has wrecked the couch nesting in the pillows until they're just right for her laying purposes. She will find a freshly cleaned load of laundry that you're trying to fold and decide that she needs to nest in that, too. 

She's also been known to chew on herself so much that she starts bleeding. That might be allergies, but lets be honest, who scratches themselves until they bleed, and then continues to scratch?!? Oh, that's right, my dog.

"Unresponsiveness to normal teaching methods and verbal clues (may appear to be deaf despite normal hearing) "
Callie frequently pretends not to hear you when you call her (but believe me she's not deaf - she can her the treat jar about a mile away). 

She is also completely housebroken -- when she's at school with me. When we come home, it's a whole new ballgame folks. We've officially been home for the summer for 2 days, and already she's pooped on the floor 3 times and peed multiple others... many times while we were home. She never once came up to us and asked to go out. Just assumed it was cool if she just did her business inside. 


One of her favorite hobbies at home is finding new and creative ways to get out of the fenced in yard. She especially enjoys getting out, then wandering down the street, barely avoiding getting hit by cars. I really think she just enjoys having near-death experiences. It's almost becoming "her thing"

My conclusion? Definitely autistic.


...I guess the next post will be to explain the near-death experiences thing. So more next time on "Callie vs. The Firecracker"