Behavioral problems may be associated with multilevel lumbosacral stenosis in military working dogs

Behavioral and spinal problems have been reported to be important causes of early retirement in military working dogs, however studies on possible relationships between these two problems are currently lacking. The aim of this retrospective, observational, cross-sectional study was to test associations between reported behavioral problems and computed tomographic (CT) diagnoses of lumbosacral (LS) stenosis in a sample of military working dogs. Data archives at a tertiary referral military working dog hospital were searched for dogs that had LS CT scans acquired during the period of June 2013- July 2014, and available medical records. For each included dog, an observer unaware of CT findings reviewed medical records and recorded dog signalment data. A second observer reviewed medical records and assigned a score of 0 (absent) or 1 (present) for each of 11 behavioral problem categories. A third observer unaware of medical record findings reviewed CT scans and assigned a score of 0 (absent) or 1 (present) for LS stenosis at each of 4 vertebral locations (L4-5, L5-6, L6-7, L7-S1). A statistician selected and performed tests of association. A total of 55 dogs met inclusion criteria. Of these, 21 dogs (38.2%) had recorded behavioral complaints/problems involving behavior in at least 1 of the 10 categories and 44 (80.0%) had CT diagnoses of LS stenosis in at least one vertebral location. The number of behavioral problems were significantly associated with number of vertebral locations with LS stenosis (ordinal logistic fit, p=0.011) and positively correlated (rho = 0.37, p = 0.006). Problems involving behavioral concerns were more likely to be exhibited if dogs had multi-level stenosis (≥3 vertebral levels, Kappa = 0.06, p>0.05; Bowker's test statistics 26.26, P<0.05). The most common behavior problems in dogs with multi-level stenosis were "unwilling or reluctant to jump up onto objects/into vehicles" (3/8, 38%), "sudden onset of aggressive behaviors" (2/8, 25%), "self-mutilation in the lower back region, tail, or hind legs "(2/8, 25%), "increase in anxiety" (2/8, 25%), "sudden decrease in appetite" (2/8, 25%), "unwilling or reluctant to sit" (2/8, 25%), and "handler-reported unusual behaviors" (2/8, 25%). Findings from this preliminary study supported inclusion of multi-level LS stenosis in the differential diagnosis list for military working dogs presenting with a recent onset of behavioral problems.